Don’t spend money. (But do buy toilet paper.)
Recently, we reintroduced you to Shannon, who has been with The SOLD Project for several years and is now living in Chiang Rai, Thailand, working full-time for SOLD. Shannon’s sister, Meghan, is starting a new adventure too! It’s called livefree, and it means not spending any money for an entire year.
Meghan, 22, is a SoCal native who recently graduated with a degree in Business Management. After part-time jobs and a full course load, Meghan was able to graduate early and start a full-time job at a meeting planning company. But first, she took that hard-earned spare semester and traveled Europe for a few months, included a visit to Shannon in London, who was busy wrapping up her Master’s degree. Those travels changed Meghan.
“This multicultural experience really broadened my mind and opened my eyes to alternative lifestyles,” Meghan says. “Living only out of a backpack provoked a thought process ultimately questioning the way I live and why I ‘need’ materialistic gratification to feel satisfied in life.”
Meghan’s mission is not political. Her mission: ”to stimulate awareness for alternative living and to learn how to live simply.”
“Growing up in a privileged community and raised in a consumer-oriented society, I never questioned the need to supply my endless demands. A computer at age 12. A cell phone at age 14. A car at age 16. The list goes on and on. I was at least fortunate enough in being raised by wonderful parents that believe in working for what you want. For every one of my endless wants, I worked my tail-end off to save up just enough money to empty my bank account on whatever it was I had to have. It was a vicious cycle that continued throughout my entire existence. Until now.”
Okay, so you can’t really not spend any money at all. So, Meghan has decided to counteract her spending “by donating a designated amount of money to carefully selected charities.” For the basic necessities of life (a girl needs toothpaste!), she stocked up before the year got started from “cost-effective and environmentally conscious retailers.”
Her January charity was AWESOME. Cough cough. Megan says SOLD “holds a special place in my heart.” In fact, her livefree project was inspired by her sister’s involvement with SOLD. Shannon’s excitement for moving to Thailand and living simply was contagious. The sisters discussed how, in many ways, the experience would be difficult but freeing and cleansing.
A few of us here at SOLD know that can be more than true. Besides the fresh air, the relaxed Thai lifestyle, the beautiful mountains, and the amazing people, nothing is more humbling or cleansing than flicking away a giant exotic bug from your dinner plate without a second thought.
Shannon and Meghan
Student Focus: Personal Rights Training
Ketsara from the Office of Child Protection begins her presentation.
It’s summer vacation, but for the staff at SOLD, it’s no time to slack off. We’ve been ramping up activities to keep the kids occupied and use the time to provide more tutoring, classes, and even a few special workshops.
One event on our calendar was a presentation by the Office of Child Protection, designed for SOLD staff and a few of the older children who we believe serve well as mentors to their younger peers. In this presentation, we learned effective and well-considered techniques for talking to kids (usually aged 9-11) about their personal rights, especially vis-a-vis their bodies. We learned ways to talk to kids in a language that is age-appropriate about how their bodies belong to them, bodies are private, they have a right to not be touched in ways they don’t like, and that if they (or their friends) are touched in such a way, how they can get help from a trusted adult.
We learned how to use body maps and diagrams to start a conversation about what is a good touch and what is a bad touch.
We watched informative children’s videos about ways children might be exploited and learned how we can use them in a class setting. Then staff and the student mentors had sessions to practice how they might talk to their younger peers about their personal rights, and what they would do in situations where a friend tells them they’ve been abused or exploited.
It was a great refresher course for the staff…but it was even more empowering for the student mentors, to learn what a role they could play in helping and advising the younger kids who look up to them, and the agency they have in helping protect themselves and their friends.
It’s protection and it’s empowerment. More than that, it’s leadership training.
Pass Along Her Love—Give a Gift in Mom’s Name
Mothers’ Day is May 13—less than a week away—so you probably already have the perfect gift picked out like the well-brought-up children that you are. : ) But, whether you want to do something extra special to show her your love or you’re still searching for that perfect last-minute gift, nothing says “Thank you, Mom” like making a gift to care for children.
Honor her legacy with a recurring donation to support all of our work with children at risk in Thailand by joining our Stand 4 Freedom campaign. Your pledge of $16 a month, made in your mother’s name, is an investment in the life and future of a child, and a beautiful way to celebrate all that she has invested in you. Click here to give.
Or make a gift in her name towards our second classroom building at our Resource Center in Thailand, and honor her by literally helping lay the foundation for the education and care of hundreds of children. Click here to give.
Either way, honor your mother. She’s given you a lot. Now is a great time to give a little back—or pass it on.
Happy Mothers’ Day!
That’s One Way to Fight the Demand…
The Winnipeg Free Press recently published an article on a new way that Moldova has decided to fight back against Western tourists sexually exploiting children: chemically castrating the offenders.
The new law states foreign and Moldovan nationals found guilty of pedophilia will be chemically castrated, while courts will rule separately on those found guilty of rape. [...]
“The Republic of Moldova has been transformed in recent years into ‘a tourist destination’ for Western pedophiles and there have been cases where rapists have repeatedly offended even after they served prison time,” said Munteanu, opening the debate. [...]
The measure has broad support in Moldova, one of Europe’s poorest nations, where many believe that the country has an international reputation as a top destination for sex tourists.
Of the nine child sex convictions in the past two years in Moldova, five were Western European tourists. Read the full article for how other European nations deal with the idea of chemical castration.
If you’re a potential sex tourist who accidentally came across our blog in a shady Google search before your trip to Moldova…take note.
Meet Worn, Our Sustainable Development Director
The SOLD Project is pleased to introduce our newest staff member, Worn Donchai. As the Sustainable Development Director, Worn is responsible for developing and implementing the social development strategy projects. These projects are designed to strengthen the financial resources necessary to sustain growth and continuous program improvement. This position will create social projects to promote cooperation between SOLD and the local community. Worn is responsible for achieving The SOLD Project’s social development goals and The Freedom Project’s sustainable financial resources.
In school, Worn wanted to work in the area of national development. “I wanted to share experiences, knowledge and opportunities for poor people,” he says. He used his knowledge of science to develop careers and income for weavers for nearly a decade.So when Tawee and Rachel reached out to Worn with an opportunity to be a part of our team, Worn accepted “without hesitation.”
Worn is Tawee’s twin, but they had different friends in school and different connections in the workplace. “So when I see someone on a street smile to me, I have to smile and say hi,” Worn says. “There are a stranger to me, but [I understand] that he knew my brother.” The brothers often communicate without speaking–even when they don’t mean to! “We have bought the same shirt in the same style from the same place, but on different days. Then we wear it in the same day and end up at a part together. Twice!” (Ed. Note: No one told me Tawee was a twin until we were all at a group dinner and suddenly I saw two Tawee’s. It was disconcerting to say the least. -H.)
“True sustainability is [about] how to think and decide,” Worn says. It’s about how to “create jobs and income, and be self-sufficient.” Worn wants to see the village be able to maintain its well-being and the education of their children so they can give and share to others.
Worn has his Master of Science (Chemistry) from Chiang Mai University and, in 2008, was a visiting scholarship at California State University Fullerton. He currently lives in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Worn, at the Resource Center
“Out of Prostitution and Into What?”
We recently came across this Business as Mission: What’s Now and What’s Next video, and wanted to pass along this great quote expressing the importance of prevention in the area of human trafficking and, more importantly, prevention in the form of job creation. We are proud to introduce you next week to Worn Donchai, our new Sustainability Development Director, who will help us further this particular area of prevention as mission.
“What CNN and many of the others fail to appreciate or even convey is what are some of the root causes. It’s very media-friendly to broadcast spectacular rescue operations, but that does not deal with the root causes nor does it deal with the restoration of the victims.
“We know—you can read as many reports as you like; you can talk to as many victims as you like—that the root cause to human trafficking is unemployment. That creates high-risk areas for human trafficking. That makes people vulnerable to traffickers. So, we cannot talk about prevention—adequate prevention—unless we talk about job creation.
“As we deal with human trafficking [and prostitution], we need to be able to answer the following question: Out of trafficking and prostitution into what? There needs to be a job with dignity at the other end.
“So whether we talk about prevention or restoration of the victims of human trafficking, we talk about jobs: jobs with dignity, we talk about job creation, we talk about business people, we talk about business as mission.”
—Mats Tunehag, Senior Associate, Business as Mission
Source: Business as Mission, Call2Business, “What’s Now and What’s Next”
Photo of the day.
The SOLD Project scholarship students participate in art class at The FREEDOM Resource Center. (photo: Jade Keller)
Just $16 can help provide after school programs, English classes and trafficking awareness seminars for children at-risk. Learn how here > thesoldproject.com/givefreedom
Photo of the day.
Cat, the first scholarship recipient and inspiration for our prevention program. Click here to watch an update on Cat. (photo: Courtney Owen)
Just $16 can help provide after school programs, English classes and trafficking awareness seminars for children at-risk. Learn how here > thesoldproject.com/givefreedom
Photo of the Day.
After school activities at The SOLD Project’s FREEDOM Resource Center in Chiang Rai (photo: Jade Keller)
Just $16 can help provide after school programs, English classes and trafficking awareness seminars for children at-risk. Learn how here > thesoldproject.com/givefreedom
Photo of the day.
The SOLD Project scholarship students assemble to begin school for the day in Chiang Rai, Thailand. (photo: Courtney Owen)
Just $16 can help provide after school programs, English classes and trafficking awareness seminars for children at-risk. Learn how here > thesoldproject.com/givefreedom
