I’ve returned safely back to Bangkok after a week in Northern Thailand. While I was in Chiang Mai my main purpose was to help update photos for the Center of Leadership Development’s website, an organization that educates and equips pastors of churches and other main roles with bible knowledge. I was blessed to sleep out in three Hmong villages and experience life in the jungles of northern Thailand.
A few highlights of the trip:
- Woke up on top of a mountain next to a church that overlooked a lush green valley
- Played tourist with a short hike next to Mae Sa waterfall and patted an elephant on the head at an elephant camp
- Saw my first firefly, followed shortly by my first scorpion (6″ big… yeah!)
- Ate chicken that was butchered not even two hours before it was cooked, enjoyed greens and fruit harvested from the land in the villages, and upped my spicy tolerance to a solid 4 stars by American standards
- Fell asleep to the roar of insects and chirping of geckos
- Learned that life truly is a lot simpler than I sometimes make it out to be. (Note to self: Cut out the fat)
My last day in the north I had the opportunity to visit a Remembering Nhu home. It is an organization that prevents the exploitation of children in the sex trade industry throughout the world by taking in at risk children and giving them food, shelter, and education. Tomorrow I travel to the east for the week to do more photography work with this organization, among other assignments that are unknown to me. I was thrilled to see Remembering Nhu come before me, and I look forward to learning more about the organization.
The last frame on this page is from my visit to Remembering Nhu. An intern there told me (if I remember the details correctly) that her and her sister were found by a worker at a market that her parents were trying to sell them at. The worker explained that they couldn’t buy the girls, but they could give them a home, education, and a future. The parents conceded and now this girl and her sister and in the loving care of the house. This is just one of thousands of stories of children being saved from entering the sex trade, and one of the main causes that hits my heart and sent me overseas in the first place.
I want to send a big thank you to Lee, who showed me around northern Thailand, fed me well and saved me from me from the scorpion. It truly was a pleasure, and I plan to make it back northern Thailand one day.
Next venture, the east!
