Hey Everybody!

Saturday was a big day for all of us. We went to the ARC and saw all of the girls that had been rescued from the sex slave trade. If we hadn’t gone in there knowing their background, we never would have guessed at everything they have been through. The girls were so full of joy and were happy just to hang out with us. We celebrated some of their birthdays by singing and eating a big meal and then later by dancing with them. They took picture after picture with us with their donated cameras, which was rather depressing for us because we couldn’t take any pictures with our cameras due to safety issues. [The girls at the Agape Rescue Center are each part of an active criminal investigation, and are under significant danger of kidnapping or assassination due to their pending testimony, they are essentially in a witness protection program, and under high security protection. Because of this situation, the exact location of the ARC was hidden from us, and we were not allowed to take pictures, and are not allowed to share any of the (truly horrific) stories about specific girls. The ARC is a beautiful location, with gardens, swimming pools, and orchards, where the girls are able to heal physically (all come in with at least hepatitis and bad dental issues), mentally, emotionally, and spiritually while preparing to testify in criminal cases against their captors and attackers. It was emotionally confusing for Becky and I to see girls acting like normal teen and pre-teen agers (dancing, singing, and giggling), while knowing the horrors they have endured, and must re-visit in counseling and testimony preparation. – Rick ]

The realities of what is going on in Cambodia became even more real to us when we went to Rahab’s House, an ex-brothel, and taught the Vacation Bible School (VBS). The staff had preserved one of the original rooms to show people what conditions the girls had to live with when they lived in the brothel. The room was 8’x 8’, painted pink, and the furniture consisted of one bed, one light, and one bedside table. Condom ads were taped to the walls. It was a shock to not only hear about, but to see, a true brothel. It was very…interesting. It made what people are doing to hurt and to protect these girls actually seem real to me.
[While the brothel at Rahab’s house in Svay Pak has been shut down and renovated for use as an outreach center, the Svay Pak area continues to be a highly active area for the sex trafficking of underage girls. Each night, the police (yes, they are corrupt) gather girls for sex trafficking, and return them at 3:00 am the next morning. You can tell which girls are actively being trafficked in the pictures, because their pimps have given them jewelry and fashion clothing (the rest of the children are struggling to eat regularly). Even though we know these girls are being trafficked, we can not physically remove them, because the Police will just return them to their parents, who will continue trafficking them. The only way to remove girls from this situation is to gather court-worthy evidence against the brothel owners and operators, which is the mission of the International Justice Mission (IJM). Once IJM has trial-worthy evidence, they can remove the girls to a safe shelter like the ARC. – Rick]

The VBS in Rahab’s House has been a lot of fun, but the kids have been a lot harder to handle. The majority of kids in Svey Pak don’t go to school, so they are not used to behaving the way they would have to in school. They hit and kick each other and us and are surprised when we tell them “no hit” in Khmer. The kids bond fast, so each of us, especially Karli, have whole groups of children following us and clinging to us when we sit down. That gets a little hectic at times though.

Playdoh today was a disaster. The whole batch turned out too wet, and we didn’t figure out until we had passed it out to every kid that wanted some. I was one of the last people to take playdoh, so I discovered that when playdoh is too wet, it sticks to your hands and anything else it touches. We then rushed every kid to the sink to wash their hands while we confiscated the playdoh. Kids kept coming back dirty, and after a short investigation I found out that some of the older boys were high five-ing people and getting their hands dirty again and again. That was fun. Really we did have a fun time hanging out with all of them.

Karli got sick today L. She couldn’t hold down any food for the second half of the day and is just now starting to feel better. We all hope she feels well enough to go to the VBS tomorrow.

Highlight of today: two foot long baguettes for lunch! Don’t we all love the French?

~Elizabeth