11 PM - Christal Earle’s Blog

I have to be honest: it was a little hard to look her in the eye when she was pouring out her heart to me. I felt weak, helpless, and I felt the sting of injustice in a whole new level; it was as if I was seeing my life for the first time from another perspective, and I was entirely uncomfortable.

Hero Holiday Dominican Republic was now over for another summer. Vaden, myself, and three others had taken the long trek to the south, where the country borders with Haiti. It was hot, I was tired, and I was trying to process where I was: standing in the middle of the poorest neighbourhood in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We were on the edge of Port-Au-Prince, in an area called Cite-Soleil, and my life was changed by what happened that day. As we crossed over the foot bridge that spanned over a river of deep black sludge, human waste, and rotting garbage, I held Vaden’s hand, and tried to imagine what a place like this could look like if it did not look like this - but the image eluded me. In truthfulness, it was a very difficult to conjure up an image of hope in that moment: my senses were assaulted by the pungent stench of human waste and years of refuse that has been allowed to rot in the sun, by the sight of numerous scantily clad children with orange-tipped hair, tiny limbs and partially bloated bellies, and by the ever-present feeling of sadness settling over everything. In a place like this, survival itself seems to be a momentous event to celebrate.

As we walked up to the group of people staring at us, she caught my eye almost immediately. Her name was Analecia, and she looked so tired. Her eyes were sad, her hands weathered, and her  clothes looked like they were doomed to be eternally filthy. She was a single mother of 7 kids, but it was what she said when she looked me in the eye that struck me: “We have nothing and no one cares. We watch as our children starve to death in front of us, with no hope of feeding them enough to survive. Yesterday, 15 of us put our money together to buy one pound of rice between us for our families. Why does no one care?”

I had no answer for Analecia, only the silent tears in my eyes as I bowed my head in recognition of her intense need.  I wondered what it would be like if, in that moment, her eyes were mine and mine were hers. What would I see differently? What would I view as important and worth giving my life for? What would I be willing to do for those whom I loved?

During our Hero Holiday trips, we each spend many hours and days with incredible people in a very bizarre set of circumstances, always on journey together of self discovery and global awareness. Together, we build schools and houses, we hold orphans, we work in garbage dumps, and we aways find time to celebrate a house build or finished project with a community party, dancing, and singing. Each time I am in that place, I am always in awe of one thing more than anything else: there is nothing except birth that has separated my hands from theirs. My eyes see life from this view purely because of where I was born, and not because of anything I could have ever done to deserve it. I am privileged, and I cannot deny what this means. Analecia’s eyes held mine that afternoon because they were eyes that reminded me to keep going, to keep believing that something can change, to keep joining hands with those who love the poor and reach out to the exploited.

Analecia, your eyes have told me of deep truths that I needed to be reminded of, and they have stirred a compassion that is not letting me sleep at night. I am left without a choice and I am now compelled to become a voice for you. I now see your pain as my own, your success as dependent on mine. Thank you for having the courage to look me in the eye. It was what I needed to realize that I need to look back into yours and recognize that I am not left powerless; I can be a part of the picture that can be envisioned for all of us. My eyes have met yours, and I am changed.

Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger. Every year 15 million children die of hunger. The world is going hungry. The numbers are too much, and the statistics make it seem insurmountable. But we see it differently: we see it as a possibility and an opportunity for each of us to be a part of the solution, both today and for the future. There is hope for change, and it starts with educating ourselves to educate the world. In 500 B.C., an anonymous Chinese poet wrote:
“If you are thinking a year ahead, sow seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate the people…By sowing a seed once, you will harvest once. By planting a tree, you will harvest tenfold. By educating the people, you will harvest one hundredfold.” 

This year, through our Hero Holiday programs and with the help of our participants and partnering organizations, Absolute is endeavoring to finish another school in Dominican Republic, begin the building of a school in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, and complete a school in Baja California, Mexico. We need you! Please consider partnering with us with your time, resources, financial help, and even joining us on a Hero Holiday.

“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.”
C.S. Lewis

Have you ever met someone who leaves you feeling like your life is much richer because you have met them? Someone who unknowingly inspires you to dream bigger and to look at life from a different angle? I had seen him around the garbage dump for the past 2 years, but not thought much of it. There are a lot of faces that I see here every day that I come out to this place - this place that  that has come to be a place of understanding, compassion, and friendship. His face, however, is hard to forget: there is a scar that runs from the outer corner of his left eye, down past his jaw. I can almost envision the machete that probably caused it and wonder how many times he has looked at his face and wished it wasn’t there.  That day, I saw past his scars on his face, past the sweat and grime, and heard the voice of Luke, the man who has impacted my life.

We pulled into the garbage dump with our Hero Holiday team and were blown away by how much smoke there was; they were burning it off (no points for environmental friendliness there!) and wouldn’t officially allow any workers in. The dump here is huge and covers many acres of land. Normally there are about 50-60 workers picking bottles, scrounging for food and clothes, and just trying to survive. They are stateless, without identity papers, and without any other means with which to provide for themselves and their families. However, today, there were quietly about 7 men working behind one of the hills when we finally found them. Luke looked up from his work of trying to find some food for his family and waved when he saw me. He walked over and kissed me on the cheek. I asked him what was going on and he told me they were the only ones working today, as the rest were too scared to come for fear of the police being upset with them for being there and thus resulting in their deportation.

Luke explained to us what that could look like for them: being immediately taken to the border and dumped off without anything to get you anywhere. The reality for them is that because they are without papers, they are without official identity. In short, they do not really “exist”.  Luke himself has been here in Dominican Republic for 25 years, but because he is stateless, he has no protection for him or his family, no hope of a better future for his children without those papers. But standing there, listening to Luke that day, we recognized something: the world can deny his existence, but after this, we know the truth.

Luke was a wealth of understanding for us as we sat on that hill and allowed understanding to direct our compassion, and that day, in the middle of the stench of the garbage and the buzzing of the flies, Luke was our motivational speaker and we were his audience he had captivated with his honesty, truthfulness, and sincerity. He spoke to us of what it is like to dream of educating your children, of  being able to provide for your family, of feeling like you belong. He spoke to us of dreaming about the ability to afford simple necessities and of being treated as an equal. And then, Luke spoke to our hearts, as he told us that there is something different about the Hero Holiday groups that come out to this desolate garbage dump: they work alongside of them, and they make them feel valuable. He turned to me and told me that the workers at this garbage dump have come to value what we do to help them, and they trust us and want to welcome us into their world. Without knowing it, Luke spoke to the deep place in us that can often wonder if we are doing enough or if we are making any difference for them, and he reminded us that we have allowed them to know that they matter. Though the world may not know they exist, in our hearts and memories they are now a face, a smile, a hand stretched out to be embraced, and a dream to be cherished with hope for a better future.

Luke, the 34 year old stateless Haitian man at the garbage dump has become my newest favorite motivational speaker. As we work alongside of him and the other 50+ people from his village at this garbage dump, I can only hope to make a difference. Luke taught me that it starts with this simple kindness.

Thank you, Luke. I don’t know if you can even read or write, and I know you will never have the chance to read this brief tribute to who you are, but you have touched my life and sharpened my focus. You have allowed me the privilege to hear your story, and every day that I see you when I bring out the teams, I see your shy smile and am reminded of the depth of character that lies beneath. You are a man of perseverance, hope, and influence; you are a man who deserves an opportunity to leave your mark on the world.

I, too, believe in your dreams for a better tomorrow, and like you, I hope to see you succeed in all that you put your hands to. Your dreams deserve to be heard because you exist in our world, and we want to hear your voice.

Millions of children are born into statelessness each year around the globe. They are the children who are unaccounted for, and they are often left with gross limitations regarding education, health care, vulnerability to exploitation, and general welfare. Without our intervention, this number will continue to grow exponentially. Through our Hero Holiday program, Absolute helps to bring education, safety, and hope to some of the world’s stateless communities. In Dominican Republic, in 2009, we are hoping to finish another school for a community that is largely comprised of stateless Haitian families. This school will help to change the course of many children that have been unable to go to a school before this time.

The following is a blog from one of our participants, Danielle Clouse, who has been on our Hero Holiday Thailand trip with us:

Christmas came early this year. The gift of giving has left me humbled and at ease. These past two weeks I’ve spent my time meeting amazing new people from all over the map and working together to achieve a common goal. We started out thinking we would be building a medical center for a group of well deserving kids but instead we learnt that the best gift we could give was simply love.
In Northern Thailand I have been faced with the surreal reality of how prominent child prostitution is in this world. We shield ourselves if it happens to come up in the media and we would turn a blind eye if we ever encountered it throughout our day. I believe it is human nature to keep the peace in these situations rather than getting involved, but at what point do we stop and realize what part we must play?
Today I was privileged to meet a wonderful woman named Kru Nam. She has started something amazing just simply by taking an interest in something bigger than herself and following through; rather than forgetting. We can’t all be the hero running into brothels and rescuing the innocent but we can all be the hero of finding our role in bettering the life of others and discovering the personal reward of happiness when helping someone in need.
On my flight to Thailand I read a terrific book by David Batstone titled Not for Sale. Krunam is one of the many stories illustrated in this book. To meet her in real life was a blessing. I left feeling like I met a latter day Martin Luther King or Harriet Tubman. She is an amazing individual and will not be forgotten.
Her accomplishment has blossomed from something that started just as an afternoon activity. She is an artist who walked across the bordering bridge in Burma (to Thailand) and noticed a bunch of “cute kids”. She thought it would be nice to paint with them, only to discover the terror in many of their drawings. This now is a method of therapy for the children. With the support of others Krunams simple act of kindness has turned into a safe house for kids wanting to escape their harsh reality. Children from bordering countries and tribes around Thailand are welcome to the home as a solution. Our role initiated by Krunam has been to help fund development and to love the children and show them how special they truly are. These kids all come from different situations but they now share a common dream of safety, happiness, and good health.
The knowledge I have acquired over this trip has helped me to see a clearer path of what lies ahead in my future; a fantastic experience to say the least. Some events that we have participated in on this Hero Holiday are the best memories of my life and you probably wouldn’t believe me if I shared (powder party anyone!?).
Thank you Christal for being my leader, inspiration and teacher, you are a hero who has found her place and now helps teach us the purpose of life. It`s refreshing to be around a group of amazing people who realize their power to change the world and I am graced to have had the pleasure of working with you all.

Danielle Clouse <3

The following entry is from Heather Bourque, one of our adult participants here with us in Northern Thailand. Heather is a flight attendant with Air Canada (which is how she first heard of Absolute: she was on one of Vaden’s flights!) and she is also a professional photographer. Much of her work can be seen in our book, ONE: A Face Behind the Numbers. Heather has been with us in Thailand three times, and she says that every time is a new adventure and full of amazing memories! Heather is from Montreal.

I can’t remember her name but I will never forget what she did that day. Although I had met her earlier and saw her bright smile, it was not until later that I truly saw her. She sat on the Thai-Myanmar border amongst the street kids and opened up her very basic first aid kit (a small plastic box with a few medications). She pulled out a pair of protective gloves and put them on. I watched, closely anticipating that she would pull out some medications or ointment for the children, as the were in need of various medical treatments. However, instead, a small pair of nail clippers came out. Starting with the smallest child, barely 1 year old, she clipped his tiny little fingernails with great precision and love. With a beautiful smile on her face, she than went on to his toe nails with equal meticulousness. As she came close to being done, another street child would be waiting in line, in most cases anxiously, to get their nails done.

She went from one tiny dirty fingernail to the next with great care and love. Giving 60 seconds of love to each and every child. The hugs and kisses came her way endlessly as she did this humble job with such finesse. Without hesitation, she reciprocated every hug and smile that came her way. These tiny, filthy, beautiful human beings craving love, even for just 60 seconds of it, would come soak in what they could. And still, she continuously gave. With a few more hugs and many more smiles thrown to each one, she went on.

Soon the children would return to the bridge to beg in their torn up clothing on their dirt-laced little bodies. But now, they would returnwith a memory of love. Even if only for a brief moment that day, they were loved like every child should be. And in a simple chile worldview, they trust that she will come back. They know she will return, as she always does.

This morning, as I sit on my bed and reach for my nail clippers, a smile comes to my face.

Although at times I question humanity with the countless struggles we have in this world, today I wake with hope. Hope for these few children because they are loved.

I am not sure what I would do in her situation. What lesser of the inevitable evils would I choose to fall prey to? Would I have the strength of resolve to be able to choose anything better than she did? Is it possible that had I been her that day and she had been me, would she see me the way I was looking at her? Would she ask the same questions of me that were running through my mind about her situation? The answers to these questions may not even exist, because the truth is, I wasn’t her, and I have no idea what it is like to struggle as she does.

We were standing on the bridge that for countless hundreds of thousands of women and children was a symbol of pain, exploitation and slavery. This bridge was the only physical link between where they had come from and where they were being forced to go. We were standing on one of the major border crossings between Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand, and it has the horrible infamy of being known to have one of the world’s highest numbers of humans trafficked across it. Below us was sludgy water, with embankments of ramshackle tenements, cardboard houses, and endless garbage littered on its banks. In the water were children, cows, women doing laundry, and always around us was the endless hum of crowds of people desperately trying to keep going until tomorrow; being forced to do whatever it takes to make sure there is a tomorrow. It was because of this bridge that I had a context to try to understand her story, and it was because of this bridge we became inspired to try something new.

My friend was talking to her in Thai, and asking her some questions, as they knew each other from when she was a community worker in the region. She was surrounded by fiv  e children, ranging in age from about 14 to the infant at her breast. They were all dirty, hungry, and sitting on the bridge hoping for some kindness from the tourists that passed by. Her husband had left a long time ago, and a couple of the children did not share the same father. It wasn’t by choice. She had made many decisions she was not proud of, but in an effort to feed hungry mouths, she felt there were no alternatives. Some foreign men had seen her older daughter and offered her money to have her for the weekend. You could see the pain in her eyes and the shame of a mother’s desperate choice. She had sold her. Probably for less than $20. But when you don’t know what it is like to have money in your hand, $20 can seem like a godsend. But at what cost? I wonder if it became easier the next time they came back to ask for her again? Did it cut as deep to betray your child like that, or was it easier to accept it as a necessary evil? As we left that family that day, we already knew that we were now responsible with what we had learned.

My Mom loves me, and my Mom is a good woman. She has sacrificed countless times for us as a family, and I am proud of who she is. However, that day, I was thankful that she was never faced with the choice of this woman. Choice is a luxury that is not always afforded to the world’s poor, and when you are a stateless, caring refugee mother on a border between Thailand and Burma (one of many thousands along the border), choice is not even a word you can dare hope to utter. In selling her children to avoid the starvation of her family, that woman was forced to make a decision we know nothing of. With one look at her face you would know that it was never a choice - it was an unavoidable nightmare.

She may not have felt she had a choice for her actions, but I have a choice, and we have a choice: it is the choice to care. On that bridge that day we began to see how you cannot just look at the numbers and make the judgment calls; you have to see the face behind them.

That was how we came to decide to start doing Hero Holiday in Thailand. To look objectively at what is happening in trafficking and exploitation, it would seem the bad guy is winning. And maybe he is. But hope still lives, and that hope needs us to continue to recognize that compassion requires action, and action requires people, and people are what the human experience is about. This is why we wanted to bring Hero Holiday to Thailand. Our numbers may seem small right now, but we are adding our voice, our hands, and our passion to a bigger picture that is determined to eradicate slavery and exploitation.

The following year we came back to this city with our first Hero Holiday team. Two blocks from the bridge where we originally met, the young daughter walked in to the drop-in centre we were working at. However, she now had her own baby in her arms.The child may have come in to the world as the result of one man’s evil actions against her innocence, but it was beautiful nonetheless. When I asked to hold her baby, she said to me,”You came back, and you brought friends!” It mattered to her, and there are many more just like her that need to know that they matter.

We are currently in Thailand, working in the same area with some of our heroes. Each year, as we spend time with them, work alongside of them, and help to believe in what can be, we realize that this is how change starts: it requires us to change first.

To find out more about our projects in Thailand, check out www.heroholiday.com.

My apologies, but we are currently unable to upload our photos to this blog site from where we are at. We will do our best to get them up asap!

When you are on a Hero Holiday, there is no telling what kind of adventure is waiting for you around the corner, across the street, or really from the moment that you wake up and realize you have been blessed with another day to do something so life-giving. Yesterday was one of those days.
We thought we were going to be helping out at the drop in centre, in the border city in northern Thailand where we are here to work for two weeks. We arrived and thought that this would be a day of cleaning, meeting stateless families that are affected by the presence of this centre (they are able to get food, community support, medical help, and even stay overnight if they need to stay warm and safe) but we didn’t count on the adventure that would ensue!
We met up with the staff that work day after day with the stateless street kids that surround this bridge between two vastly different countries struggling to co-exist. The workers are full of love, grace, and compassion for each individual they meet and it shows in everything they do. We crossed the bridge, went through customs, and were now standing in the border city in Burma (Myanmar). The street was alive with chaos, conversation, and underneath it all, the struggle to survive. The workers put us in tuk-tuks (3 wheeled taxis) and we were off to the edge of the city to meet up with families and street children that they work with to educate, feed, and try to keep safe from exploitation. As we were going through the streets of this small Burmese city, I burst out laughing, as I looked over my shoulder to the other tuk-tuks with the Hero Holiday participants as they smiled and waved at me like this was a part of their everyday life! I think they somehow failed to see the irony in the scene that I saw as I watched them smiling and waving at the curious bystanders on the streets, laughing and joking as if they were the best of friends from years back. They have only known each other for a few days, but somehow, experiences like this, bond you together like no other.
Our world is so vast, yet experiences like Hero Holiday remind you of how humanity is still the same: each one of us needs to know that we belong, that someone cares, and that there is a place in the world for us. Today, watching these students with us, I saw them embody that hope and be changed in the process. I watched as they played tag with street children, brought them treats, held young mothers’ babies, hugged and were hugged back, laughed at childish antics, and cried at the pain of reality for the hands that they held. Today was a day full of the human experience and full of new understandings of the part we play to make the world a better and safer place.
On the tuk-tuk, I was chatting with one of the workers from the home. She is an inspiration to me and she is one of my heroes. She was laughing at the participants with us as we watched them buy birds in baskets from the children at the Buddhist temple in Burma and try to release them and ease their guilty consciences for buying the birds in the first place! She showed us how to love people where they are at, no matter how much you approve or disapprove of their choices, and she encouraged our participants to be that kind of humanitarian worker too. Today was a day of inspiration and realization, and today marked a change in how each one of our students’ saw themselves: as individuals who have a voice and a life that can bring change and love the world around them.
Tonight, during our debriefing, we talked about what this experience can mean when each one of them goes home. There was much laughter, inspiration, and tears. But underneath it all, there is hope.

Hello all! We are here, we are hot, we are working hard, and we are loving every minute of it! The children’s home is in need of our help on many different projects such as the new water tank facilities we are digging for their washrooms, the new floor on the clinic that has just been donated by an American friend of the foundation, and some clean ups, repairs, and other building projects.

Our Hero Holiday participants are making us proud and we are so honored to have them along with us! As one of the girls, Allie, said at our debriefing last night, “This trip is already changing my perspective, as I am realizing what heroes each one of these kids are in their own way.” Many of these kids have overcome extreme poverty, sexual exploitation, some have lived on the streets, many were abused, and yet they choose to love and trust again, and we are all in awe of the gift that each of them is to us and to the world.

We will be posting some photos within the next day and will have the participants posting their thoughts as well, so please stay tuned for more Thailand adventures!

It takes many people to accomplish what we do in our organization. Most days of my life, I am in awe of the quality of people I have the privilege to work alongside of: people who recognize that their lives are purposeful and valuable, people who recognize that the only thing that is truly ours to give is our life and efforts, and people who see a much bigger picture than what many others are able to envision. As a grassroots charity, to accomplish what we do, we rely largely on volunteers and dedicated staff who willingly work towards that goal, often for very little monetary return. Rachelle is one of those people. Rachelle is 21, from a small Southern Ontario town, and she is a life that has been changed by the power of hope, and hope is what she now extends to thousands of students everyday, as she willingly shares her life message. It is the message of value and purpose - no matter who you are or what you have come through. Rachelle has come through many difficult years of hurt, childhood trauma, and many disappointments, and she is now a gift to us - not just because of what she does to help us, but because of who she is when it really matters. This week, that gift was revealed in a whole new light.

There are so many moments in our life that we can be unaware of what is happening around us, in our body, or that we nearly encounter. I like to call them “Moments of Grace”. They are defined by what we don’t yet know, or may never know. For example, had we crossed the road one moment sooner, had we not been kind to someone contemplating harm, had we not pulled over at the rest stop one minute earlier, who knows what could have happened? We are immersed in Moments of Grace, and in Absolute, we are acutely aware of thee very moments that we live in everyday.

It was late afternoon on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, and the team was heading across the Northern US, leaving Ontario and on their way to Manitoba. They had chosen to take this route as the roads are generally better maintained and it manages to shave a lot of time off the entire trip in total. Their bus was just checked for all safety items the day they left, the trailer they were towing full of sound and lighting gear was only days old, and for all intents and purposes the trip looked like clear sailing…until they hit the black ice. Black ice is a thin, clear coating of ice on pavement that results from car exhaust and often forms at temperatures too cold for salt to melt the ice. The black ice they hit caused their bus to be thrown around, and in a moment of quick thinking, the driver avoided hitting the transport truck in the lane beside them and chose the median instead. The bus rolled, and consequently crumpled, much like a pop can would under your foot. However, our driver’s actions managed to save the team’s lives.  When the medics arrived moments later, they were quoted as saying that they expected to see only bodies trapped in the wreckage. However, within minutes of them arriving, the miracle was made evident: only minor injuries! Not even broken bones resulted in the whole event. It is mind boggling and relieving all in one, and it is a Moment of Grace.

Rachelle was sitting in one of the seats on that bus that day. She was listening to her MP3 player and quietly taking in the view around her. Within seconds that view changed, as she was rolling and tumbling with the team and all around her was the sound of scraping metal, breaking glass and shocked screaming…and then, the second of stunned silence as they lay scattered in the rubble of what moments before had been their newly renovated tour bus. She remembers very little of how she ended up on the side of the road, clinging to a team member in her sock feet in the snow, watching the medics frantically working to rescue other team members who were pinned in the wreckage. But I will never forget the message she sent me less than 24 hours later; I cannot forget it because it is why I am so proud to work alongside of all of these people:

Christal.. I just want you to know that through all of what is happening right now .. I believe in Absolute a thousand times more. I’ve learned things about Absolute that makes me stand by it EVEN more than I already do.
I love you guys. I am here for you. This will sound a little morbid- but if I had died yesterday, I would have died during one the happiest times of my life. I would have died knowing that I was a part of something amazing. But Thank God, we are all alive to tell the stories.

Life is not easy on our road teams, if we were to measure comfort according to our Western standards. We often sleep on floors, travel many miles to work hard for little pay, and go without many basic “luxuries” that would be hard for some people to understand. But we do it for the moments when we look into someone’s eyes and have the opportunity to love them where they are at, to reach out with hope, and to inspire them for more. We do it because we believe we can’t NOT do it. In a time like this, to hear our team members share their experience, realize the incredible miracle, and most of all to see their renewed commitment to what they are doing, “luxury” seems like a frivolous word, and passion seems to come alive more than ever. This too, is a Moment of Grace.

John Lubbock, a 19th Century British Statesman, was once quoted as saying, “What we see depends mainly on what we look for”. Rachelle, Adam, Lindsay, Jenna, and the rest of the team, you embody this for a generation. You look at what you have experienced and you see a renewed sense of focus and passion to continue to work, love, and inspire, because we never know what tomorrow will hold. Thank you for all that you continue to do. For all the people that are a part of this far reaching dream to see lives changed through what we do, thank you for believing in us, and for believing that you are a part of what makes the difference.

In Northern Thailand, there is an incredible group of people who have inspired our Hero Holiday program to partner with them to help to make a difference in the world in which they find themselves. The organization is a combination of children’s homes, drop-in centres to combat trafficking, as well as outreach programs and therapy. Every day we spend with them is always an adventure, and along the way, we find ourselves in the company of unsung heroes that have impacted us beyond words.

In our North American culture, we are often lulled to sleep as we are over-stimulated with drama and sensationalism. We create our own romantic view of what the world must be like and we have a hard time grasping that our form of justice is not the justice that the rest of the world is measured by. We claim to believe that every child has the right to safety, freedom, and to be heard, yet our world often leaves the majority of our children living in fear, abandonment, exploitation and silence…is this what justice is? On our Thailand Hero Holiday trips, the children that we work with have faced all forms of exploitation, poverty and abandonment, and yet the thing that continues to captivate all of us is their incredible capacity to love beyond that. The simple act of holding a small hand in trust can make all the difference in the world. The simple beauty of a smile and loving touch can change everything. My goodness, we have even learned that ice cream can change the world! Yet, despite all of these simple things, the problems that they face are beyond complex - they are astronomically overwhelming! Exploitation and slavery is so deep and multi-tentacled that it is hard to figure out where one problem stops and another one starts. Poverty would seem like it is so straightforward, but it is an insatiable beast that is continually devouring innocent lives around the world, and without us recognizing how late the hour is, it will never be stopped.

In the world these children come from, life is unstable on every front: the good guys often turn out to the bad guys, the police take a vow to serve and protect, and then follow through with that vow by owning the brothels and trafficking agencies that exploit the women and children, and most of the population is unaware of what is happening in front of their eyes. Yet, in the midst of this, we work among a company of heroes: bright lights in the darkness that fight at this monster day after day, week after week, month after month. Every life saved makes it worth it, every hope restored is precious, and every life that is given reprieve from the pain and continual oppression is valuable. Kru Nam is one of those bright lights that has inspired us as we work alongside what she is endeavoring to accomplish with her team. Together, from the ground up, they have grown from one woman walking into brothels and stealing children out of slavery to a small, but bright light that is opening the door for others to be courageous. This is what it is to dream of what freedom can look like.

Kru Nam is a painter with a university degree in art and she has decided to use her natural gifts to bring healing. She originally hit the streets in Chiang Mai, handing over paint brushes to street children as a form of therapy, but she quickly realized that as they painted, their paintings were telling horrific stories of abuse, exploitation, and slavery. Within a short time, she realized that most of these children on the streets were not even from Thailand, but from the surrounding countries and tribes. Most of these children had escaped from the brothels in that city, and had already been victimized. Realizing that this problem was more than a regional problem, Kru Nam set out to move to the border crossing where these children are often brought through after they are sold,(often with the help of the police and other “trusted” authorities). It is here that she has set up a frontlines search and rescue operation, and it is here where hope can start to bring healing for these children.

Hero Holiday helps at one of the homes that is a part of this program, as we build shelter and help make the space livable, run English and sports camps with the children, and allow our hearts to open and our eyes to see what can be done to bring them help. We will be working in Thailand from March 9-21. We will leave Canada as Canadians, but return as Canadians with an urgency to make a difference and to shine a light on the dark evils of exploitation.

In the beginning of one or our Hero Holiday promo videos, we have a quote by Bob Dylan that says, “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom”. This quote has been ringing in my ears as we continue to meet people who are risking much to do whatever they can. We are working with volunteers and staff who willingly give up all for the sake of a child’s life, and for the sake of their safety. It is humbling and beautiful to be a part of, and it is the reality of the double edged sword that action requires when you want to make a difference.

This year, Absolute is hoping to raise enough money to help Kru Nam and her staff build a laundry facility, as well as continue to add to their housing. If you would like to be a part of helping to provide for that project, please  contact us at the address below or donate online.

Absolute Leadership Development Inc.
info@absolute.org
1 (866) 432-4464