Welcome 2010

My goal of writing weekly in this blog has dwindled, so I thought with the new year here...what a better time of a time to recommit to that goal.

As I look over my previous entries there are some missing pieces that I figured would be good to fill everyone in on.

First of all, the Christmas party was great! We ended up having 50-60 of our friends show up on Christmas eve. We served them a full course meal...including mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green been casserole, salad, rolls and chicken. We of course did not neglect the most important part of a meal (the dessert) as we had pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, gingerbread men and peanut butter cookies. We decked the house out with tables and chairs with christmas decor and tealights. It was truly a beautiful experience to have everyone there. It was truly a beautiful experience to look around and see so many different cultures, nationalities and backgrounds represented. So many of my friends came up to me and said "Kait, I am so happy because this is my first time to celebrate christmas." What an incredible experience indeed.

Second of all, I don't think I have properly introduced the other half of what I spend my time doing here. It has been a few months now that I have been working with an NGO called AOG World Relief. It has been like a dream come true to work with the team there. In a nutshell, the agency does everything from child sponsorship to medical surgeries to community development and beyond! When they invited me onboard it was with the initial invitation to start some research on human trafficking. You see truly, it is a world wide issue but Southeast Asia especially shows a large representation of the problem. When they first approached me with this, I could hardly believe my ears! You see, this is the issue that I initially wanted to be involved with before I even moved here...but hadn't been able to find an organization that worked in the area.

All that to say, for the past few months I have been working at AOG World Relief. I have been connecting and networking with agencies and individuals across the Mekong Delta. The idea is that is to first get a clear picture of the state of the issue, what agencies are already doing, what the need is, etc. We want to be a part of coalition that attacks this problem-not a lone agency wanting to play superhero and assert itself where there are already those doing good works. We want to collaborate...because collaboration is the name of the game when it comes to such a widespread issue like human trafficking.

My involvement at AOG World Relief is not limited to that area though...everyone helps out everyone else...we are a family and a team there. I have done everything from become a certified SHINE trainer (an INCREDIBLE program created to empower women and tell them of their worth) to hand out pigs in a village (as part of the child sponsorship program we help give families a means of providing for themselves. They are to breed the pigs with the promise that they will pass along 2 healthy piglets to a neighbor).

I absolutely love working at AOG World Relief. My heart soars there...and I feel so fortunate to be a part of the team.

On that note...cheers to 2010 and to more up-to-date blogging :)

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait