Thank you!

After almost two months to deal with immediate life changes (i.e. get a job!) and to reflect, I wanted to write a final thank you about my trip to Malawi.

The kids loved to see their picture

The travelling went well (over 36 hours!), the days were long and busy, and our team experienced all sorts of new things! I think the conference and the trip was a great success and really met an area of need.

Watching a soccer game in the village together at sunset

We had a great team: our Flood San Diego members, two local Malawian human rights organizations, local churches, police and victim support units. Our team put together an educational conference. The villagers actively engaged with the conference and shared many stories of the human rights abuses that they have experienced (everything from child trafficking, forced labor, domestic violence and more) and were connected to education and resources on these areas. It was amazing to hear their stories.

Cooking lunch with my dear friend Ethel!

On a personal level, the experience was amazing. I absolutely loved the beautiful country and people of Malawi. It well deserves the title "The warm heart of Africa." This experience really helped confirm my desire to go to law school and inspired me to want to work in Africa again!

The conference was held inside the village church. 

An unexpected and amazing part of our trip was the team of Malawian college students that worked with us! They played an integral role to the conference, from speaking about their own personal experiences with human rights abuses and growing up in villages, to teaching, to translating. They quickly became good friends and great inspirations as we worked closely with them.

At the well with some of the girls. 

This combined team effort has produced a new group of people in Malawi and in San Diego that are teaming together to continue learning about and supporting human rights. Exciting grassroots projects are already developing.

Lunch in the village. No silverware!

Thank you again for all your support. This was a great area of need, and I am excited about the new developments from this trip. This trip also has meant a lot to me personally, so thank you for supporting my development, too!

Pictures from Malawi

Market time!

Bicycle taxis! Most people walk. The middle class rides bikes, and only the very upper class have cars. 

At the market

The kids were pretty camera shy :)

Denise and her entourage of delighted children :)

Cramming in the van for the bumpy 1-hour ride to the village

No caption necessary :)

My amazing friend Tionge. We taught Bible lessons to the children together. He is a gifted teacher!

Our daily meal of rice, greens, tomatoes and chicken. Everything fresh from the farm!

The foundation for a school in Kudoku village. The school was never built because the funds for it were stolen somewhere down the supply chain. Now 700 children in this village do not have access to education past 2nd-3rd grade. 

Now change the world.

I remember entering college wondering if I could make a difference in the world. Now that I'm leaving, the scary thing I've learned is that every action, word, purchase, relationship changes the world, it's just a matter of how.

Our lack of humility is not primarily from too high a view of ourselves, but too low a view of God.

What I've learned is that I matter so much more profoundly to God, every moment is more significant, and God is so much more good, amazing, beautiful, powerful, wise than I ever knew.

Lilies of the Valley

After two successful fundraisers, thanks to the support of many friends, I'm at almost 90%! About $400 left to raise, plus paying for travel immunizations (about $300). 

I never thought I would make it this far! I'm so thankful to God and the people who supported me.

This has been a crazy couple of weeks, with 3 fundraisers, 2 papers, starting finals, travel prep and research! Loving the crazy adventure :). 

Thank you!!!! 

Fundraising Fail

Selling pizza in libraries and study lounges during finals week sounds like a GREAT fundraiser, right?

Checklist:

• Paper plates
• Napkins
• A bunch of $1s and $5s for change
• Price calculation ($2/slice gives us a profit of $8/pizza)
• Time
• Location (UCSD's finals are after my fundraising deadline... had to go to SDSU instead)
• Most importantly.... pizza!

After finding parking and walking around an unfamiliar campus and study lounges, NOT ONE PERSON bought a slice. Though plenty of people had compliments on our brilliant fundraising scheme, and several people enjoyed sending us on wild goose chases to bother their friends. 

Fail. 

Well, at least we have lots of pizza to eat. 

$2200 left to fundraise in 2 weeks! 

The Dark Side of Chocolate

We watched the film The Dark Side of Chocolate this weekend.

The film is a heartbreaking story of child trafficking, slavery and labor in the Ivory Coast. The journalists follow the trafficking and slavery process from beginning to end. They interview people in the trafficking business and the anti-trafficking fight. They confront blatant lies and cover-ups and expose the tragic truth.

This little girl they intercepted in the trafficking process. She had open sores on her legs and said that her family will be disappointed that she is returning.

The film had great potential in its story telling, but an incredibly disappointing ending. After such an incredible story with great footage, the film ends with the journalists berating major chocolate companies to no avail. The last scene is broadcasting the film on a giant screen in front of a chocolate factory.

This is such an unfortunate ending to me because it provides no action steps. Addressing the chocolate industry is only a partial solution at best, and aggressive smear campaigns have not worked as well as positive reinforcement for the companies who are fair trade. The film gives no clues for consumer activism (how do I make sure to buy slave-free chocolate?) or any other viewer action step.

Ultimately, the film is like a well-designed, visually striking lamp with no light bulb.

You make everything glorious

Thank You for encouraging my heart, Lord. 

Our team had a great meeting on Sunday and hangout on Monday. It was refreshing and encouraging to my soul to hear how others struggle with fundraising like me. My team came around me and supported me, praying for me and coming up with all sorts of creative and generous ways to help me. I'm also continually thankful for Kenny, who drives me everywhere I need to be and walks every step of this journey with me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!