Baby face

Last night I met the youngest student at the Well(http://servantworks.org/well), who was working at the bars as a prostitute. She is now 13.

I have met quite a few baby faces like her. They are just girls. They are 13-15. They love to chat, laugh, pretty things. When I saw them, it's hard to imagine that they used to be selling their bodies, and it turns my stomach to think that some men would want to pay to rob their innocence. These men's daughters or granddaughters would have been older than them, and they would have been cat-fighting with their peers over some freckle faced boy in school.

These girls look just like normal girls, though compare to Caucasian girls, they are much smaller in stature and thinner. They mostly come from the very poor region of north-east Isan, with parents died young or being abandoned, or sold to be working in Bangkok to send money home. They all have too much life story for their age.

My heart was broken the first time I visited the Well, when I met Bo, a skinny bright faced happy girl of 14. She was very talkative, and of course I couldn't understand much. She was showing off the English words she learned that day, and she was also learning math. Her aunt was also there. I had thought her aunt was a prostitute and came to the Well, and brought her along. But later I found the contrary - Bo was working in the bars as a prostitute, and got rescued by the Well, and her aunt lost her husband and was devastated, and Bo brought the aunt to the Well.

I have visited the Well a couple of times now, and as my Thai is improving, I can hold a couple of minutes longer conversation with the girls. The girls are rough girls, I learned. They were street kids, and have to carry edges around them. Sometimes they would fight. At the Well, they learn English, math, and more importantly, God's love. They are not worthless as they have learned from their society and culture, but are absolutely loved by a father they never had. They start to learn to respect themselves and others.

Jim and Judy who have started the Well are amazing people. They have poured out their lives on it. It's definitely hard and heart-breaking work. Some girls would go back to their old life, as money does come much easier, and they have to feed their drug addictions which they acquired during their prostitution. They said they have learned that they can't change people, but all they learned is to love them, and love them more.

The Well's website is http://servantworks.org/well. And Jim's blog tells a lot more about what's going on.

The girls are learning a few crafts. The ones I've come to know more are all making jewelries. They have excellent workmanship, and the pieces are beautiful. Some of their work can be seen and purchased at http://narimon.org/.