Day one of Justifi Thailand 2014 began as the participants trickled into the Khoasan Holiday Hotel, visibly feeling the effects of the grueling 15-hour flight. Rabbi Jamie Cowland, the founder of Justifi and group leader, called us in to sit and formally introduce ourselves to the group of about 20 culturally diverse and unquestionably enthusiastic group members.
After meeting the participants, we set out to a shelter home established for the protection, education, and care of young girls who had been exposed to varying levels of cruelty and abuse through the human trafficking and prostitution cycle in Thailand. The founder of the home, named the ‘Home of New Beginnings’, is a wonderful woman named Bonita, who had ventured off to retire in Thailand with her husband after previously working as a school principle in San Francisco for thirty years. What she found was an incredibly poignant issue that had festered under the mask of Bangkok’s modernity and innovative appearance. What she also found was an opportunity to make a difference.
Through a nearly five-hour lecture she explained every step of the trafficking process. She described every challenge to putting an end to the officially illegal activities, which has a list that stretches on and on. It begins with northern families in severe economic hardship willingly sending their daughters to Bangkok, as prostitution is a comparatively profitable opportunity. Police are corrupt, at times even owning a stake in the businesses. Western men steadily flow into the city to supply the industry, which contributes to a significant part of the country’s GDP. Most importantly, a deeply rooted Buddhist value system puts emphasis on one’s Karma. This means that whatever abuse or cruelty or evil a young girl may face is merely brought about as a consequence of her actions in a past life. It is a submissive mindset to stay quiet, and to endure.
The air was uncomfortably thick with emotion inside the room as Bonita told story after story of unthinkable horrors that took place to the girls whom now lived in her shelter. I felt utterly embarrassed to be a man in the room, embarrassed to be American, embarrassed to be part of the human race. I was embarrassed that I had ever thought I had experienced pain in my life, or had faced challenges. After hearing the stories of real pain and abuse these young teenage girls had faced by parents, cousins, and employers, my eyes immediately closed, while my head bowed and slowly shook. I felt nauseous, disgusted, confused, and yet, eventually, appreciative. I thought of the incredibly privileged life I live, and how I am now thankful for the opportunities I have been given, and the love I have received. I am also hopeful for the girls in Bonita’s home that are now climbing out of their past lives and receiving the love, care, and attention they deserve to lead better lives for themselves and their families.
We spoke to the girls for a little while and then after leaving Bonita’s shelter we walked as a group through the ‘red light’ district of Bangkok, passing a string of bars in broad daylight, and seeing the textbook signs Bonita described right before our eyes: a older American man with a young Thai girl draped on his arm. Before? I would think nothing of it. Now? I know better.
After finally returning to the hotel it was around dinnertime as we visited the Chabad nearby, which served some really good Israeli food in the middle of Thailand, which is amazing to even write. Tonight happened to be New Years Eve, and we were somehow able to unwind from a very emotional day and celebrate in the pulsing energy of thousands down the central and merchant-lined Khoasan Road. Music blasted, drinks were served, and everyone had a good time. Thailand is coined the ‘land of smiles’, and that much was clear in the pure happiness that permeated throughout the air tonight.
Today was a conflicting day. One part horribly bad, another unmistakably enjoyable. This is clearly going to be a trip I will never forget.