Encouraged by Her Courage

November has been such a beautiful month for me. 

 I had the opportunity to meet with a group of sweet high school girls right at the start of the month. The interact group from Kedron State High School invited me to speak with them about my passion for the girls in Cambodia and the Somaly Mam Foundation.

Two weeks after that memorable afternoon (and only two weeks ago), I was honoured to see Somaly Mam again, in person. Somaly Mam's smile to so strong, so powerful that you forget that she ever suffered as a sex slave. She was so generous with me as I shared with her my encounter with the Kedron State High School girls. I told her "We love your girls, so much, there's a whole number of ladies in Brisbane, who passionately care for your little girls."

Somaly Mam spoke with delight about her girls, she share how they're in the process of learning to forgive. 

"They are forgiving their past to embrace their future"

Every time I meet with Somaly Mam I'm truly encouraged by her courage and the courage of her girls to live again, to laugh and to play over and over, it reminds me that there is no excuse to ignore joy.

Somaly Mam and I in Melbourne, November 2012

These girls had raised over $150 for the Somaly Mam foundation. When I first heard of this I shed a tear, this is the amount it would cost to purchase a girl out of the horror of sexual slavery.

Somaly Mam receiving the hand written card that the Kedron State High School girls asked me to give her.