Marching Orders

This afternoon I found out who I will be working with in Laos. There are about 14 interns headed to Laos working with about 4 groups. I will be working with CARE, along with another intern, who is from Georgia State. CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. They place special focus on working alongside poor women. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives. CARE's main goals in Laos are rural development – training people with the skills and tools they need to find long-term work and to look after their land; running reproductive health schemes to ensure that men and women understand major health issues such as HIV and AIDS; and preventing the spread of bird flu by educating people about the risks and how to prevent it. Specifically, Melissa, the other intern, and I have been told that we will be working with female sex workers and female factory workers. The group does not have much of a legal arm, but BABSEA is encouraging us to help encourage a legal tie-in with the great statistics CARE compiles. We were told that because CARE is a very large NGO, and very visible, the government keeps a close eye on what they are doing surveying factory workers or sex workers. So, the interns, always getting the plush jobs, go in to these arenas and, posing as tourists, run surveys. Laos supposedly has legal equality between men and women, but in practice this is often not the case. They survey's are meant to help close this gap.

For those of you who know me, would probably have never of guessed I'd be running covert ops with Lao sex workers or factory workers, but I'm really excited about my placement. I've never really thought hard about women's issues, but I'll be seeing them up close day to day starting in a few weeks. Each day I am realizing more and more how this summer will have a huge impact on my life and how I think about the law's power and the gross inequities that exist, and are allowed to exist, in nation's that the West considers democratic.

No pictures yet, but on Sunday we are doing a hike, so there should be some shots coming soon. We've been in training most of the day, so not a lot of time to indulge in my shutterbug urges. I've been in Thailand for 3 days, and haven't even been in a wat (temple) yet. This is almost impossible to do here.

Below is a link to CARE's website if you're interesting in more information. I hope this finds you well.

CARE International