Lotus Initiative

It has been such a pleasure to be in Thailand again.  Today the sun is shining brightly - strangely enough I haven't felt the tourist urge to go BBQ my skin in it.  I have happily sat inside and caught up on school work. I will go watch the sunset with a friend and enjoy a coconut later today.  Ah....fresh coconut....nature's electrolytes (and tasty too).

I also find I have so many great idea's of how to move here in Thailand - professionally, philanthropically, and personally.  I know they are all great idea's.  I remain quiet now and wait for the "direct" answer.  I am led into my path by the divine guidance of life.

In the next year I see myself here in Thailand 6 months out of the year.  I envision setting up some businesses that will allow me to work out my desired goals to help provide a true income for the women choosing to no longer submit themselves to the sex trade industry.  A recent statistic is that this industry, in Asia alone, grossed more than 1.5 BILLION USD$$$  last year alone.  Somehow I am not surprised, having lived here and witnessed it for so long.

I took a walk down "Bangla Road" in Patong two nights ago.  My stomach turned.  When I walk past the bars and see the men sitting in there and these young women subjecting themselves to alcohol poisoning, lurid comments, scantily clad clothes......typically with an undertone of some drug consumption to make it through the evening....I want to vomit.  Maybe this is because I have personally been effected by having my ex-husband take these women before....maybe it is because I also know these women and it breaks my heart.  Our skin colors and origin may be different.  But I am not so different than they are.  I have been that woman trying to please a man that could care less.

I hear so many people proclaim that all women are looking for a man.  I would like to add to that statement.....they are seeking an instinctual sense of security and family.  It is a woman's nature to want to take care of their loved ones.  These men are preying upon this desire to exploit it for their underhanded demands.  Most men come here and want a maid - cook - sex toy.  They do not want a woman with an opinion or mind of their own.  I pose a question....if they did want an equal....why wouldn't they be in their culture discovering that equal woman that they could grow with?  Only they can answer those questions.

I see the broken pieces of a woman that need tending too.  In the end, most men flit from flower to flower. In Thailand, we call them "butterfly."  So when they are bored with the current women....they find another flower. Typically, they have exhausted the flower - drained it of all energy - life - laughter - and love.  When that is all gone...then they seek another to consume.  Morbid!!

My goal is to provide a source of income for these women.  I will call it the Lotus Initiative.  A lotus flower rises above the mud and muck....even the fish and water....towards the sunlight.  In the light they blossom and flourish.  I will find a way to rise up these women and allow them to blossom in the light that they have been kept from.