Take every child as your daughter

A couple of months ago, my friend introduced me to a organisation called Maiti Nepal. Founded by Anuradha Koirala in 1993 along with teachers, journalists and social workers, Maiti Nepal was "born out of crusade to protect Nepali girls & women from crimes such as domestic violence, trafficking for flesh trade, child prostitution, child labour and various forms of abuse, exploitation and torture". 

You can find out their history and further detail of what they do by checking out their website www.maitinepal.org. I have been amazed learning about the depth of their work. These people save women and children from horrific circumstances and give them a new life including education and job opportunities - but most importantly a HOME. They empower these individuals to have a value of self worth regardless of what they have been put through and encourage them to hold a positive outlook for their future. 

More than 15000 women and children are trafficked from Nepal each year, some as young as 7 years old. 150000 - 300000 Nepalese girls age 7-24 are currently estimated to be in brothels in India forced to serve up to 50 men a day. Maiti Nepal raids brothels to rescue victims and identify traffickers.  

They also work to shut down these barbaric trades too, to date Maiti Nepal have 357 rape cases prosecuted, 1200 traffickers convicted and have intercepted 30000 women and girls from potential risk of trafficking with their education and community outreach programmes. 

As well as 38 national and international awards, in 2010, Anuradha was declared a CNN Hero as a result of her compassion and fight against human trafficking. She is a truly inspiring individual who I have loved learning more about. Her words have touched the heart of many and the title of this blog post is taken from something I heard her say in the film 'The day my God died'. I urge you to watch it, although emotional.

equALL is teaming up with club night Aberboomtique on the 12th of Aug'16 in Aberdeen for a joint fundraising and awareness night for Maiti Nepal. With the mighty Aberboomtique atmosphere and music we will also have local stall owners including fair trade clothing, face painting, raffle with amazing prizes, party games and guaranteed glitter. 

Artwork by Alice Brown

UPDATE! Our joint night with Aberboomtique was a success - £632 for Maiti Nepal. We received this message of thanks...

We cut our calories for Kenya

Successfully completed a 3 week fast of 300 calories per day last Sunday!

This week introducing food back in has actually been worse than cutting it out in the first place. 

However, we raised £617.75 for The Gathimba Edwards Foundation (we had a few more donations since the poster below was made!) which is way more than we expected and something we are very proud about. This will make a great difference to the lives of the children across Kenya.

https://www.facebook.com/equallmovement/?pnref=lhc

What I found was, PREP! I am already vegan so I think this helped me, but I found my body didn't suffer cutting out everything at once. WATER keeping hydrated was key, it kept hunger down and helped me when I felt tired, weak and dizzy. SMART I didn't waste my 300 calories on rubbish, only good foods. MOTIVATION constantly reminding myself why I was fasting in the first place, (aaand wishing to succeed and prove people wrong who said the fast was a bad idea or too extreme). 

http://gathimbaedwardsfoundation.org/

It feels good knowing that since April, equALL have raised over £1000. Me and Joe have more plans and hopefully be involved in another event next month. My inspiration comes from normal people who have made differences. These may be local differences, global movements or simply those who speak out for what they believe despite being ridiculed/ignored. I have huge respect for anyone who dedicates time and effort into something they believe will make the world a better place. You don't need loads of money, contacts or approval to make a difference, be the change you want to see. 

Some incredible documentaries that I found life changing are

UNITY - https://unitythemovement.com/ 

From the creator of 'Earthlings' Unity explores a world without opposites. Guaranteed to make you think and reevaluate what is truly important.

RACING EXTINCTION - http://racingextinction.com/the-film/

A team of artists and activists expose the issues of endangered species and mass extinction. Beautifully filmed documentary with Oscar winner Louie Psihoyos who you may recognise from 'The Cove' Documentary.

'HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD' - http://howtochangetheworldmovie.com/

The birth of a worldwide green movement in the 70s and how a group of hippies became Greenpeace. 

DAY 11

Day 11 of the equALL Food Fast for GEF! Halfway there.

The fast hasn't been as bad as I expected. Day 5 was the only day I really felt it, no energy, tired, confused, feeling sick. The couple of days around that I would fall asleep for hours finding it hard to wake up. In general I just feel lethargic. I haven't actually experienced much hunger pains. My body on the outside has reacted quite well so far (apart from bags under my eyes!).

I have been keeping to the 300kcal limit so far by cooking small portions of things like quinoa, lentils, cous cous or mixed beans as my bigger meal of the day. My other is normally something like celery, hummus or courgette. Meals have been quite bland and boring although I've added spices to a lot. I miss alcohol and social eating the most.

http://gathimbaedwardsfoundation.org/kevin-monster-ekele/

However, the bigger picture is this...
Every day I fast I encourage people to donate. In Kenya a little can go a long way. If we raise £300 which is our target then that means a village of kids can be fed. It costs approx £20 to feed all 22 children in the Pavilion Village (children's home - GEF first project) breakfast, lunch and dinner per day.

The fast also helps to spread the word out about The Gathimba Edwards Foundation! The foundation depend of volunteers and donations so it is important that we try and help advertise the great work that they do. With yearly volunteer trips to Kenya to help build houses etc, to their Sponsor a child programme, I am glad our fast can introduce new people to this charity.

This fast has also helped me to further realise the importance of food and how lucky we are. After this fast I will focus more heavily on how much I eat, what I eat and cut down on food waste. Local food banks, food sharing apps such as OLIO and buying local are all very important ways that you can make a difference to the insane food waste problems we face as a society.

Please continue your support! gofundme.com/equallfast

The GEF equALL food fast

On the 20th equALL took on it's second fundraising challenge.

Disadvantaged children across the world suffer from the harsh effects of malnutrition, abuse, neglect, abandonment and disease. I met Myles Edwards at a networking meeting through my job in 2015, his positive and motivated outlook made me more determined to start something up to help causes I believe in, which resulted in the creation of equALL along with Joe earlier this year. 

Myles runs the charity The Gathimba Edwards Foundation (click the name to find out more). His charity has made a significant difference to the lives of many children in the Iten, Chaka, Karatina, Eldoret and Kitale regions of Kenya. GEF gives kids in Kenya a true chance to live their lives as children but also to develop as adults. 

GEF pay for food for the kids as a short term support before investing in sustainable solutions, for them to support themselves. Which I think is great. They also, with the help of volunteers, sponsorship's and donations, have completely transformed a children's home, put children back into education, support 230 children with shelter, clothing and food and hold educational seminars discussing topics such as gender equality, self esteem and sexual health. 

So to our fast...

I am consuming no more than 300 calories a day for 3 weeks, Joe is on 600 for 2 weeks (still significantly less than his usual intake. He is currently training Muay Thai so can't do less). We also have interest from other people to take part in the last week or 2. All money raised from our fast will be donated to The Gathimba Edwards Foundation. 

It's day 3 and I feel fine right now, not sure I'll be saying the same in a week time, but we are aware of the dangers to our bodies. The way I see it, 3 weeks is nothing to make a difference to those who suffer hunger/malnutrition for a lifetime. £5 can feed a child 3 times a day for a week which is crazy! It's hard with a 300kcal limit, measuring everything out and eating tiny portions, but I'll do it! 

Please donate if you can, even a £! Thank you to our donations so far, very much appreciated from us all. Keep up with my blog to find out how it goes & please share!  

gofundme.com/equallfast

equALL is born!

It has been just over a year since my last blog & since my time at Soi Dog. crazy. Soi was an experience which has stayed with me ever since and I think about my time there almost every day. I have been thinking a lot in the past year about how I could continue to pursue my passion of animal welfare causes and how I could turn my passion into real life change. I don't want to work any old job to save money to come back from volunteering after a few months skint, unemployed and with nowhere to live again and again and again. Instead, I have created equALL along with my friend Joe Espindola. The name meaning 'all equal' was thought up by my friend Emma Booth. Clever.

equALL is already gathering momentum since we discussed starting it up back in January. A summary: We are equALL. With the positive use of art, music and by building up a network of passionate people we aim to raise awareness for important worldwide causes focusing on humanitarian crisis, animal welfare and environmental issues.

We wanted to create something to bring people together. A range of different events.. community projects.. demonstrations.. The goal? To raise awareness of important worldwide causes! One of my blog posts was titled 'The Hidden Secrets of Paradise'. This is similar. There is so much going on in the world - environmental destruction, the results from war and human conflict, animal exploitation, the list goes on. We want to highlight and help the organisations, charities and individuals who are fighting in their (people, animals and our planets')(!) corners. with ALL profits we make going straight to them. Obviously, nobody is a super hero but everyone can take responsibility and make a stand for something that they believe in.

Artwork by Alice Brown http://www.alicesillustrations.com

Our launch night was on 26th April. It was amazing and we were extremely proud. We held a night of music at Downstairs, on Holburn Street Aberdeen. We raised £437.35 for The Bristol Skipchen. Read about these guys HERE, a anti food waste campaign with aims & they are making a real difference to the lives of hundreds of refugees.

Photography by Rob Phillips http://iconosquare.com/robp787

We already have so much planned for the rest of this year.

THIS MONTH A sponsored fast to raise money for villages throughout Africa including funds for The Gathimba Edwards Foundation.

JULY Our next big event. Still in talks with the council for this but if it goes to plan, its going to be good. Without giving too much away - climate change demonstration followed by one big party. In aid of 10:10 (solar schools!).

AUGUST We are teaming up with Aberboomtique for another big event. Bringing attention to the very important but taboo subject of woman and child trafficking in Nepal and the organisation set up to help these victims, MaitiNepal.

Everything is still in the planning stages of course, and we are discussing new ideas all the time. I would love to organise an art event for this summer too (artists please get in touch :)). This week is the last week I will be working 50hrs in my two jobs too, I have decided to cut my hours and concentrate on building equALL. A massive thank you to our friends who have helped us so far, graphic designers, artists, creatives, photographers, musicians, venues, cafes and the growing number of equALL followers! If you would like to help us out, please drop me an email at equallmovement@gmail.com. Keep up to date on Facebook and Instagram! 

It Doesn't Stop Here

I have reached the end of this trip. (and planning is in place for the next one)

There was a heavy rainstorm on my last day here, and one of the runs I've been working in, Overflow, was flooded at the gate. I couldn't leave without saying bye as the 4 pups in there are the sweetest dogs in the world, so had to climb my way inside like Spider Man. I didn't notice until now how much the dogs wait at the gate once you leave, because it was my last day I kept looking back and began to realise, it was quite sad! I am happy knowing that with the growing number of volunteers, these dogs shouldn't go long without attention or a walk outside. Plus, my Hotel and Overflow runs are all adopted. I wish I was able to tell them they have a great future ahead of them, and obviously this makes room for the process to start again with more dogs moved down from Buriram.

Firstly, it is impossible to express my gratitude enough to everyone that has donated at http://www.gofundme.com/jessiessoidogs while I have been here. The total is still growing and has surpassed the £1000 goal, which is amazing! This will help Soi Dog carry on the amazing work I have discussed throughout my blog and they were extremely thankful when I told them! A big thank you to Ishbel Urquhart and the SPCA who donated dog toys/brushes etc - I was unable to take all of it with me but by selling them on the money raised has gone towards to final total.

Secondly, a huge thank you to Kirstie Ross, reporting for the Evening Express, who after reading my blogs wrote an amazing piece in the paper. This will have surely raised more awareness for the foundation and for that I am very grateful. 

Write up in the Evening Express

Thirdly, thank you to each and every person who shared my blogs and gofundme link via social media. I found out about the foundation myself through a video on Facebook and I can guarantee that now a lot more people are aware of Soi Dog and hopefully will be willing to support and follow their work. 

A final massive thank you to all the staff and full time volunteers at the Soi Dog Foundation. The dog keepers who look after the runs work around the clock to care for the number of dogs at the shelter. They wash, feed, clean the runs, break up fights, care for wounds, help volunteers and I hardly ever seen them take a break. The dog captures, who I never seen much of as they are always out on the streets looking for unsterilised dogs, I was told great stories about. They take the job into their own time (24hr response for injured animals) and money (feeding stray animals) so obviously their level of genuine care is a great asset to the foundation. The long stay volunteers were very inspiring and positive people. Most have moved their lives to Thailand to volunteer and they were all extremely helpful to everyone new. Everyone who works in the office on site are also an essential part of Soi Dog. They organise adoptions, volunteers, flight volunteers, donations, social media as well as spending time with the animals. And of course, the vets and medical staff here in the shelter are heroes. Their care and willingness to support and save every animal they are faced with despite the high number of cases shows they are true professionals. 

Dow - one of her many daily duties!

Volunteering here has been so eye opening in many ways. I have learnt so much more about the organisation by experiencing it first hand. This will help me to further spread the word and I was amazed at how much good they really do with additional projects, such as educating local people and the temple work - on top of fighting the dog meat trade and helping abused street animals. By meeting people with similar interests, I have been able to start planning more travelling for next year. I met a girl called Kris, who works closely with animal welfare projects worldwide. She has given me amazing information on these organisations so that I can look into them all and maybe work my travelling around visiting some next year. Thailand is a beautiful place, but I hope more people who visit would realise that animal abuse is most definitely present. There is a great sign in the shelter which details how tourists can actively help cut this down. It is time to stop turning a blind eye. 

I have tried to focus on positive stories in my blogs, like the progress in A1 during my first 2 weeks and unbelievable affection of the dog meat trade survivors despite their experiences with human betrayal, but obviously have picked up on some of the more brutal realities of why these dogs are here in the first place. I hope that the blogs have helped more people realise exactly what the charity do! All of the animals here deserve positive futures and loving families. I have loved getting to know so many of them while I have been here. I have felt my confidence grow as time went on and it was truly heart warming when you see small steps happening in the right direction.

My next plan once I arrive home is to enjoy a little holiday then work EXTREMELY hard to afford my travelling next year. I have always known that I never suited a normal job so I am very excited to travel, visit more animal welfare charities and of course revisit Soi Dog. It has helped meeting so many people who travel, they've given me a lot of tips on places to visit and amazing money saving ideas!

The Go Fund Me link is still live, I will be transferring it to Soi Dog once I am back in the UK on Sunday, if you would still like to donate a little something by then, please do!  

http://www.gofundme.com/jessiessoidogs

One of 4 amazing dogs in Overflow

Hope for the 1'500 - Frosty's Story

Following my blog last week on the horrific Dog Meat trade - I would like to introduce you to Frosty.

I remember watching a video by the Soi Dog Foundation before I planned my trip which showed footage of dogs in cages, destined for slaughter in the most inhumane and terrible ways. There was one dog in particular which stood out to me because his head was stuck outside of the bars. As I have been working with the rescued dogs from the dog meat trade here at the shelter, I was amazed that the little dog with his head stuck between the bars is actually in one of these runs. Soi Dog have put together a short video focusing on Frosty which they have been kind enough to let me use. Please watch below! 

Its amazing seeing the before and after photos, but this footage really hit home how important the organisation is. Spending time with Frosty in the run has been amazing and I cant believe that without Soi Dog this animal along with thousands of others would not be here today.

As John mentions in the video, without government funding, all the dogs saved from the dog meat trade and sent to Buriram would not survive if it wasn't for the money donated by selfless people. In Frostys case, he was sent from the shelter in Buriram to my shelter in Phuket as he has been adopted. There are still approx 1500 dogs to care for there, hopefully raising more awareness will allow for more adoptions and more funding for better facilities. Please donate at http://www.gofundme.com/jessiessoidogs This is now my last week here & I would love to raise as much as possible before I leave. Thank you!