I am so inspired by Good Shepherd Volunteers (GSV), the Sisters of Good Shepherd, and all that they do. I had already fallen in love with what GSV does in Thailand and their overall focus on women, adolescents, and children. However, in the midst of preparing to go away for a year, I didn’t have a chance to fully explore all that GSV does before orientation began.
Here are some quotes and highlights after my 10 days of orientation in the U.S.:
- “It is not enough that you love people; people need to know that you love them.” ~St. Mary Euphrasia (founder of the Sisters of Good Shepherd)
- There is a volunteer who will be working in public policy, to help change laws and advocate for women, youth, and children in the state of New York.
- I learned about Handcrafting Justice. They work with 20+ different sites around the world, in which artisans create and design their own goods to sell fair-trade across the world and set their own price for their goods. Hands of Hope, where I’ll be working this year, is a site like this. Check out the bigger picture at: handcraftingjustice.org
- There are 14 other GSV volunteers that will be volunteering at different U.S. placements. They will be working in various settings, like a high school for emotionally disturbed youth, temporary and more permanent housing for women and youth, etc.
Now that I have arrived safely in Thailand and have had a couple of days of orientation to my new life for the next year, the inspiration and need of the people in Nongkhai and beyond continues to unfold:
- There is the story of Sister Mary, who worked with people in Vietnam for years, and had to get air-lifted out of Vietnam for safety reasons during the Vietnam War (actually, from what I understand, it was more due to the safety of the people she was helping rather than her own safety). She eventually ended up in Thailand, came to Nongkhai, and started so much of what is happening here. And she’s still got a spunky sense of humor at age 95!
- There are so many programs that the Sisters of Good Shepherd created to help the people in this area. There is the Children’s Sponsorship program, which provides support to children as they attend school - everything from financial support so the children do not have to work, uniforms, school supplies, assistance with transportation to & from school... They currently assist 530 children, from a young age all the way through the university if they’re lucky and have generous sponsors.
- There is the Regina Women’s Self-Help Center, which was founded as a place to provide women employment and training. They work in a sewing/weaving center and fulfill orders both locally and internationally.
- There is the Village Vocational Training Center. This provides support and seminars and follow-up for sustainable farming in northeastern Thailand.
- What is intriguing about all of these programs is that they have morphed and changed over the years, and they will continue to do so - based on social, economic, sustainable and other changes in the environment (sometimes even changes caused by the good these programs have brought over the years; the initial issue becomes less of an issue and so the Sisters of Good Shepherd appropriate the focus/resources differently).
And then there is the need of the people of Nongkhai and northeastern Thailand. Within 36 hours of our arrival, a mother and daughter asked whether John and I would be willing to assist the mother with ongoing, post-stroke physical therapy with the hope of walking again, because the daughter will be leaving for nursing assistant schooling in two months...
I will write more of this need in the coming year, but alas, my jet-lag and sleepiness from the heat is finally catching up with me tonight (although I am much better on day 3 than I was on day 2).
As I wrote, I watched a lizard climb all over the window-frame and back down it and eventually out the door. These lizards are everywhere! And they make a funny noise, that sounds way louder than it seems something their size should be able to make. They eat bugs and I’m told there’s no way to keep them out, so I guess we’re roommates!
Before I close my eyes for sleep, let me leave you with one of the primary mottos/themes of GSV that has been universal in our training thus far:
Just love.