Today has been one of those days.

Those days where you feel incredibly insignificant. powerless. ineffective. hopeless.

Yep, that was today.

Today was the day we learned of the Hmong (mong) people of Laos.

We learned of their suffering. sorrows. plight. despair.

We watched documentation of a very young boy who had been stabbed so deeply that his intestines spilled out and hung externally from his left side. "Mommy my tummy hurts" were the only words he could mutter.

Through this documentation we heard of a mother who had was forced to flee her home in the jungle because the Lao military was bombing her village....she had just given birth...she didn't even have time to see if it was a boy or girl, let alone cut the umbilical cord. She just ran with new life in her arms.

The most difficult thing for me to deal with right now is that it was our fault. The United States of America contributed to their affliction.

In the beginning of the Vietnam War the CIA recruited the Hmong men to help protect their soldiers, to fight communism. The Hmong fought and died alongside American soldiers and as soon as the war was over the U.S. abandoned them. While they did resettle Hmong people in California, the majority were left in the jungles of Laos. They have nothing left. No homes. No food (they eat the roots of trees to survive). No families.

The Laos government is wiping them out through bombs. bullets. starvation. rape. mutilation.

Over 30 years later the sons and grandsons of those Vietnam War veterans are still trying to survive. With only a few guns leftover from a war that occurred in the 70's they have nothing to protect themselves with. Surrendering is not an option, for as soon as they do they are jailed or killed. All they want is to live in peace.

The Hmong people need our help. our prayers. our love. It is up to us to try to make it right. To put pressure on Governments, United Nations, the ICC.

A little bit of peace and some love from Thailand.

Learn with me:

I have been trying to find a way to relay the massive amounts of information that I am learning about to the world....a phone call or one time conversation is not sufficient enough, therefore, after I learn something from each day I will post the documentaries we watched, articles we read, organizations we have met with, or books that have been recommended so that you can follow this semester with me...and so we can put a spotlight on these atrocities.

Please take the time to check out at least a few.

Documentaries to watch:

"Hunted Like Animals" (plight of the Hmong people..graphic, but so are their lives..they see these things everyday...I think we can handle it for 1 hour).

"Trading Women" (trafficking of women)

"Sacrifice" (prostitution in Thailand).

Books: