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Leaving on a jet plane. We discussed the defining moments, frustrations, and what we plan to take away from the trip.
“Even if you feel like you can’t do everything, it’s better to do something and do what you can than to do nothing.”
The phrase that we’ve come back to again and again during this trip when looking at all the problems of creating the “best” program to help CSEC victims.
This is a video commercial promoting the faith-based non profit that we volunteered at, Jars of Clay.
We’ve discussed the role of faith-based organizations in the fight against CSEC and poverty, and the benefits and limitations of these groups.
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Surprise #3: The Watershow at the Fountain of the Olympic Centennial Park! Beautiful!
Dodgeball with the at-risk youth of Jars of Clay.
Today we visited a site called Jars of Clay. It is essentially a house that hosts girls who have been victimized by commercial sex trafficking and have a desire to get off the streets. As we drove down to the site, I noticed how desolate and impoverished the neighborhood was in comparison to the flashy side of Atlanta we have encountered so far. Jars of Clay was set right in the midst of it all. The lady who runs the place, Catina, had so much passion for the work the organization carried out. It is not funded by the government, there is absolutely no external financial support, but it runs on faith, as she put it (Jars of Clay was founded by a preacher who hosts a congregation on the site. Food and money donations are provided by the congregation members). Our work at the site was to clean the kitchen—which needed a lot of work, mind you—as well as the bathroom and dorm rooms in which the children resided. Another interesting thing to note is that due to the sheer number of children in need of a place like JC, the organization no longer caters to just sex trafficked girls but also homeless and neighborhood kids who need a safe haven in the given surroundings. It is a very brave task, I think. If only there were a hundred thousand more of places like that in the state of Georgia or even beyond. Princeton students definitely proved that they took everything as a challenge, including domestic work. We left the place spotless and even cooked a wonderful dinner for the kids . Afterwards we played with them outside, danced, laughed. It was great but it left a sadness in my heart concerning how much our efforts for the day had counted. But I guess that the kids knowing that there are people who care is good enough.
Vivienne and Rafael ballroom dancing in the Centennial Olympic Park after a long day of volunteering at Jars of Clay and dinner with Stephanie Davis!
