People will often ask where and how we started and had the idea for Be the Change Foundation. Well, when it comes down to it, the answer is really two-fold. Denise Anderson, and, toilets. Two very different things that came together to make one big difference. Don't worry, Denise, your impact was much bigger than the toilets :)
In 2006 when I traveled to Thailand and spent time at the Maetang Tribal Children's Home, I had a lot of time to look around the home, spend time with the children, and get a glimpse of their lives there. MTCH is a home for Tribal children in Thailand. The tribal people are heavily targeted and at risk of being sold into human trafficking in Thailand. This home is a safe haven for these children. They live here during the school year, and attend a public Thai school, receiving an education. Many tribal people in Thailand are not documented citizens. It can be very difficult for them to obtain this paperwork. Without it, they have no status. There is no documentation of their existence. No documentation of their dissappearance. From a paperwork standpoint, they don't exist. Many tribal children do not receive an education. MTCH is working to protect these vulnerable children in Northern Thailand.
I walked around the home and got a good look at the conditions the children were living in. These children were being kept safe, but I just couldn't stand the conditions of the buildings at the home. Again, for the second year in a row I opened my mouth and asked the question: "What can I do to help." I was literally given a "wish list" from the children's home. First on that list was new bathrooms for the little girls. As you can see, the existing structure was unsafe and unsanitary. Had a child gone in and sneezed to hard in there, I was fearful the structure would fall to pieces! But, as important as the danger that the structure posed, this was also an issue of dignity. These children deserve to shower in a building with 4 walls. They deserved to use toilet stalls where the door actually closed all the way. I was told the price tag on this was $5,000. I stood right there and just as I had said the year before, I said "I have no idea how or when, but if you need new bathrooms for these children, I will find a way to do that." My mind was going already and instantly, I knew that in order to raise that amount of money it would have to be done in the form of a non-profit. Belinda, a friend who lives at this children's home in Thailand sort of stared blankly at me. As if to say how exactly are you going to do that? I simply told her I'd do it, I would start a non-profit and just do it. I can't understand why she didn't believe me :) And, thus, Be the Change Foundation was created.
Diane and I estimated it would take us at least 2 years to raise $5,000. We came up with this time frame because in a year about $2,000 in donations had been given to take to Thailand . We just thought to double that and we were guessing 2 years to raise these funds. Well, turns out that Diane and I are not gifted in coming up with timelines like this. By August of 2007, just a little over a year since I had returned from Thailand we sent the remaining funds to Thailand for the bathrooms to be completed. Never did I think we would accomplish this so fast. After our first engagement in February of 2007 when Be the Change raised $2,500 in just two hours, I knew we were wrong on that time line. In fact, we were way off on this figure and time line. By March of 2008, not even two years after it began Be the Change Foundation had raised over $20,000 to stop human trafficking and aid survivors. Diane and I will leave the time line guessing up to others. It is clearly not our gift, which is fine with us:)
Today, in the exact place where Be the Change began in Thailand on June 1, 2006, this is what stands.......
Big dreams come true.
After I returned home in 2006, I had a conversation with Denise about what I wanted to do and that I wanted to raise enough money for new bathrooms. I said to Denise "These kids deserve the best. They deserve to live in a place that reflects their value. I want them to have the cleanest, nicest bathrooms they can. I want Pottery Barn for them!" Then Denise, in her ever so humbling, make you really think, what I call "professor/mom" tone of voice said to me: "That's nice that YOU want all of that, Kara, but that is not what THEY are going to want." Another lesson: giving is not about the giver. Another lesson beyond the walls of the classroom. Those children don't want Pottery Barn. They don't even know what that is! The point of this was to come to them and say "What do you need, what can I do to help you?" Not "This is what I want to do." The children at Maetang don't want fancy. They want to be Thai and they want to be tribal, and this home helps them to maintain their treasured heritage. The point is not to make them something they are not. The purpose was not to go in and say, "This is what I want for you." What I think may be best for them, may not necessarily be the case. These children want what is home for them. What makes them comfortable, what they are used to, what represents their place of birth, their culture and all that makes them the people they are. That is what is right for them.
I love their simplicity. There is a quote and it says "Live simply so that others may simply live." I have no idea who said it, but if I ever start another foundation (Diane please don't run away) maybe I will start here for a name. These children are doing this. They don't need fancy vanities, or expensive tile, or even a shower with a faucet. It's not about looks to them, it's about feeling. I am glad that Denise reminded me of this. Throughout all of this, we just kept saying "They deserve to live in a place that reflects their value and worth. They deserve dignity, they deserve to know they matter." They now have a place that reflects this. They have a simple building, with four walls to shower behind and toilets that flush, that can help send the message you matter. I have been asked why I cared so much about the bathrooms. Why do we care so much about these particular children, there are thousands of children in the world with problems. Why these children, why this issue of dignity? I met these children, I played with them, I hugged them, I sang and ate with them. In a matter of hours, I grew to love them. When we left those children and that home that night, I cried the entire ride back to the city of Chiang Mai (I was alot of fun in the car on that ride!). Why bathrooms, why these children? Because they matter enough and they deserve it. It's that simple.
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