As you all know, it has been a great year volunteering
with the Beautiful Dream Society in Lesotho, Africa. Beautiful Dream Society is
an anti-trafficking organization with four ‘arms’- Prevention (we do advocacy and awareness events with vulnerable
populations, direct service professionals, and law enforcement, amongst
others), Prosecution (we provide
legal assistance and support, including preparing victims for the court
process), Protection (we have a
crisis care shelter and transition home where we provide comprehensive care for
victims rescued out of human trafficking), and Partnerships (we network with the local government,
Non-Governmental Organizations, Hospitals, etc. in order to provide optimal
services for our residents).
During 2012, I have been the Program Director for BDS and I
was responsible for overseeing and running the Protection arm of the
organization. I get to work with the residents on a daily basis, oversee the
staff and resident schedules, and mentor the house moms that staff the shelter
24/7. It has been an amazing opportunity and I have learned so much about
managing people, social working, and overcoming challenges such as language
barriers and cross-cultural issues in counseling. Here is a brief account of
what I consider to be the top 5 things that I have been able to accomplish in
the past year:
-I have had the privilege of counseling 8 victims of human
trafficking on a weekly basis. I usually get to begin counseling them
immediately after rescue through their time in our transition program- usually
a 6-12 month process.
-I was blessed to be able to counsel several children who
were victims of sexual assault or abuse through BDS as well as through the
Child/Gender Protection Unit of the Lesotho police.
-I wrote and implemented an art therapy based Trauma
Aftercare Curriculum to be used in our 12 week Crisis Care Program. I have also
trained several of our house moms to administer the program in my absence,
should I be called back to the U.S. at any point.
-I helped design the Hand of Hope Transformation Center
Program and have overseen its execution.
-I have presented counseling techniques, case studies, and
defined human trafficking to hundreds of direct service professionals here in
Southern Africa. I have finally conquered my fear of public speaking!
It has been an amazing and productive year, but there are
still several things that I hope to accomplish before my time with BDS is up.
Therefore, I will be returning 10 January 2013 for another 6-12 months in order
to complete the following goals:
-I hope to design and implement an Equine Assisted
Psychotherapy program for our residents; I have had some training in this back
in the States, and I completed an externship as well. It is one of the MOST
effective treatment strategies for victims of trauma. I have found a nearby
riding stable that is willing to donate ring space and horses for us to make
this happen!
-We received a grant from Oral Roberts University to create
a therapy space on both of our properties; we should receive the money in
January 2013 and I hope to be here to design the space and see the project
through to completion.
-I would like to create a more comprehensive outpatient
program for victims of trafficking that chose to go directly home to their
families rather than coming to the shelter, as well as for victims of sexual
assault and abuse. It is our vision to open a ‘skills training facility’ in
2013 that offers counseling and life and work skills training on an outpatient
basis.
-We want to expand our prevention and advocacy services
regionally into South Africa, with the potential opening of an additional
shelter in either Capetown or Durban in the next 1-3 years.
This next year I would especially appreciate prayer, but I
also need financial support as I am here solely on a volunteer basis. Please
prayerfully consider supporting me financially as I try to raise $16,000 in
order to cover my living and travel expenses, health insurance, and student
loans. I have listed specific support opportunities below. If you want to help
support my trip financially you can contribute with a one time donation or
monthly support via Beautiful Dream Society’s website
(http://www.beautifuldream.tv/give) and be sure to indicate my name in the
‘notes’ section of the online donation form. You may send checks, with my name
on the memo line, to:
Beautiful Dream Society
P.O. Box 32554
Oklahoma City, OK
73123
USA
I will also be
keeping a blog, karininafrica.blogspot.com, where you can keep up to date on
the work that we are doing as well as linking to prayer needs, photos, and my
support link. Thank you so much for your prayers and support, I could not do
this without the encouragement of my amazing family and friends!
God Bless,
Karin
This year I need to raise about $16,000, due to my student
loans coming out of deferment and a potential shift in my housing. Please be
praying about financially supporting me during my second stint here in Lesotho!
Here are some specific needs that you can meet financially
in the coming year (projections are based on my staying for 12 months, I have
committed to 6 months with the possibility of staying on if my finances allow
it):
International Health Insurance; in the event that I am in an
accident or need any type of medical care, this insurance covers me in Lesotho
and South Africa- $650
Plane Ticket; I will need to purchase airfare to come home next
summer for a brief furlough and to be in my best friend’s wedding: $2,000
Gym Membership; there is not a whole lot that is ‘normal’
about my life here, but we do have a gym, and it is my main source of stress relief!:
$40 per month/$480 total
Student Loan Payment; I am very blessed to be able to be
here in Africa and gain amazing experience- but I am still paying off my
graduate school loans: $100 per month/$1200 total
License Renewal; in order to maintain my status as a
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, I have to renew it in March: $120
Rent; while I love my BDS team here, it has been a really
tough year to live where you work with all of your co-workers. I think that it
is in my best interest to live off-site this next year so that I can avoid
burn-out and do my job to the best of my ability: $250 per month/$3000 total
Groceries; I do need to eat!: $150 per month/$1800 total
Car; this is a big ‘wish’ on my end- Beautiful Dream Society
has a limited number of cars for a lot of staff/residents/volunteers. If I am
able to afford to live off-site, I would need a vehicle to get back and forth
to work, as it is not safe to take taxi’s after dark and I generally work into
the evenings: $3,500.
Extra Expenses; gas, transport money, program supplies,
spending money (I should note that whenever you ask someone to hang out, it is
cultural that you pay for everything- volunteering makes it very hard to have
friends!), etc.: $200 per month/$2400 total
