My name was once Mark Pham.
A few things have changed. I got into a few planes. I’ve developed non-committal arrangements with whatever I might be sleeping on, whether it be couch, floor, or bed. Now I am as I am in Vietnam, hoping to find something greater than myself.
My name is Phạm Bảo Thạch. I volunteer in Vietnam with the group Volunteers in Asia.
I will be a professor at An Giang University. I will be instructing first-year pedagogy teachers in English conversation and comprehension, and am definitely excited to be contributing to the development in this community.
I came for many reasons. My ambition is to end the child sex slave trade that runs through the Mekong Delta between Vietnam and Cambodia. The An Giang Province in Vietnam is one of the most frequented spots for the trafficking of Vietnamese people. If you wonder why I chose to work in Long Xuyen, a city you’ve never heard of, my “heart is there, not anywhere else,” as mother once conceded.
View Larger Map
In March, I was fortunate enough to receive a fellowship from the Ford Foundation to formulate a project to pursue this very issue. On my birthday, I will introduce my new initiative to end this travesty. I hope, as a gift, you will be my audience.
In this blog, I will inform you of my personal struggles along with the progress of the project. I hope you will enjoy my account, perhaps keep it marked or tagged somewhere good.
