...the idea has become a reality...


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April 13th 2008
Published: April 13th 2008
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Wow...some of you may have guessed (or heard from me already) that we are going to have visitors.

yep...after four months of proposal writing, court dates, embassy paperwork and well...a lot of begging, we have finally managed to organize the pilot project for the the "San Jhon" Make a Journey project.

Namthip, "Nam" was selected by Rotjana and the other staff back in December to be the first participant to journey to Canada and homestay with me here for a month. So here's the update.

Despite not having passports, or proper documents or any idea of how to do this at all, we managed to:

** Get legal "Orphan" status for Nam (with no parents and missing certificates of death and other paperwork, this piece was the largest hurdle). This piece was also the most important because even if it didn't result in Nam being able to travel or obtain a passport, it has given her legal papers. Now instead of just being a body somewhere in the Tsunmai recovery zone, she has a legal identity...and legally, her parent's name. This will allow her so many freedoms in the future.

** Obtain a passport for bothKwang (chaperone and DPF staff person) and Nam (as the Duang Prateep Foundation is now her legal guardian...not just institutional caregiver, they were able to sign for her application for a passport.

** Obtain the Visas from the Canadian embassy to travel and staff with myself for a total of 20 days.

While the original plan was a month, 20 days is an amazing gift in itself!

So now I am on to the mad planning stage! They will arrive as earlier as April 26 (two weeks from now basically!) and I need to get so much done....

Keep in touch all...there will be more pictures and details posted as things come together!



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13th April 2008

No Easy Feat I'm Sure
Congrats on all your hard work!! How exciting to be able to bring her over to stay with you and experience our world, so far separated from all the suffering. Please continue to keep posting, Krystal
14th April 2008

exciting!!
This is so exciting to read, Steph, I cant wait to hear how it all goes.
18th April 2008

excellent. will we get a chance to meet her?

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