For the win
Thanks to all of you who showed your support in January, I'm excited to announce that The Human, Earth Project is now one of 5 worldwide finalists for the 2015 best topical weblog award! The Human, Earth Project blog records the life-changing experiences of my...
Stay young
This week marks another birthday for both myself and The Human, Earth Project, and a perfect opportunity for a spot of navel-gazing. It's incredible to think it's now been more than ten years since I began travelling the globe. My adventures then, although they seemed...
Meet Ethos
In 2010, I was living in a small mountain town in northern Vietnam. In that town I became friends with M and P, two teenaged Hmong girls from a neighbouring village who were later abducted and sold across the Chinese border. Last year, I spent three months in that...
Two dollars
I'm generally a very tolerant person who prefers to avoid physical confrontation, and Laotians tend to be extremely calm and easy-going people. That's why it came as a surprise when three largely-uneventful weeks in Laos ended with a team of Laotian border guards...
No news is good news
I apologise for not having written earlier; I was too busy writing. The last time I wrote to you all was on my final day in Vietnam, and today - three weeks later - is my final day in Laos. They've been three highly rewarding weeks. I've finally...
How far we’ve come
The Human, Earth Project, as you all know, is an ongoing campaign to raise awareness of human trafficking. Having achieved more with the Project in 2014 than anyone dared hope for, and finding myself with a little more time to breathe, I am now seeking to raise the...
Here we go again
P has successfully reconstructed her life, M's situation remains unchanged, and my work here in Vietnam is finished... Which is fortunate, as I'm being forced to leave the country. This time, it's nothing personal. Yesterday I discovered that, for reasons known only...
A fire in the belly
What has, for you, been the most fascinating moment of The Human, Earth Project? Was it amongst those moments when at last I succeeded in contacting, locating and meeting with my trafficked Hmong friends P and M in China? Was it the moment when, after three years and...
An incredible year
For those of you who haven't been following the adventures of The Human, Earth Project through 2014, it's been an incredible year. Here are a few of the most memorable moments: The year began with Hmong friends in Laos. Days later, my trafficked Hmong friend M...
No rest for the wicked
On Christmas Eve, just as many of you were beginning your holidays, I was going back to work in the mountains of northern Vietnam. Although Vietnam lies within the tropics, winter here in the mountains can be bitterly cold, as I experienced during my initial...
Inspiration
Kim neung con bo sep. That's a Laotian phrase I encountered recently, which was translated for me as: When you eat alone, it's not delicious. For the past five months I've been working alone. I've had zero face-to-face contact with my collaborators on The Human, Earth...
Losing my teeth
One month ago, I was concerned I'd become too deeply entangled in the life of my Hmong friend P, a recent survivor of human trafficking. I couldn't see how to step away. After we'd returned from our road trip, and the violent stalker Lucky Charm had made his unwelcome...
M’s dilemma VII: Swirling uncertainties
After five long and frustrating months spent trying to arrange her rescue, I was told my trafficked Hmong friend M had fallen pregnant to her Chinese "husband" for a second time. If the rumour was true, it could very well be our last chance to bring her home. I was...
M’s dilemma VI: Game over
On Monday 6th October, after four long and frustrating months, my friend Charlie and I finally had an opportunity to organise the rescue of my trafficked Hmong friend M, who would then be returned to Vietnam under the auspices of the Hanoi-based NGO Blue Dragon.M,...
M’s dilemma V: A golden opportunity
It had been two months since I'd spoken to my trafficked Hmong friend M. M's planned rescue had been cancelled after the Chinese "husband" who'd bought her had been alerted to her intentions. I had stopped calling M in the hopes that his suspicions would subside. The...
M’s dilemma IV: Burden in my hand
At the last possible moment, I'd cancelled the rescue of my trafficked Hmong friend M from the "husband" who had bought her in China. I'd given M hope, and it had proved to be a very dangerous thing. M's "husband" had been alerted to her intention to leave and,...