I am that homeless man,

wandering from street to street.

My eyes are forlorn, sad, hopeless, I feel like crap, because people stare at me, they avoid my eyes, or they snicker at me.

I’m dirty and I’ve gone mad because flies are everywhere, my face is breaking out, and I don’t know where my next meal will come from.

I wanted to be a father once, I wanted to be good to my family, but I went out of control, gave into my alcohol obsession, my eyes became a blur and I felt f***cked up everyday. I hurt my wife, she had slashes across her face, her eyes, her soul.

It hurt to hurt my family, but now I am here, and no one cares.

I have no home.

These were my thoughts as I looked into the eye of a homeless man.

I am not that homeless man, but I know…that feeling.

If I didn’t shower for 10 days, I would already be mad. If one person looked at me with pity or condemnation, I’m already mad. Crazy. They say. I would feel the same, hopeless, without vision, without purpose, why should I live? No one cares, no one wants me, no one wants to be near me.

Yah, that homeless man you see, perhaps muttering to himself,

he was once a clean cut male, with maybe a family, a wife, children.

Perhaps, he was once an engineer, a business owner, a janitor, a policeman….or he never got there, never achieved his dreams.

But I hope, you will see a homeless person differently…because like any labels we put on someone- they are plainly human, just like you and I.

So don’t call them prostitute, rapist, drug addict, gang member, don’t call them delinquent, don’t call them criminals, don’t call them…

cuz they have a name. He or she, they have a name.

It’s time for us, the ones that have a vision, to touch lives by speaking into who PEOPLE REALLY ARE. We envision a brighter future for them by telling them who they really are, that they are loved and created for PURPOSE. That they were created for SOMETHING only THEY can do, NO one else can….because YOU are unique, like none other. There is NO ONE like you. 

I’m the one on the right, in the middle is Somaly Mam- my hero!

My partner in crime, in fighting human trafficking through the beauty/fashion sector.

Dengu Fever – A Cambodian singer

Far-Fetched Dreams, now only one step closer.

When I was young, I thought I was a nobody, unwanted.

But when I realized that I was loved and created for every single desire in my heart- I spoke and things happened.

Yesterday I went to Somaly Mam’s fundraiser- she is this amazing Cambodian Survivor of human trafficking, founder of an organization that has saved more than 5,000 girls from brothels in Cambodia….and she is now my hero because of her courage to love, even though she was never given the love that every girl deserves.

In her beautiful Cambodia garb, she talked about how her friend, sold for 5 years as a sex slave, was thrown on the street, beaten by men, dirty and with HIV. She stopped her car and picked her up, washed her clean, and loved her unconditionally. She said she would hold hands with her, they wouldn’t have to talk, but they would just know, the love that is there, unconditional love, the love of knowing heart to heart.

I think I must’ve teared up 5 times, especially when I heard this one girl was stabbed right in the eye with a knife by a pimp. I gasped and wanted to die.

Somaly Mam has given me the courage to fight and to give my life to every single girl that is abused in this world. I wrote her a letter after reading her book “The Road to Lost Innocence”, and gave her a book as well. Though, I don’t know if she’ll read it, I believe she knows how much she is respected for her courage to be a role model for all of us, despite everything she has been through.

Though my future seems uncertain to other people, I know where I’m headed, and it’s somewhere called freedom. Freedom for girls and boys to be their true selves, to love unconditionally and to be loved unconditionally.

Secret Recipes from My Mom

Taiwanese Fried Rice Noodle (Vermicelli)

Materials: Vermicelli, dried tiny shrimps, soy sauce, hondashi seasoning, mushroom, cabbage, meat, onions, dried onions.

1. Soak the vermicelli in hot water

2. Soak the tiny shrimps in hot water. Soak the mushrooms in hot water to soften.

3. Cut the cabbage in two and wash. Cut into tiny tiny slices.

4. Slice onions into tiny slices.

5. Throw mushroom (which has already been cut into piece) and onions into pan.

6. Start frying and also throw dried onions (you can get this at Asian markets).

7. Now add a little oil.

8. Continue pan “frying”, add cabbage pieces and vermicelli (having soaked in hot water).

9. Use chopsticks to sift through the pan and even things out.

10. Sprinkle soy sauce and soy saucer (the thicker type). Add some hondashi and pepper.

11. Add water if needed as you cook. I think that’s it!