Prelude to a Next Chapter: Cambodia

Dr. Miles and a few of his PhD students at APNTS

About a year ago, while still in the Philippines, I met Dr. Glenn Miles.  Dr. Miles serves in Cambodia as the Director of Prevention and Research with an organization called Love146, which specializes in the prevention of human trafficking in Southeast Asia and provides aftercare for its victims. 


    I asked to meet with Dr. Miles for a couple of reasons.  On the surface, he was visiting campus to teach a course for our school's PhD program in Holistic Child Development and I was working on an article about the course and his work in Cambodia.  However, truth be told, I was really just personally intrigued by his field of research and passionate about the work of Love146.   


At the time, I had been working part-time with an anti-trafficking initiative at our school in a program called, "StepUP".   In this program, we worked with youth from at-risk communities providing them with employable computer skills, values education, and human trafficking advocacy.  While I was passionate about the work of StepUP, and felt that it was greatly rewarding, I wanted to understand more about the system of trafficking and exploitation in Southeast Asia and what essentially allowed for this multi-billion-dollar, anti-human, deplorable industry to operate so freely and seemingly unchecked in this part of the world.  

Dr. Miles was my connection to the front-lines of this battle.   We met for dinner and talked for a long while about the work of his organization and its single-minded focus of ending the plight of trafficked and sexually exploited children.  He detailed the role of research in this process and the great need of understanding the "whos", "hows" and "whys" of this dark context so that these issues can be addressed appropriately.  

In recent years, Dr. Miles' research has been focused on the sexual exploitation of boys in Cambodia.  It was a subject matter that had gone nearly untouched by most organizations around the world.  When we think of Sexual exploitation, our minds (and research, as it turns out) go solely to women and children.  The plight of boys, more often than not, is overlooked entirely.   We would like to think that the absence of research on this matter is due  to the fact that sexual exploitation/trafficking of boys is not as prevalent as with girls.  However, the more this subject is researched, the more this is found to be incredibly untrue. 

At the time, I had just finished a year of my own research focusing on identity development in a marginalized community just outside of Manila.  My research hadn't been specifically about trafficking issues, but it had raised a number of related and pressing questions that had fueled my interest in human development issues all the more. 

I look back on my dinner-meeting with Dr. Miles as a kind of defining moment for me.  This was the kind of research that I wanted to do.  It was like a great "ah-ha" moment in which all of the steps that had led me to THAT moment had seemed to have been guided or orchestrated by God to lead me right there to THAT part of the world, with THAT particular person at a time when I had just concluded THAT particular thesis research and had been processing THOSE particular thoughts.   In a moment, I had felt that I knew what I wanted to do with my career.  

Moments like these are truly gifts from God.  They provide clarity and insight and seem to re-enforce this beautiful thought that there are no random accidents, but that things happen for a reason.  It's a feeling of comfort and connection and nearness.   

Needless to say, it was a very meaningful dinner. 

Parting ways, I told Dr. Miles that I was greatly interested in his field of work and that I wanted to write and conduct research on human trafficking and development issues.   We decided to stay in touch, emailing now and then. 

As I've come back from the Philippines and begun the long, grueling process of applying for PhD Programs, Dr. Miles has offered a lot of encouragement as I've applied for schools and even helped me refine some of my application materials.   When I received my final letter of non-admission (aka: "rejection") from the final school,  I wrote him a quick note to update him on where I stood.   I told him that I had not been accepted but that I still would pursue this research in time.  The letter was positive--although, I felt utterly defeated. 

And then I received his response.

As it turned out, Dr Miles' research intern had backed out and he was in need of someone to help him conduct followup research for a paper to be submitted at a conference this fall in Nebraska.  It would involve flying to Cambodia and spending a few months collecting data and interviewing respondents in Seam Reap.   The position would be unpaid, but provide substantial experience and hopefully open some exciting doors in the future. 

After collecting myself from the floor and briefly dancing about like a little boy, I calmly wrote a response indicating my interest.  Within minutes of exchanging emails, I was quoting prices for airfare.  Days later, the tickets were reserved and my summer booked.   And as an added bonus--I found that flying to Manila is much cheaper than flying to Cambodia from the States.   So, in an effort to save the organization a good deal of money, I will be stopping in Manila for an extended layover to visit my Philippine "family" for a few days before continuing to Cambodia.  


For this, I am unreasonably excited.  :)   

The past month has felt like nothing short of a marathon.  I have been working non-stop, trying to "pad" my bank account so that I can cover my state-side bills while I am away.  I have been reading up on previous exploitation research in Southeast Asia and completing the endless laundry list of tasks to be done before leaving for the airport in just a few short days. 

The way I see it, this isn't yet the "next chapter", but maybe it is, at least, a kind of prelude to it.  I think of it as a kind of reminder that there is still more out there, there is more story to be told, and more plot to unfold.  


In the end, that's really what moves us forward, right?   The hint that there is something more, a next chapter, another adventure, some greater narrative that is bigger than the sum of its characters.   That is what the unfolding of this internship has been for me, to some extent.

There were a number of months after returning to the states that I struggled to see that greater narrative.   It was a frustrating and disorienting experience.   If anything I hope that I have learned that the "Place In-Between"---the seemingly empty space between the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next---is there for a reason.   It gives a much needed pause and allows the reader to gather his bearings, reflect on the past, and take a deep breath before diving back into the greater plot-line in progress.

This may not be the next chapter just yet but the knowledge that there is more to come--a prelude, of sorts--is just what was needed.