Everybody is unique. There are no two identical people, and this is our strength.
And it is essential to learn to accept each other's differences.
We talked about this with our guest – Jas.
Jas is a trans woman from Europe, she was born into a Vietnamese family of refugees and currently working in Bangkok for about 10 years. In the past, she worked mostly in the tech-space (gaming, telecommunications, or advertising), then in the last five years, she completely shifted her interest to non-profit, social change, diversity & inclusion, making a commitment to use her talent and skills for good, helping minorities and those in difficult situations.
She has never visited a children's home before, but always dreamed to. One day she stumbled upon a message on a Facebook forum from some teenager asking for some used clothes for an upcoming fashion show. She eventually got curious and read more about the children's home that the teenager was mentioning. She was very surprised to find out that the founder has been running the home for 32 years and that she was an Italian person being living in Thailand for such a long time just like her.
This meeting was organized specificly for our older children, teenagers, to help them understand themselves better and accept the diversity around them. To grow up free of stigma and prejudice and take people as they are. And most importantly – to love them.
Unconditioned love and care are needed not just for people around us, but also for ourselves.
We were sharing what we like and what makes us happy and listened to what our friends tell about it. We learned so much about each other and learned to accept our differences.
The children were delighted with Jas. She taught us the importance of dignity. It is self-love and self-confidence that help us to also accept other people because we do not need to defend ourselves and attack.
It was much more then discussing trans and gender diverse people rights. Most of the teenagers go through the stage of feeling different and misunderstood. It is essential for them to feel, that they are not alone in their struggle.
Jas is sharing her feelings about the visit:
"The visit to Baan Unrak was so much more than I expected, I had such a great time with the kids, enjoying different kind of activities, learning about some of the challenges to take care for all the 140 kids, having fun and playing with them, just giving them some love and attention. I hope to keep in touch with the kids, continue to volunteer and find ways to help them long term."
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