Meet us.

Meet us. Rebecca and Denise. Sometimes known as those two Asian roommates.

And this summer, these two Asian roommates plan to conquer Southeast Asia! Well, not really… but this is something we have constantly talked about - taking a spontaneous trip together. Sitting on our couch in our messy apartment debating life our futures and college-like things, it struck us – why not? Why can’t we take a spontaneous trip this summer? Since we couldn’t think of a logical answer, we’ve decided to go in to this all or nothing.

So, from June to August of 2010, we are going to the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand. Inspired by Invisible Children and The Buried Life, we realized we wanted to take part in something bigger than ourselves. Although our lives are ordinary, we want to do and see something extraordinary, without excuse and vicarious-free.

I’m sure most of you have at least heard of some of the social issues currently going on in these countries paired with chilling statistics that, let’s face it, most of us soon forget.

-40% of Filipinos and 40% of Cambodians live below the national poverty line.
-25.2% of Thai people live on less than $2 a day.
-Human trafficking is seen in all three countries.
-Much of this human trafficking targets children for the sex industry.
-At the rate things are going now, two children are sold every minute.
-Slavery is occurring more now than it ever has before. It is the second most profitable industry in the world – that’s about 27 million victims!

Don’t get us wrong; these are all unsettling statistics that should be taken note of. But the reality is, it’s hard to remember and relate to numbers. It’s the stories that truly grasp one’s heart and ingrains minds to remember what’s going on and whom it’s affecting. This is why we plan on documenting our every move: our before, during, and after, so that you can get the most intimate view possible on what we see and what’s going on.

Our mission is simple: to love anyone and everyone we come across. To be honest, our plan isn’t intricate because we want to leave room for anything, depending on whom we meet and the needs we see. Things are still falling in to place, like exact dates, places, organizations to work with… but our hope is that you can join us on this incredible journey as we begin to fill in the blanks.

We’re going to update this as much as possible. So please keep reading, watching and learning with us!

Let it leak. Spread the word.