So, Friday we spent at the Agape Rehabilitation Center. It's an aftercare center for girls who have been trafficked. Agape was founded by a man named Don who lived in the United States and had visited Cambodia and saw the immense need for shelters in this area. He is good Christian man who has done amazing things for these girls. They are fed mentally and physically and have the ability to go to school. They can and are mandated to recieve counseling. If they are older they can recieve vocational training. They build new families and relationships.

When we got there we had an introduction to the center and what their goals and missions are and then got a walking tour of the entire facility. We saw where the girls live, eat and get their schooling. The counseling rooms are beautiful and just emit a sense of calm in them.

There are currently 26 girls living at the shelter. All of them have been there for varying amounts of time. Some months, some years.

While we Bethel students were there, we played volleyball with the girls. Who were awesome at it by the way. Some of the girls wore matching shirts. It was fantastic. Then, it was lunch time. We ate with the girls and it was delish. Rice, chicken, and stir fried vegetables.

After lunch some of the girls took some Bethel girls aside and painted our nails. They were really good at it.

We played more games and sang songs with them before our time at Agape ended.

It was one of the most heart wrenching and yet completly rewarding days I have had on the trip. To think that these girls came from places where they had thier identity, their rights, their lives and very humanity stripped from them and they are happy, smiling and just full of the belief that things could get better was amazing. So, heartwarming.

After Agape, we went to Rehab's house. It's a former brothel that Agape bought and turned in to a community center in Svay Pak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svay_Pak) one of the roughest parts of Phnom Penh. The whole street where this community center is used to be full of brothels until US journalists enlightened the world to the problem and the Cambodian government shut down all the concrete structured brothels. Unfortunately the wooden shacks can still be used as brothels. Agape is working with in the community however to stop this. We lead the children in songs and then our time with them was over.

All said and done it was a good day. Next up, we have a free day and in the morning we are off to Sihanoukville. It's on the Gulf of Thailand. I am excited for what the next chapter brings!