There are so many needs within the work of anti-trafficking and orphan care, but what happens when people that are engaging as helpers are actually doing harm. Ego, poor practice and a desire for appearances can corrupt organizations that purport to be doing good. As a practitioner and journalist working in Southeast Asia, Erin Foley has been around the block working in organizations and comes onto the show today to share some of what she's seen and learned doing missions and nonprofit work over the years. She also shares about some of the great organizations she's worked with and about her most recent project, the recently published book "Where They Belong" which chronicles the movement of family care in Cambodia.

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Resources and Links from the show

Book : Where They Belong by Erin Foley

Website : Children in Families Online

Website : Global Child Advocates Online

Podcast : Episode 214 "Storytelling to Empower with Jeff Rogers"

Conversation Notes

• 6:30 - Connecting from anti-trafficking into orphan care and prevention
• 10:30 - Fulfilling the Great Commission by loving our global neighbor and also the opportunities for those that live abroad
• 17:00 Lessons learned in anti-trafficking, the sexiness of it and comparing countries that experience enslavement
• 22:30 - The shadow side of anti-trafficking organizations and unethical practices of nonprofits
• 25:15 - The issues with founder-run organizations
• 32:45 “ I was horrified because we were supposed to be helping these women and I felt like we just enslaved them in a different way.”
• 38:35 - Transitioning to family based care and Children in Families
• 43:30 - Juxtaposing growing up exposed to cross-cultural orphanages with learning the importance of family based care
• 47:45 - Understanding orphan care in Southeast Asia and what is driving family separation
• 51:00 - Documenting the story of family care in Cambodia and more broadly through Erin’s book Where They Belong
• 55:30 - “If your heart leads you, bring your brain along with you”

Theme music Kirk Osamayo. Free Music Archive, CC BY License