Mother of two tells of her experience at Preda.
August 6, 2012 ·
August 2012
Dear Fr. Shay ,
Firstly, i want to thank you for allowing me to come and stay at PREDA. Prior to coming, i was very unsure of how i would feel when meeting the children and reading about their history. I was surprised by reaction. I didn’t cry once which is very unusual for me as i’m a very sensitive and emotional person. I did pray a lot before i left for the Philippines. I prayed that God would calm me so i could do what i wanted to do more effectively while at PREDA.
It was an amazing time i had. The plan was, that i spent as much time with the girls as possible. And i did. I and loved every moment of it. There was one young girl in particular, who was very hesitant in approaching me in the beginning . When i’m with kids, i almost become a child again. And with my silliness and jokes, she eventually came out of her shell.
I am still reading your book, Passion and Power. And for me , it has been like a bible , filled with so much information which has helped me better understand the history and present of Olongapo. As i have been reading this book, i have been praying, asking God to direct me towards the path that my life is meant to go down. At present, i don’t know exactly what that is, but since returning to Korea and back to my everyday life of teaching English, the message of kindness towards another has been strongly on my heart. So that is what i have been talking to my students about. I have also been thinking about starting up a Facebook page, where people can go to , and share their ideas on how we can impact the world in a simple but powerful way. This is something i want to pray more about as i don’t want this to be my thing, but ultimately Gods thing.
Lastly, i just want to say , i’m hoping to return to PREDA in December, if that is possible. But, i can only return with my two children, as my husband has to work. Is this a possibility? My daughter will be 6 at the time . And my son will be 2. I was thinking of coming for just a couple of days. They are great little kids. My daughter has been coming with me to visit the woman in Busan, who have been rescued from prostitution. I have been slowly educating her about what has happened to these woman who she has met,without giving unnecessary details. I relate their stories to the Cinderella story. That is all she needs to understand right now.
Thank you again for having me. I hope to see you and the rest of the PREDA staff again soon.
Sincerely
Karina
