One of Many

When we visited the Suwon Clover House,  we were introduced to this lovely girl:

That day was a pretty big day for her. She was 'signing out' of the unwed Mother's Shelter. Her boyfriend was waiting for her, and together, they would be starting a new chapter of life as Umma & Appa. She was beautiful. She was kind. And she was so incredibly sweet. I saw another Mom cry as they said good-bye, and I couldn't help but wonder if their paths would ever cross again.

Something else that made this girl seem extra special, is that she had this strong and positive spirit, which I guess shouldn't be a surprise, as she was also a North Korean refugee. To make it through a journey like that, you have to be a fighter. I heard that she had gone through China and maybe Thailand, although her exact route, I can't be sure. Her life ... I just can't even begin to imagine what she has seen and experienced. And now, with a new baby in tow, she was ready to take on the world. She was happy and smiled often and was the first to volunteer to have her pictures done, and she was the first to give us permission to share them.

Kim has some INCREDIBLE images of her baby, which we will be posting in the next couple of days. So until then, I thought I'd give a little sneak peek to see what many of you have played a part in, by supporting our trip.

And to this Mother, I pray that your life will be filled with blessings. And I thank you for sharing your story with us.

Suwon

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Suwon Clover House. Now let me preface this by saying that when ever you take on a new endeavor, there's bound to be some sort of learning curve, right? So on our way there, we learned that the Suwon Unwed Mother's Shelter AND the Suwon Clover House are under one roof. The residents are mixed together. So that means instead of meeting 5 women and their children, there were actually 20 women and 9 babies waiting for us to arrive.

We had a little chat with the Director and discovered some other ways to help, so more information will be coming on that later. We also took part of the cash donation we had for Clover House, and bought fruit and Korean Fried Chicken for the residents. Lets just say, it was a total hit. In fact, one Mom saw the Fried Chicken and then turned to Kim and said, 'I LOVE YOU!!!' We all had a good chuckle over that.

I can't remember how many women we did hair/make-up for, but it was definitely under the 20 that I was nervously preparing for in my mind. Kim did a FABULOUS job photographing the babies, but out of respect for the residents, we will only be sharing the images from 2 of the Moms (who gave us their permission). Those photos will be coming once we return home and can edit everything.

We ended up staying much longer than originally anticipated, but it was an amazing experience that I'm so grateful for.

So with that, I'll be signing off. I'm so incredibly tired as I think I haven't quite kicked the jet lag curb, but I know by morning I'll be ready to go again.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported The Clover House Project this far. ALL of your efforts have been SO appreciated and I can't wait to move forward and see what we can accomplish!

*** just wanted to make a note that we took the 5 bags to the Director who will be dispensing the items to the women. Since there were 5 bags and 20 residents, we felt it was best to do it that way, vs trying to single out only certain girls who lived there. But know that when the Director and some of her staff saw what was in the bags, they completely freaked out. LOL ***

It's Here

So the time has finally come. We're headed to Korea. This day seemed so far off, and now its literally just a few hours away. I've spent the past few days trying to get stuff done and I am SO excited to say that I've actually finished packing. Kind of. I mean - all of my clothes are packed, donations are packed ... I just have some toiletries, my computer/photography stuff and then pack for my kids as they'll be spending the next few days with my parents as my husband has to work.

This is by far, the earliest I've ever been 'ready'. Usually I'm up until 2 or 3a trying to figure out what I need, or what doesn't fit.

I have a feeling that on that 12+ hour flight tomorrow, I'll spend more time reflecting on what the next 7 days will have in store for us. I received my itinerary and its making it all seem much more real. Oh, there was also a notation that the women of Clover House were VERY excited about the 'Beauty Portraits' that I'll be taking. I literally squealed when I read that and I'm pretty sure I did a couple of fist pumps too. I think it just goes to show that everyone likes to feel beautiful every now and then. And I think that's fabulous.

Well, I should go finish up those last few things, and then spend some time with the kiddos before they're off to bed.

I'll be updating the Blog while I'm in Korea and I'll post photos on FB too. I'll also be posting photos to my Instagram account. If you'd like to follow along, you can follow me @becomingajumma .

Also, Kim - my traveling buddy - will be blogging HERE and you can follow her on Instagram @bibimkim.

Goodnight - and I'll see you in Korea!