I just got back from training in Washington D.C. last week! It was really really good. I learned a lot about the organization, and feel even more excited about the work it is doing and the fact that I get to be a part of it. I tend to think of myself as a relatively decent evaluator of non profits having spent significant time over the last two years in four different non profit organizations, and I can say without a doubt, that I am whole heartedly impressed with. The work that is doing is so thorough and professional...I was quite impressed.
Now I am back, and working at my agency for a few more weeks while also trying to fund raise. I need about $7900.00 in the next 4.5 weeks. This is where the people who are getting my letters and are reading this come in. My contact information for donations is at the bottom, please refer to it for sending donations. Before I went to training, I was more hesitant to ask people to donate money, but I have found myself at two conclusions in the last week:
1. time is of the essence, I need to do this more frequently in order to raise sufficient support to go
2. after going through training, I truly beleive that this organization and what I will be doing is a more than justifiable cause for people to donate to. If I was 100% behind what I was doing before, I am now 150% behind it, and have no hesitations about the integrity of the organization or what I will be doing when it comes to asking people to donate.

It is time for me to go print off some support letters, address some envelopes, and hope that people's hearts will be moved as they consider this endeavor.

so, this is the beginning. there's a long way to go from here, but i just wanted to get this up and running for people who wanted to find out more and follow me on this journey! so here are some basics about me:

I graduated from Calvin College in Michigan with my undergraduate degree in Social Work and continued on to Michigan State University to get my Masters in Social Work through a one year program. My studies focused on clinical social work, and working with unaccompanied refugee minors and trafficking victims. International experiences come as a second nature to me having spent some of my childhood years in Peru, Belgium and Germany. In college I continued my travels to South Africa, England, and Guatemala where I studied subjects such as trafficking, post apartheid challenges, did mission work, and was finally able to use my Spanish. Outside of traveling and studying I enjoy horseback riding, dancing, soccer and an occasional surfing adventure whenever the ocean is near by.

so, that's kind of the basic about who i am. the important part is what i will be doing for the next ten months. i will be going to south asia with International Justice Mission (ijm.org). here is my support letter that i am sending out:

Dear Blog Reader,

As you may already know, I have been accepted to a ten month work (fellowship) program through an organization called. Throughout these ten months I will be responsible for doing social work with people who are victims of bonded slavery in South Asia. While it might seem like slavery is a practice of the past, National Geographic Magazine estimated that approximately 27 million people are held in bonded labor around the world today.

Let me explain a little bit more about to give you a clearer picture of what I will be doing; is a non-profit organization comprised of attorneys, law enforcement officials and social workers which works in countries all over the world to stop human rights abuses such as sex trafficking, modern day slavery, un-prosecuted rape, and illegal land seizure. seeks to bring justice to the victims of these abhorrent practices in an effective and systematic manner. partners with host country’s government and law enforcement to investigate trafficking and slavery rings. then breaks down rings and prosecutes perpetrators in order to ensure the end of an exploitative cycle. Once this is done, the social work staff seeks to connect and provide victims with the proper resources to help rehabilitate them socially, psychologically and financially, and to prepare them for re-entry into their society.

There are many ways you can fight injustice in the world today. However, I ask you to partner with me as I join with to personally take a stand against it. is a non-profit organization that serves people for free, thus I am raising support to fund my trip and expenses. The total estimated cost of my trip will be about $9,000. I am able to contribute somewhat to this experience from my own funds and savings, but am also paying off graduate school at this point and am unable to completely fund it myself. Please seriously consider if you can join with me in this venture. Any gift, no matter what the amount, is helpful and will help rescue former slaves from a life of oppression that you and I cannot even begin to imagine.

If you are able to support me in this, there are two ways in which you can make a donation:

You can send checks directly to me, and I will ensure that they are used solely to cover the expenses of my trip. Or, you can make a tax deductible donation and write the check out to International Justice Mission. In accordance with IRS standards however, you may not write my name anywhere on the check, even the memo line. All checks should be sent to me, and I will either route them toward my trip, or send them on to a financial coordinator at IJM.

Thank you for your consideration of supporting me in this endeavor. I believe in it so strongly not only because it will be life changing for me, but because I know that it will be life changing for all of the people that I encounter. Please feel free to check out ’s website (.org) to learn more about the organization. Please contact me with any questions you might have.

Sincerely,

Marianne

if any of you out there are considering supporting me, please send it to: