Bangla road in Phuket, Thailand is known as a business district where people go to buy sex. The author spent two months living in bars along Bangla road and the side streets, forming relationships with prostitutes, transgender people, and drunks. Though deserted during the day, Bangla road comes alive at night with hundreds of bars lining the streets employing thousands of prostitutes. The author and their team of 24 girls would bring messages of freedom and hope to the people there each night. This experience helped the author realize one of their goals is to help all people find their purpose and worth.

1. In Thailand, on the island of Phuket, there is a road called Bangla road. Bangla road is what you might call a business district of sorts—a centralized hub for buying and selling products. You go to Bangla road to buy sex. I spent my summer on that road, hanging out in bars with prostitutes, transgenders, and drunks. It’s so weird trying to put into words what I spent two months doing. I was living there. I was doing life in Thailand. I was laughing with, crying with, and forming deep personal relationships with the men and women I met on Bangla. Because of those relationships, I will never be the same again. <br />During the day, Bangla road is a ghost town. There are a couple stray tourists and dogs wandering around, but for the most part it is deserted. At night, though, the street comes alive. Bangla road is the main drag, and then there are multiple side streets off of it that are called “sois” or “roads” in Thai. Bangla road and all the sois that run off of it are completely lined wall-to-wall with bars. There are hundreds of bars down there and literally thousands of prostitutes. My team of 24 girls spent every night down on those streets bringing a message of freedom and hope to those who have forgotten how to hope. <br />This project qualifies under the “exploration” category because it helped me to realize that one of my life/career goals is to help people everywhere realize their purpose and worth. I am not sure exactly what that will look like, but I am insanely excited for what the future holds. <br />