Thrive Rescue home a savior to sex-trafficking victims in Thailand
Written by George Tanner | Published in the Spartan Daily Newspaper
The warm rays of the rising sun hit the jungle landscapes of Thailand, where five girls between the ages of seven and 15 sit on the beach.
They followed the 300-yard semi-dirt trail from their home in Pattaya to watch the golden sphere peek into view.
About 8,000 miles away, the stage at River of Life Christian Church in Santa Clara is alive and beating. Music ranging from classical to rock to pop resonates from the speakers.
A captivating spoken word is delivered.
Two dance groups express themselves via graceful choreography and stomping to the fast paced tempo of “Jai Ho."
This is no ordinary talent show. This benefit show is raising money for the girls enjoying the sunrise on the beach in Pattaya.
The five girls on the beach all have something in common — they have been sex trafficked and they are not alone...
Jenifer Kraus, a resident of Thailand, said “In Pattaya alone I think (on) any given night, they say there (are) about 20,000 girls for sale.”
Denny Pham, a senior creative arts major, illustrated the impact of sex trafficking in his spoken word performance by reciting “27 million/ That’s how many women and children are living lives they shouldn’t be living in/ That’s more slaves worldwide than when Abe Lincoln was still alive/ 144,000 is how many are added daily.”
Many parents are unaware that their daughters are being trafficked for sex.
“Sometimes they think they are sending their child to sell flowers on the street and then that child ends up being trafficked,” said Jenifer Kraus, founder of a rescue home.
When the parents intentionally sell their children on the streets, they do not necessarily feel any regret.
Kraus said that Buddhism is the main religion in Thailand and that Buddhists believe in reincarnation.
The belief of reincarnation implies that whatever happens to you in your current life is a response to your past life.
Kraus said that parents sometimes believe their child’s past life is to blame for sex-trafficking.
Jeremy and Jenifer Kraus spent three months in Thailand in 2009 and discovered how much of a need there was for a home dedicated to sex- trafficking victims. Three years later the Kraus’ moved to Thailand and started the Thrive Rescue Home. Their mission is to "rescue, restore and release hope back into the hearts of the girls that we rescue.”
Jeremy Kraus said their goal is to get the girls they rescue to become leaders in their community and give back as much as possible.
The majority of the girls that come to the Thrive Rescue Home are brought there by police officers, child protection officers, social workers, City Hall, investigators or investigative organizations.
The Kraus’ have housed as many as 11 children in the rescue home. The ages have ranged from six to 18.
“One of the things that we take pride in is we treat all of our girls like they are ours,” Jeremy Kraus said.
He said this involves enrolling the girls at a private Thai school so they can obtain a better education.
“They are all getting good grades too,” Jeremy Krause said.
As you enter the Thrive Rescue Home you see different textures and colors designating various areas of the home.
There is a play therapy area and lounge areas. A tent is placed under the stairs for a small safe place for any of the girls to go to if they feel a need to retreat.
On the first floor the two boys, exceptions to the accepting girls only rule, occupy a room. The girls share a master bedroom on the second floor with white bunk beds and matching pink and white comforters.
Disney princess stickers cover the walls. A door separates the two floors and visitors are not allowed to go upstairs.
This allows the girls to remove themselves from the guests presence if they so desire.
Pastor Quoc Nguyen, an employee at River of Life Christian Church in Santa Clara, and his wife began financially supporting the Thrive Rescue Home two years before the Kraus’ even moved to Thailand. Nguyen and Jeremy Kraus met at a leadership conference and clicked.
“It felt like we had the same DNA, the same vision and the same passion for ministry,” Nguyen said.
Through the River of Life Church, Nguyen has continued to help fund the Thrive Rescue Home. Two benefit shows titled Christmas in Thailand and Easter in Thailand has been held at the church.
This year's Easter in Thailand event raised over $6,000, which Jeremy and Jenifer Kraus say will go to building a community center.
The community center will be used to teach English classes, give out food, create a safe place for children to play, provide Internet services and more.
“We just planned on using the talents that we had. Whether it be singing, dancing, (or) rapping…to raise money,” Nguyen said.
Along with some parishioners, Nguyen has spent a week at the Thrive Rescue Home on a mission trip.
“When we were there, we spent time in the home and saw how the girls were so free and happy,” said Jessica Liao, a River of Life parishioner and San Jose State alumna. “You could never imagine what they've been through in the past.”
Kevin Chieng, a parishioner and a junior kinesiology major, taught the kids how to dance to Gangnam Style. After demonstrating the dance move Chieng turned around to see all of the children joyously mimicking him.
"It was joy that you really can’t replicate and you really can’t fake,” Chieng said.
Nguyen said that Jeremy and Jenifer Kraus, “have created heaven on Earth.”
Perhaps the best way to demonstrate the Thrive Rescue Home’s success is through simple acts of love.
Jeremy Kraus recalled a memory when he was given a Father’s Day card from an eight-year-old girl at Thrive Rescue Home that read, “Thank you Pa Jeremy for rescuing me and giving me a safe place to live and I love my school.”
Just those little things make it worth it,” Jeremy Kraus said.
Claiming the Road: Riding for a Bike Friendly City
Written by George Tanner | Published in the South Bay Pulse magazine
The bicycle has become a common sight in San Jose and is showing no signs of braking. The number of bike clubs and cycle tour clubs is growing. The San Jose Bike Party consistently draws crowds of 2,000 riders in the summer months.
The high-tech influence of Silicon Valley does not seem to touch this recreational sport, with fixed-gear bikes—one-geared bicycles—becoming a trend among the younger riders. San Jose’s enthusiasm for the bike is not new. Bicycle racing is in San Jose’s blood.
According to an article on Silicon Valley De-Bug, San Jose locals won cycling national championships and participated in the Olympics from the 1890s to the 1990s. Some San Jose bicycle racers included the Perez brothers and who raced at the Garden City Velodrome, a bicycle track, where Lincoln High School stands today.
A film on the history of San Jose said, Race Street in San Jose was named after the bike races that took place at the location between 1859 and 1901. Carlos Babcock, an organizer of the San Jose Bike Party, said bike racing became so popular, bets would be placed on the outcome of the races. The dirt track would eventually be paved with Henry Ford introducing the Ford Model T in 1908.
As cars became more popular, so did paved roads. San Jose like the rest of the country would shift its focus to automobiles.
“When I first came to San Jose I remember it was advertised, ‘Come to Downtown San Jose. We have 23,000 parking spaces,’” said Babcock, who moved to San Jose in 1996.
Babcock has been car-free for the past 10 years in the Silicon Valley.
The city of San Jose created its first plans towards becoming the most bike friendly city in the US in 2009.
According to an April 2015 news release, Paul B. Smith, a San Jose Department of Transportation official said, “San Jose has a long love affair with the bicycle. Our aim now is to build on this legacy to encourage bicycling everyday for all while helping to improve health, fitness and the environment.”
San Jose’s Bike Plan 2020 aims to have 5 percent of all trips in San Jose be made by bike. Currently, 1 percent of trips in greater San Jose are by bicycle. Downtown San Jose is noticeably better, with 4 percent of trips in that area made by bike.
“You would think San Jose is perfect for cycling,” Babcock said. The positives of the Silicon Valley for cycling are the general size is 20 miles by 7 miles and flat. The down side for bicycles are the confusing layout of streets and the blocks are long.
“There is a rule nowadays with cycling advocates, cycling should be safe from 8-80. Children of 8 years old and adults of 80 years old. You don’t see a lot of people riding that feel safe riding on San Jose streets,” Babcock said.
The Bike Plan 2020 will try to make the streets more bicycle-friendly by adding 70 miles of bikeways, more bike parking, updating the bike-friendly code and policy and partner with programs that encourage everyday use of bicycles. Bikeways will take the form of colored bike lanes, colored cement and shared lane markers with wayfinding signs and marking systems. Some San Jose businesses fear losing customer traffic and oppose these measures.
“The city is making great progress to … raise the level of bike culture and being a bike-friendly city,” Babcock said.
Despite the challenges, the bike culture is still thriving in San Jose.
“The bike culture is something we all go through as bike riders … We are more than likely in the 10th largest city of the country to run into each other in some form," said bicycle rider and San Jose native Brandon Alvarado. "It’s a small bike culture. Big city, small culture.”
Shaking Up San Jose
Written by George Tanner | Published in the South Bay Pulse magazine
San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper, Mirko Stojanovic, hung up his cleats 40 years ago. At that time, the San Jose Earthquakes were leading the North American Soccer League in fan attendance having sold out each of their previous season’s games.
The Earthquakes played at the Spartan Stadium, which held 17,000 fans. Other teams in the league played in huge National Football League stadiums and only drew about 3-4 thousand fans. Gary Singh, author of "The San Jose Earthquakes: a seismic soccer legacy," a book on the history of the San Jose Earthquakes, described the situation as, “pretty pathetic to see it and play it in that environment.”
The reason for the decline in soccer fans along the west coast was the decline of the NASL. The once 17-team strong contingent was reduced to nine teams. The process of rebuilding the fan base began in Seattle, Los Angeles and the Bay Area. San Jose was ripe for picking.
“They sold the entire sport to a general public in San Jose that had never had a professional sport here before, so they were ready to embrace the concept,” Singh said. "The responsibility of advertising the Earthquakes trickled all the way down to the players. Players would attend youth soccer practices, come over to fans homes for dinner and juggle soccer balls in shopping malls. This environment enticed Stojanovic."
“I came here because of the soccer and the Earthquakes are the team I identify with,” Stojanovic said.
The years following Stojanovic’s retirement saw the other soccer teams on the West Coast surpass San Jose’s number of fans. Even during their championship years, 2001 to 2005, Singh said the Earthquakes were, “just trying to keep the lights on.”
Any spoils that could be gained from the exciting championship years were thrown away when the Earthquakes moved to Houston in 2005. The Earthquakes and the city of San Jose were unable to come to agreement on facility issues. San Jose was promised an opportunity to claim an expansion team later.
The Earthquakes made it back to San Jose in 2007. The team called Buck Shaw stadium at Santa Clara University their new temporary home. The stadium had to be built to hold up to 10,000 fans. Eight years later, Avaya Stadium opened its doors, welcoming a sold out crowd capacity of 18,000. “It is beautiful. I went to over there when they had opening against LA…It is so close to the field and the players…It is fun to watch a game in that kind of environment,” Stojanovic said.
Stojanovic can identify similarities between the Spartan Stadium he left back in 1974 and present day Avaya Stadium. Maybe that is why the first games played at Avaya Stadium this season have been sold out. The Earthquakes could be onto another heyday of soccer in San Jose.
Homefield Disadvantage
Written by George Tanner | Published in the South Bay Pulse magazine
A sold-out crowd at the Oracle Arena is on its feet watching Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals. The eyes of more than 19,000 Warriors fans are glued to the screens on the Jumbotron. One missed 3-point shot and a rebound later, the Warriors seal the win to become the 2015 NBA champions.
The arena roars with the fans shouting, jumping in the air and waving towels. The Warriors bring the Larry O’ Brien championship trophy to Oakland for the first time in 40 years, but not much economic relief.
Retired professor of economics at Stanford, Roger Noll, said a 2015 NBA Finals game at most could have only raised a single-digit million-dollar amount of profit to Oakland. That figure is relatively small compared to the $182 million it would cost to build a stadium in 2015.
“Economists who have studied sports stadiums have found that it really doesn’t increase the economics overall,” said Fred Foldvary, an SJSU lecturer of economics. “It’s kind of a loser.”
Yet 101 stadiums have been built in the U.S. in the past 20 years, the Pacific Standard magazine reported. Experts on stadium funding say almost all of the facilities require public funding or subsidies, adding up to billions of dollars, which is something Foldvary said should not happen.
“A subsidy implies it is not cost effective,” Foldvary said.
Another option is the sports team covering costs of the stadium construction cost. The Warriors already invested money in an open lot of San Francisco to build a new arena for the team and will cover all of the construction cost. In order for the team to accept such a deal, San Francisco has to be one of the top metropolitan areas of the U.S. and must offer substantial development rights that are exempt from taxes. These conditions are not always available for smaller cities to offer, so they are stuck paying subsidies.
If the Warriors were a football team they could not accept the deal. A football team plays eight to 10 games a year, not enough to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the stadium year-round according to Noll. Over half the revenue a football team makes goes to the players' salaries. But almost none of the players live in the cities they play in, so a large chunk immediately leaves the city Noll added.
The NFL says otherwise. One of its studies boasts that the Superbowl brings in a half billion dollars to the host city. While this is true, the NFL does not take into account the costs a host city takes on to have the Superbowl in its city.
Robert Baade, a sports economist with Lake Forest College in Illinois, told the Phoenix Business Journal that host cities are more likely to earn between $30–90 million. In contrast, the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers joint stadium in Carson, California, will cost $1.7 billion dollars to build according to the Carson City Council.
“Somebody built a new restaurant in Downtown San Jose and it takes in $100 billion a year,” Noll said to illustrate the misleading number the NFL advertised. “That $100 billion a year comes from taking away customers from the other restaurants. The net gain in restaurant sales might be a $1 million because $99 million came from the other restaurants, and all of the other restaurants closed.”
Sports facilities can double as places to hold headliner events and in turn generate more income. But Noll said it is the set-up of an arena, not a stadium that is the most adaptable to different events. Even then an arena that is built for a sports team will need more bells and whistles that normally would not be required for one that is not. This increases the cost of the arena.
Some cities are taking a stand against cashing in for professional sports teams. Oakland is one of them with the mayor refusing to spend money on a professional sports facility.
“That money we’re paying now is general fund money we could spend on police, parks or libraries,” Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said in an article in "The Guardian.
Other cities are following suit according to Noll. San Diego and St. Louis are also questioning how much should be spent on subsidies to keep their professional sports teams.
Oakland holding out on future payments has the Oakland Athletics looking elsewhere for a city to play in. San Jose opened its arms to the baseball team but hit a snag when territorial rights agreed to by the A’s owner Lew Wolff when he bought the team in 2005, which prevented the move.
Noll said the decision to build a stadium is not just for financial reasons, and is OK with San Jose’s interest in the A’s.
“San Jose in the long run would have had some benefits from the development," Noll said. "But I don’t think the main reason for it, from San Jose’s perspective, was financial. They had a deal that wasn’t going to cost them very much, and in return their citizens would have a baseball team.”