Deplaning in Bangkok, Thailand, Jennryn Wetzler, SIS/MA ’09, was ready for adventure. She’d traveled to Asia to learn the Thai language and culture on a Boren Fellowship, but she soon found herself in the town of Pattaya, 155 kilometers south of the capitol, having more adventures than she’d anticipated.

She started working with Prevent Human Trafficking (PHT) in January 2008. Working with young girls and women who have been victims of trafficking has not always been easy, Wetzler admits. “Working in Pattaya has inspired a whole series of different emotions, outside of the development efforts. Because Pattaya is one of the sex-trade capitals of the world, and a hotbed of child-sex tourism, I've run through a rather colorful spectrum of emotions reacting to the scene here. But seeing how empowered local development efforts are here has renewed my pride in this kind of work.”

Wetzler is also volunteering at a rehabilitation center for street children. Keeping so busy, she says, “learning Thai, and working with the two locally-run development initiatives continues to be a good challenge.” Her education also continues: “The founder of the development organization Population and Community Development Association (PDA), Dr. Mechai Viravaidya, has taught me a lot about his successful model for development: combining business planning with community development in what he calls ‘social capitalism.’ I hope to draw from his example in future development work,” she says.

As if all these positions weren’t enough to keep her busy, she’s teaching English to the staff of PDA, and became interested in the group’s initiatives, which include “alternative schools for under-privileged children to hilarious condom and birth control campaigns,” Wetzler laughs. The latter programs are supported by a whimsically-named resort, Birds and Bees, and its restaurant, Cabbages and Condoms.

Her future lies in a similar arena, after she graduates from American University in June 2009 with a master’s degree in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs. “I hope to get a job working with USAID or another office within the State Department. I really want to work with the USAID Women in Development Office,” she notes.

Whatever her path, Wetzler will continue her work with and be an asset to philanthropic organizations – though probably with less colorful names.