Local Attorney and Family to Fight Slavery in Cambodia BY ERIC BEHRENS
M
y friend and colleague, Doug Kilday, is moving to Cambodia in January, 2017 to fight the slavery trade in Southeast Asia. Kilday and his wife, Thais, have both accepted unpaid one-year fellowships as part of the world’s largest anti-slavery organization, International Justice
friends and colleagues. Doug and Thais learned about IJM through their church, Covenant Presbyterian Church. Austin lawyers Joy Baskin and Matt Dow are heading up Covenant’s efforts to keep the Kilday family in touch with their friends in the congregation. The church has created a fund for “IJM Fellowships,” and the Kildays will be able to
Justice Holmes told his protégés to match their ideals with heroism—great thoughts must be paired with action, and sometimes with personal sacrifice. The Kilday family is up to the task. Mission (IJM). Their children, Naeda, Lincoln, and David will join them on this extraordinary journey. Several thousand men, women, and children in Cambodia have spent many years in slavery, in areas such as the fishing industry, domestic servitude, and sex trades. Doug will work with local lawyers in Cambodia to help prosecute slave traffickers and enforce Cambodia’s anti-slavery laws. Thais will work with IJM’s Cambodian staff on support programs for rescued victims. Justice Holmes told his protégés to match their ideals with heroism—great thoughts must be paired with action, and sometimes with personal sacrifice. The Kilday family is up to the task. They are leaving the security of their jobs, home, and network of friends to move to Phnom Penh. Doug and Thais will have no salary in the coming year, and know they will likely have to postpone retirement as a result. From talking with other IJM families, however, they also know they and their children will have one of the most enriching years of their lives. They will have the almost unfathomable fulfillment of helping to rescue victims from slavery. The Kilday family will stay connected with their stateside 10
seek reimbursement for their living expenses out of that fund. Information about how to make a tax-deductible donation can be found through the Kildays’ website, kildayfamily.com. Doug is planning to blog about their experience. His firm, Graves Dougherty, will keep a link to the blog on their website while he is away. Doug and Thais know there are many folks who dream of spending a year or more to help the poorest of the poor, but who feel overwhelmed about putting the dream into practice. They are happy to discuss the logistics that have occupied their thoughts these past months with anyone who is thinking of a similar undertaking. If you are interested in learning more, you are invited to join the Kildays for a brown bag lunch at Graves Dougherty at noon on Friday, December 16. The firm is located at 401 Congress Avenue, Suite 2200. Please RSVP to Doug at dkilday@gdhm. com. AUSTIN For moreLAWYER information about IJM, visit ijm.org. AL AL Behrens is a Shareholder at Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody.
AUSTINLAWYER | DEC. 2016 / JAN. 2017
TOP: Doug and Thais Kilday; BOTTOM: The Kilday family.