Diana Scimone

Miriam, midwives, and modern-day slavery

It’s Passover and my friend Sheri invited me to speak at a seder at her synagogue. She thought there was a great tie-in between the slavery of the Jews 3,500 years ago and one of the forms of slavery that’s happening today—child trafficking.

I loved the idea—and was amazed I never saw the connection myself. I love Passover (and yes I’m Christian; I think all Christians should celebrate Passover since it’s in our Bible, too) and the tie-in Sheri suggested made so much sense to me.

When I reread the story in the Bible to prepare for what I was going to say, I didn’t get more than a few verses before I was struck by the role of women in the story:

• The midwives who refused to kill the newborn Jewish boys
• Moses’ mother who hid him in a basket and sent him down the river
• Moses’ sister, Miriam, who watched to see where her brother would go
• Pharoah’s daughter who spotted the basket, rescued the baby, and raised Moses

Sure, years later God used Moses to free his people, but He also used women.

Interestingly, the seder that Sheri invited me to speak at was for women—130 of them. And guess what they were focusing on? Yup, the role of women in the story. From the midwives to Miriam, they were all right there.

What awesome confirmation.

When I spoke, I told the women about the modern-day slavery happening in their own neighborhoods, malls, and middle schools. Children were being trafficked within a few miles of where we were meeting (like this arrest and conviction a few days ago, and these arrests a few months ago).

I told them my standard line (thanks, @MichelleVan) that I’m trying to work myself out of a job. I don’t want to be fighting trafficking for the rest of my life.

I told them that Passover is the story of how the God of justice will go to miraculous, ridiculous, audacious lengths to free people from injustice.

If He did it then, He does it now. And if He used women to do it then, He uses women to do it now.

So if you're a woman, go partner with the God of justice who is still in the business of freeing slaves.

Happy Passover!

Polaris Star award to B2F founder, Diana Scimone

I recently spoke at Florida Awareness Day, a large anti-trafficking rally in Orlando sponsored by the Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force.

More than 1,500 people attended and found out that trafficking is happening right in their own backyards.

After I spoke, the organizers called me back on stage and presented me with the Polaris Star award given annually to a modern-day abolitionist.

Polaris Star
Diana Scimone
Modern-Day Abolitionist

The Polaris Star, also known as the North Star, is the star that slaves used to find their way north to freedom along the Underground Railroad. 

I'm greatly honored to receive this award and even be mentioned in the same breath as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, and other freedom fighters.

The Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force, which sponsored the event, is a strategic central Florida partnership of law enforcement (local, state, national), government agencies, schools, non-profits (including Born2Fly), the faith-based community, safe houses, embassy consulates, and many others.

It's one of the most effective local coalitions in the U.S. and it's why there are so many arrests of traffickers throughout the area.

"Be audacious"

At the event, I spoke specifically to young people and encouraged them to be "audacious abolitionists." (Audacious is my new favorite word.) If traffickers are audacious -- and they are -- we have to be even more audacious to stop them.

150 years after the official end of slavery, it's sadly still alive and well right here in the US -- so we still have plenty of work to do.

You know my goal is to work myself out of a job, so thank you for helping me do that.

 

Be audacious

It's Human Trafficking Awareness Day -- Friday, January 11.

150 years after the official end of slavery, it's still alive and well. In your backyard and mine. Look at these sad statistics:

1.2 million
Number of children trafficked each year for sex around the world. (UNICEF)

11 years old
Average age of sex workers around the world. Some are as young as 5 years old. (CIA)

100,000
Number of children and young women who are trafficked in the U.S. today. The average age is 11. (FBI/ABC News)

200,000
Number of U.S. children at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. (US Department of Justice)

$9.5 billion
Amount of money generated annually by human trafficking. (FBI)

2nd
Ranking of human trafficking among all income-generating syndicates (illegal drugs are #1; illegal arms are #3) (Stop the Traffic)

We can change these statistics.

“Given all the power and resources that God has placed in the hands of humankind," writes Gary Haughen, president of International Justice Mission, in his book Terrify No More, "I have yet to see any injustice of humankind that could not also be stopped by humankind."

My goal is to work myself out of a job.

I really don't want to be fighting child trafficking the rest of my life. The only way that will happen is for all of us to work togther to end it now.

Audacious, you say? Yes, it is.

In the words of my fellow abolitionist Rob Morris, director of Love 146, "Ending human trafficking is not idealistic or naive. It is audacious. And it is people of audacity who change the world."

So on this day, 1/11/13, I ask you to be audacious.

Be a world-changer.

Dream big dreams that are so beyond you that only God can help you accomplish them.

Work to stop human trafficking in your city.

If we all do that, we won't have to have a Human Trafficking Awareness Day ever again.

* * *

To learn what The Born2Fly Project is doing to stop child trafficking, visit www.born2fly.org.

Can I quote you on that?

This post begins my 7th year of blogging.

It's also what I share at the beginning of each new year. For 12 months whenever I need some quick inspiration, I just look at the top of my daily to-do agenda where I keep a list of motivational quotes I gather.

All year long whenever I find a new quote, I add it to the list. I post them front and center to inspire me as I work on the Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

When the fight seems impossible, I read what Einstein said. Or Edison. Or Zappos.com.

Today I start a brand-new list, so enjoy these now. I hope they motivate you as much as they do me. Most of these come from my fellow Twitterati, so I've included their Twitter names after each quote in case you want to follow them.

Got a fav quote of your own? Leave it as a comment. I've already begun my 2013 list and could use a few good quotes to start the year right.

* * *

"Do the thing you think you cannot do."—Eleanor Roosevelt

"If Plan A fails, remember you have 25 letters left."

"A year from now you may wish you had started today."

"History shows us that the people who end up changing the world are always nuts, until they are right and then they are geniuses.”—John Eliot via @JohnStanko

"We were trained to finish our homework, our peas and our chores. Today, we're never finished, and that's okay."—@Seth Godin

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."—Henry Ford via @JohnStanko

"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse."

"This is a people plundered and despoiled; all of them are trapped in caves, or are hidden away in prisons; they have become a prey with none to deliver them, and a spoil, with none to say, 'Give them back!'”—Isaiah 42:22

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“God only gives three answers to prayer: 1. 'Yes!' 2. 'Not yet.' 3. 'I have something better in mind.” —@WayneHilsden

"May victims of inhumanity and injustice not find us merely curious, but furious."—@JamieMcIntosh

"Knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom."—Frederick Douglass

"Rescue those being led away to death."—Proverbs 24:11

"He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."—God

"Difficulty is the very atmosphere of miracle. It is miracle in its first stage."—L.B. Cowman via @JamieMcIntosh

And my #1 quote from 2012....This is from a group of children in the Philippines who were approached by traffickers. The kids had already gone through the Born2Fly program to stop child trafficking so when the traffickers tried to lure them with cell phones, the kids yelled:

“We’re more valuable than cell phones!”
—B2F kids in the Philippines

Thanks for making 2012 such a quote-worthy year...and now on to 2013! Be sure to leave your fav quotes in a comment.  

"I had no idea of the magnitude of this problem."

I never get tired of reading the requests from organizations all over the world who've registered to download our Born2Fly anti-trafficking curriculum and wordless book. More than 190 organizations in 60+ countries have already registered. 

Here's what they're saying and how they plan to use B2F to keep their kids safe:

Indonesia: “We began with 3 former sex workers who with the help of our organization were able to get out. Now they spend their lives helping those still trapped in this kind of life. We heard about B2F on Facebook and hope we can incorporate your materials into our work here.”

NGO working in many countries: “This resource is a great gift and I am anticipating with excitement the impact it will have on the communities where we work.”

Cameroon: “I just downloaded the program lessons to stop children trafficking and it is wonderful. I am glad to have it and I believe it is going to be a great blessing to our children.”

Papua New Guinea: “I am in incredibly remote village where the culture includes bartering of women and children along with other wares.”

Botswana: “I had no idea the magnitude of this problem. I have been in a state of shock. This is going to be a learning experience for me as well. Thank you for taking the lead in this battle and assisting me and so many others.” 

Nepal: “Every year 12,000-15,000 girls are trafficked from Nepal. Our organization has a children’s home, does anti-trafficking work, and investigates traffickers.”

Thailand: “I finally had a chance to browse the training package. It is great stuff! I am so humbled to have been given such a gift. Thank you so much for compiling it and also being willing to share it with others.”

South Africa: "I would definitely recommend you start using the Born2Fly curriculum to teach your kids about what trafficking is and how to protect themselves from being victims." (From the National Freedom Network, an anti-trafficking coalition in South Africa)

And in case you don't believe child trafficking happens in the US, we're getting registration applications from all over the country. A few excerpts:

US: “There are 200+ brothels (massage parlors) in our city. Our vision is to liberate those trapped in human trafficking.”

US: “I hope to learn warning signs and behaviors, how to try to prevent [trafficking], and most of all how to try to heal.”

US: “Trafficking is getting worse in our area with girls as young as 12 or so forced into prostitution and porn films.”

US: “We work with women rescued from trafficking. We do awareness training and are starting a Citizen Task Force.”

You can read more excerpts here from Kenya, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Moldova, Haiti, and many more countries where organizations have registered to teach B2F.

If you know a group that works with children anywhere in the world, please tell them about our free anti-trafficking materials. They can find them at www.born2fly.org.

 

Teaching B2F in the Philippines

 

 

 

The Slave and the Porn Star: Sexual Trafficking and Pornography

Those of us working to stop child trafficking have always known about the strong link between trafficking and pornography.

Now there's proof.

Johns Hopkins' just published an excellent scholarly research article showing the connection: The Slave and the Porn Star: Sexual Trafficking and Pornography.

My friend and colleague Laura Lederer, director of Global Centurion and former State Department senior advisor on trafficking, co-wrote the article with Robert Peters, president emeritus of Porn Harms, and attorney Shane Kelly.

Here are a few key findings, as noted by Porn Harms:

• Pornography fuels the global sex trade by driving demand into the mainstream of society.

• Pornography is used as a tool to train young children and women so that they will know what to do in performing sex acts.

• Often, the forced sexual acts between the prostituted woman/child and the John will be filmed and photographed and then shared elsewhere.

• Studies show that pornography users often seek to act out what they have viewed in porn. Often their partners will not engage in such acts, so they seek it elsewhere –- increasing the demand for trafficked women and children to be prostituted.

• Pimps are operating more and more online as it becomes easier to connect with potential buyers and to remain anonymous. Popular websites like Craigslist and Facebook have become virtual brothels where one can quickly find prostituted women and children to engage in sex acts.

• As addiction to pornography increases, users seek harder and harder material. There is a recent boom in the availability of live porn as trafficked children and women are forced to perform on-demand sex acts in front of web cameras as Johns or porn users watch.

• Porn users do not and cannot distinguish between trafficked women, prostitutes, and porn stars.

That last point is key.

When people ask me, "What can I do to stop child trafficking?" one of the things I tell them is, "Stop watching porn."

They look at me like I'm crazy.

Please read the last bullet point above. Most women and all children do not go into porn because it's something they've dreamed of doing all their lives. Most women and all children in porn are trafficked.

If you're watching porn, you're supporting trafficking. In fact, you are a trafficker because you are buying trafficked women and children.

 

 

Part 2: If you're buying children online, buyer beware

Yesterday I was in a meeting with one of the detectives responsible for the arrests of 40 men this week in central Florida for attempting to buy children online. (You can read about the arrests in yesterday's post: If you buy children online, we will post your name online.)

He spoke to us about internet crimes against children. I wanted to wash in Clorox after he finished.

Here's what he told us:

• Of the 40 arrrested, only 1 was a registered sex offender.

• Two years ago in the same county where these 40 men were arrested, traffickers targeted 11 kids at a local karate school.

• Child traffickers are professional. He showed us the cover of a professionally produced booklet--a how-to guide for buying children and what to do once you have them. [Bring on the Clorox.]

• Most of the men arrested were once victims themselves of childhood sex abuse.

• Investigators use sophisticated computer programs that monitor who is trading images and videos of children online. Think Google maps, but click on the red pins and instead of all the nearby Starbucks, voila--the name, location, and IP address of everyone looking for children online. All in real time.

• Law enforcement in numerous states worked together on the 40 arrests--members of Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a nationwide network of 3,000 federal, state, and local agencies.

• Since 2009, his local department has helped with 188 arrests in state and out of state including:

~High-level executive at a national insurance company
~High-school teacher
~Pastor of a 1,500 member church
~Father of 4, including a child who was the age of the child he was propositioning online
~Federal corrections officer
~Youth pastor
~Doctor

• Buyers use a complicated grooming process to lure children and teenagers via Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, and other sites.

• Parents can minimize risk by actively and strategically monitoring their children's social network usage.

• In a few days I'll post some of the resources he shared.

If you're new to this blog, our goal at The Born2Fly Project is to reach kids before the traffickers do. We do this through an awareness and prevention program that we're testing in 5 countries. You can read more at www.born2fly.org. And you can donate to our work on that site, also.

I know this is not easy reading. Thanks for not turning away.

 

 

 

 

If you buy children online, we will post your name online

This is Part 1 of a 2-part post.

Yesterday the Sheriff's Office of Osceola County, Florida,  arrested 40 men for attempting to buy sex with children.

The arrests include a swim coach, a professional golfer on the Senior PGA Tour, an 8th-grade teacher, business professionals, 8 college students, and many others.

I just came from a meeting with one of the detectives involved in the sting and I'll report on that tomorrow. I'm still processing the mind-boggling information he shared.

Meanwhile, to the men buying children, here is our promise: If you buy children online, we will post your name online. And here you are--all 40 of you including your photos and occupations.

(This information is publicly available on the Osceola County Sheriff's Office website here, along with more information about each person arrested.)

1. Frederick David Adams, Naples, FL. Occupation: High School Student
2. Samer Japer Al-Hubaydi, Daytona Beach, FL. Occupation: Student, Embry-Riddle
3. Jason Bacchus, Winter Garden, FL. Occupation: Sales Representative, Cell Phone Distributor
4. Christopher Baker, Kissimmee, FL. Occupation: Unemployed
5. Christopher Batman, Wesley Chapel, FL. Occupation: Self-Employed
6. Marvin Alfonson Bell, Valrico, FL. Occupation: College Student
7. Dennis Bluemke, Clermont, FL. Occupation: Fencing
8. Charles James Buffington, Deltona, FL. Occupation: Construction
9. Sergio Cardenas, Auburndale, FL, Occupation: Unemployed
10. Lucas Bartholomew Clarke, Winter Park, FL. Occupation: Student, Golf Academy of America
11. Shane Daniel Cousins, Kissimmee FL. Occupation: Soldier, U.S. Army Reserves
12. Gary J. Durso, Palm Coast, FL. Occupation: Areole Technician
13. Josean Javier Gaston, Orlando, FL. Occupation: Student
14. Carlos Gomez, Winter Park, FL. Occupation: Unemployed
15. Justin Joseph Hall, Kissimmee, FL. Occupation: Student
16. Dell Rio Highsmith, DFargo, GA. Occupation: Retired Bee Keeper
17. Cornellus Eugene Hunt, Orlando, FL. Occupation: Student
18. Phillip Dale Jones, Winter Haven, FL. Occupation: Unemployed
19. Roger Dale Mathews, Lakeland, FL. Occupation: Plant Manager
20. Joseph Matz, Williamstown NJ. Occupation: Unemployed
21. Carl David Brooks Newsome, Fairhope, AL. Occupation: Unknown
22. Ryu Nolin, Edgewater, FL. Occupation: Personal Trainer
23. Craig Alan Parsel, Jr. Occupation: Warehouse Clerk
24. Eric Dennard Payne, Jr., Orlando, FL. Occupation: Dispatcher
25. Ahmidullah Popal, Flushing, NY. Occupation: Wholesale Dealer
26. Nigel Rattan, Mt. Dora, FL. Occupation: Self-Employed
27. Milton Benjamin Richardson, Palm Bay, FL. Occupation: Engineer
28. Kegan Ritchie, Port Orange, FL. Occupation: Student
29. Alexander Roy, Port St. Lucie, FL. Occupation: Eighth Grade Teacher
30. Kenneth Sinisi, South Daytona, FL. Occupation: Unemployed
31. Andrew Louis Skinner, Windermere, FL. Occupation: Vendor
32. Jay S. Soni, Orlando, FL. Occupation: Sales Representative
33. Frederick Charles Spreng, Windermere, FL. Occupation: Manager
34. Warren Lee Staples, St. Cloud, FL. Occupation: Public Works
35. Winston Alexander Stephens, Shreveport, LA. Occupation: Student, Full Sail University
36. Christopher Stewart, Kissimmee, FL. Occupation: Truck Loader
37. Ryan Stickle, Sammamish, WA. Occupation: Consultant
38. Samuel Dean Straitiff, Deland, FL. Occupation: Information Technology
39. Stephen Wesley Thomas, Meridian, MS. Occupation: Professional Golfer
40. Bryan Allan Woodward, Gainesville, FL. Occupation: Head Swim Coach, Gator Swim Club

Please check back here tomorrow when I'll post Part 2 -- a report on the meeting with one of the undercover investigators involved in the sting. Or subscribe to this blog by using the "Get email updates" button in the upper left.

 

 

 

The dream is still alive

"Administer justice every morning and deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor" (Jeremiah 21:12).

Today is a national holiday in the US to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I wrote this post a few years ago about how he inspired me in my fight to stop child trafficking.

* * *

Five decades ago, my sisters and I set up a little store in the playroom of our house in New York. When we invited our parents to come and shop (i.e. to spend their money), they were aghast to see the sign we had hung in our store:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

My parents explained to us the meaning of this sign, which we must have seen in a real store, and why it was wrong--that it was racial discrimination designed to keep out blacks. (As Italian-Americans, my parents had their own encounters with injustice and discrimination, particularly my father.)

I had no clue. I went through the 1950s and, I regret to say, the 60s and still had no clue.

What was happening in the south didn't seem to affect me--Little Rock, Birmingham, Memphis, the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr. It was all something on the pages of newspapers, but didn't really involve me.

When I was 17, I moved to Washington to attend college during the years when race riots scarred the streets. The events of the day began to get a little closer to home.

A decade later, I moved to Alabama and met people personally affected by injustice. The struggle for justice got closer.

Then I moved to central Florida, where one morning I looked out my window and saw five men cloaked in white sheets protesting outside the Jewish Community Center across the street, claiming the Holocaust was all a myth. Now the struggle for justice was just outside my front door.

Yet another decade later, I was co-writing a book called The Dream Is Alive about the struggle for racial justice within the Christian church. The title, of course, refers to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. While researching information for the book, I read his speech on the internet and listened to scratchy on-line recordings of many of his other speeches--and they powerfully impacted me. Now the struggle was right at the tip of my fingers.

Today, five decades after taking down that sign, I think I'm finally getting it. Injustice has many forms and faces, and they're all ugly. In my travels, I've seen the injustice of child trafficking face to face--girls in cages, boys sold on streets, and more. As I took down that sign 50 years ago, now I'm working to take down a different form of injustice through The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Dr. King's struggle in the face of overwhelming odds, along with his profound words that documented it, are part of the inspiration that has propelled me.

Here are some of his words from his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." I hope they inspire you the way they inspire me.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed."

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

"Was not [the biblical prophet] Amos an extremist for justice? 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream' [Amos 5:24] . . . So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

--excerpts from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To read and hear more:

• "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963 (audio clips)
• "I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963 (text and audio versions)
• "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech, April 3, 1968, the night before Dr. King was killed (text and audio versions)
• The King Center

 * * *

A few more great quotes (hat tip @charlestlee):

“A minister cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring social conditions in his own community that cause [people] an earthly hell.”

“This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the actions of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority.”

 

 

13 things I learned about child trafficking from an undercover operation

Wednesday, January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

In honor of this day (which I hope we soon don't have to commemorate), I want to tell you about my recent experience as part of an undercover operation in a large US city. 

Our focus was Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST). These are minors (under 18) and US citizens.

It was an eye-opening, two-day operation. Here's what I learned, in part from Giselle Rodriguez, state outreach coordinator for the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, who trained us, and in part from my own experiences on the street:

1. We were not in the "bad" part of town but in a area popular with tourists and families.

2. We worked with undercover investigators who regularly monitor DMST happening throughout the city.

3. We saw at least one minor being trafficked, right in the open. We knew there were many more we couldn't see.

4. We talked to hotel owners about DMST and watched their varying reactions. Some said they'd seen girls being trafficked and reported it to the police. Others denied ever seeing anything--but their body language and quick, furtive glances told us otherwise. 

5. Girls are controlled by a network of pimps, handlers, and others who are watching her at any given moment from hidden locations. (This is why we were told NOT to try to rescue girls we saw but to get as much information as possible and report to the investigators at our control center.)

6. We must see these girls as victims. They are doing what they do because of force, fraud, and coercion--not because they've made a lifestyle choice.

7. 2,500 children go missing every day--in the US alone. That's 1.6 million a year. Not all of them are trafficked--but they are all at-risk for trafficking.

8. Within 48 hours of running away, a teenager will be approached by traffickers. Most runaways don't bring cash, lunch, or other necessities, so they are easy pickings for traffickers who offer all that and more.

9. Today the average age of a trafficked person is 12 years old. That's the average age, so many are much younger. Traffickers are going after younger and younger children because they are easier to manipulate.

10. One of the common recruiting locations that trafficking recruiters frequent are the halls outside juvenile justice courtrooms.

11. Trafficked children don't call their controllers "pimps" but rather "Daddy" or "Boyfriend." And that's how they really see them. Traffickers work to create a feeling of family because who isn't looking for a family to belong to? Children will ignore the abuse, violence, and control because trauma bonding is so strong. In fact, if you try to rescue a victim of DMST, she will fight you because you have just ruined what she sees as a perfect world.

12. Victims of DMST are trained to lie for their pimps, to take the fall for their "knight in shining armor," and to distrust everyone else (that would be you and me).

13. Once a child is trafficked, her average life expectancy is 7 years.

It is very difficult to rescue a trafficked child--not to mention help them heal. That's why our goal at The Born2Fly Project is to reach kids before the traffickers do. Our goal is to cut off the supply line of kids by educating them ahead of time about the lies that traffickers tell.

My other goal is that some January in the future we will not need a Human Trafficking Awareness Day. My goal is that one day the world will be free of child slavery.

 

 

 

Child kidnapped, beheaded in village where B2F anti-trafficking program being taught

When I tell you that child trafficking is organized crime, I'm not kidding. Trafficking is very, very lucrative with very few risks. Organized crime has made it the 2nd-highest grossing illegal industry on the planet.

So what happens when you threaten the traffickers' livelihood?

Let's say you want to cut off the supply line of kids...

Let's say you start to teach the Born2Fly anti-trafficking program to kids and parents, and you teach them how to stand up to traffickers...

And let's say you do this in an area where kids are regularly kidnapped and trafficked...

What happens?

This is what happened in a village in the Philippines where our brave partners have been openly teaching the B2F Project anti-trafficking curriculum to children and their parents.

First, our Philippines director was attacked by a trafficker who broke one of her ribs. (He was arrested.)

Then this happened, as reported by the Philippines director:

"One of the children who we have worked with for over a year was kidnapped this week and later returned with all his organs gone and head cut off.

"His mother is obviously traumatized and is uncertain where to go from here and to be honest I just don’t have answers for her. My heart is breaking and I feel angry all in one breath.

"We have had so many children taken from our village in the last couple of months that our team is in shock and the government is searching for answers and help.

"Our course is set to expand whether we are ready or not. Prevention is what we are aiming for."

I am outraged and shocked by the murder of this child and I condemn it in the harshest possible terms. This was a warning shot from the traffickers. No traffickers bother to return a body; they did it as a warning to the team to stop interfering with their livelihood.

Did it work? Has the team pulled back?

Here's what the Philippines director emailed me a week after this child was murdered:

"After many setbacks physical and emotional, being run off the road and vandalism, we are still standing and focused probably more than even before. Our team members are more determined than even before to protect these children and youth especially.

"Two weeks ago I was involved in a [trafficking] intervention, which saved several young girls and was an exceptionally rewarding experience.

"Our most recent test of Born2Fly is going great. The kids are loving it and the teachers and parents numbers are increasing too. Thank you, blessings and strength to you as you spearhead this movement. We are with you all the way."

What an absolute honor to partner with brave warriors such as this director and her team who are standing up to the despicable actions of these traffickers.

Please keep this team in your prayers as they continue to fight on the front lines. They are my heroes.

Daughters who work so their fathers don't have to

This weekend I went to the Orlando screening of Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, a new documentary produced by Exodus Cry about human trafficking and the sex industry.

 

The producers filmed in 19 countries in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The film includes dozens of riveting interviews with trafficking victims and those who help them--and those who buy and sell them. It weaves a picture of the complex cultural, economic, social, religious, and political factors that can influence trafficking.

I've seen a lot of films and documentaries about trafficking, but I always learn something new. For example, I had no idea that 10% of the current population of Moldova has been trafficked. That's a shocking statistic.

Or that in some parts of Asia when a girl is born it's actually cause for rejoicing (unlike in other parts of Asia where boys are more valued than girls) -- because parents know their daughter will generate a steady supply of income when she's old enough to be trafficked. 

"Old enough" means about 4 years old, by the way.

There are a lot of graphic images in Nefarious, but to me the most horrendous was a group of fathers in Cambodia playing cards and drinking--which they do all day, every day--all funded by selling their young daughters to sex tourists.

The fathers don't need to work because their daughters do. 

I'm all about getting angry over the issue of human trafficking, and Nefarious will make you angry. I strongly encourage you to see it. The Incurable Fanatics* screening tour dates and cities are here.

 

* "If to be feelingly alive to the suffering of my fellow creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large." -- William Wilberforce, 19th-century British politician and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.

 

 

 

First feedback from B2F testing in Bulgaria (and it's fantastic!)

We've gotten the first feedback from Bulgaria from our beta test of the Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking--and it's fantastic!

Below is what the teacher wrote us. (She's Bulgarian, and her English is a lot better than my Bulgarian.)

You can imagine how thrilled I am to get this glowing report after 5 years of work on this project. Enjoy it as you read it and see the pictures of these kids, knowing that many of them will be saved from being trafficked because of Born2Fly. Thank you for making this all possible.

* * *

From the teacher:

"I taught three lessons on the Born2fly book between 07.18.11 – 07.21.11 in children camp “Heaven."

"I emphasized on the basic idea – to protect the children from child trafficking but at the same time I tried to help the children to start thinking about:

• What is choice? How our mistakes can hurt the others and what is the price we pay when we do a mistake?
• How can we ask for wisdom when we have to make a decision?
• Why sometimes the fruits of our mistakes are so bitter? (Example: cutting down the moon trees and the decision Blossom made to leave the village when she wasn’t prepared yet)
• Why do we have to take our time when we have to make an important decision? What do we gain when we sacrifice from our time on it?
• How to recognize your real friends? What do our real friends do when we are in trouble? (support us, help us, let us know they are there for us)
• What is a dream? Why do the dream thieves are trying to take our dreams and future?
• Why do we have to be patient and work hard for our dreams?
• Why waiting is so hard?
• What does the school give us? – knowledge, preparation, skills. It’s more difficult for someone to trick you if you have all that. The school teaches us how to live a safe life.

 "The second lesson I taught was with older campers. We talked about:

• The value system of a young person and what are their goals in life.
• We talked about the dream thieves – how they may look (good, attractive), what may they offer us (money, easy life, etc.), what they may want in return; why they want to steal our dreams (future)?
• We discuss that a dream thief may an idol  in our life like – expensive things, modern technologies, even close friends whom we trust too much, different addictions, etc.
• The common thing about all of the above is their purpose – to steal our dream, our future, our life. That’s why the tree in the prison where Blossom is kept is ugly and dead.
• We talked about the good friends we have – people who want to give, not to receive. The children were making very smart comments.

"At the end I gave them paper where they were able to write down their dreams. The children think positively and dream beautiful dreams.
 
"I think that the message of the book worked well and provoked them to be more careful for the dangers in their lives and to know what has real worth. It’s another stage in our prevention work against the evil in this world."

 
 

Blossom is heading to Russia

Blossom is the main character in the Born2Fly wordless book and curriculum--and this fall she's heading to Russia. It's all part of a program to reach kids before the traffickers do.

In this case, Russian orphans. 

We're partnering with a non-profit organization that offered to translate the B2F trafficking-awareness curriculum into Russian and then teach it to teens at 3 different centers for orphans who have "aged out" of the system.

Orphans all over the world are extremely at risk for child trafficking. Traffickers actually wait outside orphanages and watch for kids they'll target.

In Russia as in many places around the world, when orphans reach 18 years old, they have to leave the orphanage. Most don't have any skills that can help them hold down a job, or even know how to look for one.

It doesn't take long before the traffickers introduce themselves to the kids. They offer them the moon, and with no other options in sight, the kids take it. Only to find themselves enslaved.

Training kids to stand up to the traffickers

Two different groups of kids will go through the B2F anti-trafficking program:

1.  Orphans who are 17-21 years old and recently left the orphanages--a high-risk population

2.  Younger teen-aged orphans who are still residing in orphanages

Several full-time orphan-interns will help teach the program. This is exactly the way we've set up the B2F Project--adults train teens, who in turn serve as mentors to younger kids going through the program.

The program begins this fall. Watch this space for details and photos.

 

 

orphans who are aged 17-21 who have recently left the orphanages – high risk population, and (2) younger teen-aged orphans who are still residing in orphanages. 

A plea for help from fellow abolitionists

I just got off the phone with my fellow red-headed abolitionist Julie Taylor Shematz, who is head of Beauty From Ashes. When Julie talks about child trafficking, I listen -- because she was trafficked herself.

Today she heads a strategic outreach and counseling program for women and girls all over the country who are trying to break free from the shackles of trafficking.

So here's the challenge that Julie and I discussed...

...and where we need your help:

• Julie was asked to talk to a group of children next month about child trafficking, but the program directors don't want her to mention sex trafficking. Some of the girls are as young as 3, but others are as old as 11.

• Julie met with a group of high school kids who put together a riveting drama about human trafficking--but most high schools won't let them present it because of the topic.

• Meanwhile I can't find a school or community center in the US that will test the Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking. Schools all over the world are begging for it--but no takers in the US. I suspect it's because (1) they don't think there's a child trafficking problem here and/or (2) they don't want to deal with "offensive" subjects.

Okaaaaay.

So it's okay for kids to watch borderline pornographic dancing on network TV, listen to R-rated music and more...but it's not okay to warn them about sex traffickers recruiting them right now in their middle schools and malls? 

We have a national crisis in the US. The average age of kids entering prostitution in the US is between 11 and 14. That's the average age. Each year 100,000 minors are trafficked in the US--in your towns and ours.

We know that awareness leads to prevention, intervention, and restoration.

So Julie and I decided to throw this open to you.

"We need strategic and creative ideas," Julie explains. "This is a problem that we as abolitionists, especially educators, are facing. We all recognize the need to deliver this message to children and teens, but how do we do this other than the Internet? And how do we do it without sensationalizing or sanitizing it?"

Would you give us your ideas?

1. How can Julie talk to young kids about trafficking without mentioning sex?

2. What should that high school drama group do?

3. How can Born2Fly find schools and groups in the US to test our awareness program?

Tell us what you've done. Share your ideas with us. Or just vent if you want. Let us know in a comment below or here. And thanks.

 

"Sometimes we must interfere."

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. May we never forget.

Here are the words of survivor Elie Wiesel at his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1986. As you read them, think how they apply to the attrocity of child trafficking. I don't know if the boy he is talking about is himself or another child, but it doesn't matter. Weisel's words are as provoking and moving in 2011 as they were in 1986.

"[The boy] asked his father: 'Can this be true? This is the twentieth century, not the Middle Ages. Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?'

"And now the boy is turning to me. 'Tell me,' he asks, 'what have you done with my future, what have you done with your life?' And I tell him that I have tried. That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.

"And then I explain to him how naïve we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

"Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must--at that moment--become the center of the universe...

"What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs...

"Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately."

Sometimes we must interfere. Child trafficking is a very good place to do that.

 

Negotiating the sale of a 3 year old

A colleague who is a filmmaker recently returned from Pattaya, Thailand, where child sex trafficking is not only rampant but often right in the open. She was there to take secret video footage of wanted pedophiles and report them to Interpol. 

Pattaya, Thailand

Now I don’t recommend that just anyone does this on a day off while visiting Asia. Child trafficking is organized crime and confronting traffickers is extremely dangerous. But I wanted you to read what she wrote so you can understand the depths of what is happening and feel her emotions at what she saw:

* * *

“Diana Scimone had introduced me to a world of atrocities through her experiences fighting child trafficking. Her stories kept me second guessing. Honestly, I couldn't fathom that this “trafficking” business truly existed. How could humans be capable of such detestable behavior? While preparing for my trip, I purchased a hidden camera to film what I would see. My goal was to locate and report any “wanted” pedophiles and report them to Interpol.

Map of Pattaya

“At first I was worried that I wouldn’t find any possible traffickers or pedophiles to film, but it was quite the opposite. There was an abundance of sex tourists. With such a tiny camera, it seemed impossible to film them all. Amidst all the Caucasian men, I quickly realized that, being the only Caucasian woman, just my presence was a threat to them. In fact, later as I reviewed my film, I realized some of them had even followed me.

“After filming for many days, I took a night off to go to a festival with some friends. The trafficking scene was far from my mind. As I was walking back from a fun, carefree night, I passed a dark parking lot adjacent to an abandoned building where two men were talking. With them was a small girl, possibly European and no older than 3 years old.

"The men looked European as well and they fearfully glanced my way. At a time when I least expected, I found myself witnessing firsthand the negotiation and sale of this innocent little girl. I couldn't help but wonder how she got here and who could be looking for her. How did she get into these dangerous hands?

“While the men’s eyes followed me closely as I walked on, the toddler suddenly ran free. My heart was hopeful as she seemed so desperate to escape from them and was making her getaway. But her legs betrayed her and she ran in zig zags. I knew she had been drugged. The men quickly caught her and stole her away into the darkness. There was nothing I could do. My heart broke as this helpless child's freedom was cut short.

“From behind the street light, I searched for her but the parking lot was dark, quiet, and empty. I never saw her again...but I couldn't forget her if I tried. My heart was officially wrecked. This is exactly what Diana had told me about. Children like these who are at the mercy at those strangers who buy them.

“Quickly I ran to my hotel. Once in my room, I fell to the floor against the door and wept uncontrollably. My doubts were no more. None of what I saw that night made it on film, but it is engraved permanently in my mind. Since that night, I feel haunted by the sick memory of greed that would ravage something so innocent as a means of profit.

“Child trafficking is real. It does exist. It happens everyday...every single day...and it needs to end...NOW.”

—An abolitionist

* * *

Remember, what this abolitionist filmmaker saw is not relegated to Thailand, nor just in Asia, but it is happening all over the world, including throughout the United States.

If you don’t believe me, look at the trailer for the documentary Playground about the child trafficking trade in Atlanta: www.playgroundproject.com.

Is there justice for these children?

Test phase of B2F Project expands to more countries

Great news: We're expanding the test phase of the Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking. Many of the organizations around the world that I wrote about here have agreed to test the anti-trafficking curriculum and wordless book in their countries.

• So far we have commitments from Bulgaria to teach B2F at a summer camp for kids. Child trafficking is huge in eastern Europe, so this is a great place to reach kids before the traffickers do.

• And the safe house in northern Thailand that I wrote about here will also test the materials this summer. This is where the "black van...goes around neighborhoods stealing children."

• In the Philippines, an organization will be testing B2F at one school in a city and another in a tribal area. This group has been working with schools and government offices to set up a anti-trafficking education program. They already have access to every high school in the region and have been meeting with a number of governors and mayors to expand the program. They were ready to design a curriculum when they heard about B2F and asked us if they could use it for trafficking prevention in their area.

We're also waiting to hear from organizations working in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Guatemala that have expressed interest in testing B2F in those countries. They'll let us know within the next month.

Meanwhile here's a mom (left) in the Dominican Republic "reading" the Born2Fly wordless book with her daughter.

Yes, the mom is young! She had her daughter when she was 14. She's now a community health care worker and also teaches kindergarten. Her story is a remarkable one in itself, and she wants a much better life for her girls than she has had. 

This mom and 6 other community health team members are trial teaching the B2F materials to their own children. Child trafficking is a real problem throughout the DR and these moms are teaching their kids how to spot traffickers and avoid being enslaved.

Watch this space for more details.

 

 

"I'd rather not know."

"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know."

"I'd rather not know."

Those two statements were spoken more than 200 years apart. The first was spoken in 1789 by William Wilberforce, who singlehandedly took on the slave trade of the British empire--and helped to end it in spite of all odds.

The second statement was spoken by someone I talked with recently.

I told her why I launched the Born2Fly Project to help stop child trafficking. I told her some of the stories of children who are forced into modern-day slavery (aka child trafficking). Her response was, "I'd rather not know."

Our goal with B2F is to help children and parents all over the world become aware of the dangers of child trafficking--but it's also to help you and me become aware. Sorry, but I don't want us to ever be able to say, "I did not know."

In the 5 years since I've been working on the B2F Project--which is now being tested in the Dominican Republic--I've met children and young teenage girls who've been bought and sold like farm animals. Their faces are fresh in my mind. Should I tell them, "I'd rather not know your story"? 

I don't think so.

I'm a reporter, and my job--my mission--is to report what I hear and see. And if you read this blog, you'll hear and see, too. The stories aren't pretty, but I suspect you don't want to live in ignorance.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to learn more about child trafficking and how to stop it, watch this 3-minute video, "Get Angry. Please."

Thanks for not looking the other way.

The greatest generation

This is a great example of how the next generation is taking up the fight to stop human trafficking--a video produced by a group of high school kids:

I'm convinced their generation will be the ones to stop the horror of human trafficking. I know we refer to the World War 2 generation as "the greatest" generation, but I believe these young kids and many like them all over the world will also bear that title.

Hat tip to Jon Swanson (@jnswanson) for letting me know about this video and the young people who produced it. If you know of other kids working to stop the traffic in creative ways, please leave a comment to let the rest of us know about them.

* * *

UPDATE: They raised more than $1,000! The funds will help Tiny Hands International rescue children being trafficked across the border between Nepal and India. You can see the video here. Great job!

The dream is still alive.

Today is a national holiday in the US to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I wrote this a few years ago about how he inspired me in the fight to stop child trafficking.

* * *

Five decades ago, my sisters and I set up a little store in the playroom of our house in New York.  When we invited our parents to come and shop (i.e. to spend their money), they were aghast to see the sign we had hung in our store:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

My parents explained to us the meaning of this sign, which we must have seen in a real store, and why it was wrong--that it was racial discrimination designed to keep out blacks.  (As Italian-Americans, my parents had their own encounters with injustice and discrimination, particularly my father.)

I had no clue.  I went through the 1950s and, I regret to say, the 60s and still had no clue.

What was happening in the south didn't seem to affect me--Little Rock, Birmingham, Memphis, the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr.  It was all something on the pages of newspapers, but didn't really involve me.

When I was 17, I moved to Washington to attend college during the years when race riots scarred the streets.  The events of the day began to get a little closer to home.

A decade later, I moved to Alabama and met people personally affected by injustice.  The struggle for justice got closer.

Then I moved to central Florida, where one morning I looked out my window and saw five men cloaked in white sheets protesting outside the Jewish community center across the street, claiming the Holocaust was all a myth.  Now the struggle for justice was just outside my front door.

Yet another decade later, I was co-writing a book called The Dream Is Alive about the struggle for racial justice within the Christian church.  The title, of course, refers to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.  While researching information for the book, I read his speech on the internet and listened to scratchy on-line recordings of many of his other speeches--and they powerfully impacted me.  Now the struggle was right at the tip of my fingers.

Today, five decades after taking down that sign, I think I'm finally getting it.  Injustice has many forms and faces, and they're all ugly.  In my travels, I've seen the injustice of child trafficking face to face--girls in cages, boys sold on streets, and more.  As I took down that sign 50 years ago, now I'm working to take down a different form of injustice through The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Dr. King's struggle in the face of overwhelming odds, along with his profound words that documented it, are part of the inspiration that has propelled me.

Here are some of his words from his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." I hope they inspire you the way they inspire me.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor.  It must be demanded by the oppressed."

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.  Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.  We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

"Was not [the biblical prophet] Amos an extremist for justice?  'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream' [Amos 5:24] . . . So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.  Will we be extremists for hate or for love?  Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

--excerpts from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To read and hear more:

"Letter From a Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963 (audio clips)

"I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963 (text and audio versions)

"I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech, April 3, 1968, the night before he was killed (text and audio versions)

The King Center

* * *

A few more great quotes (hat tip @charlestlee):

“A minister cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring social conditions in his own community that cause [people] an earthly hell.”

“This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the actions of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority.”

What do you think of when you think of "Orlando"?

Ask any kid about "Orlando" and you'll hear about Mickey Mouse, Disney World, Sea World, Universal, and other kid-friendly places. 

Who thinks of child slavery happening in the "happiest place on earth"?

But children are trafficked right here in Orlando (where I live) just as in cities all over the world.

That's why I'm part of Orlando Rescue and Restore Coalition, a partnership of non-profits, government agencies, faith-based organizations, corporations, and concerned citizens all working together to stop human trafficking in our borders.

Join us this Sunday for our 3rd annual Freedom Rally (where yours truly will be speaking):

Freedom Rally
Join the fight against human trafficking
Sun., Jan. 16, 2011
1-5 pm (Rally at 3 pm)
Walt Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola
195 N. Rosalind Ave.
Orlando, Florida

Map

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs will issue a Proclamation Against Human Trafficking and several abolitionists will speak.

You'll also hear from human trafficking survivors from central Florida who'll tell their stories.

I always say that whatever I know about domestic human trafficking, I learned at Orlando Rescue and Restore Coalition meetings. ORRC is a model for other anti-trafficking coalitions throughout the US--a partnership of groups like these all working together to stop human slavery in our area:

• Non-profits like The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking and many others
• Local law enforcement like Orlando Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol
• State agencies like Department of Children and Families
• National agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• International organizations such as embassies and consulates based in Florida
• Faith-based organizations
• Corporations like The Body Shop
• And many more

The Born2Fly Project will have a booth, along with my fellow abolitionists Leah Wiedemer with the Fair Trade Mission, and Jane' Gautier~Shadoin with the Butterfly Project.

Join us this Sunday as we proclaim "freedom" over Orlando. For more information: OrlandoRRC@gmail.com, (407) 495-5846, Facebook.

 

I hope I don't have to do this again...

...Be part of Human Trafficking Awareness Day, that is. That day is today -- 1/11/11. Here are some sad facts about why we need such an event:

1.2 million
Number of children trafficked each year for sex around the world. (UNICEF)

11
Average age of sex workers around the world. Some are as young as 5 years old. (CIA)

100,000
Number of children and young women who are trafficked in America today. They range in age from 9 to 19, with the average age being 11. (FBI/ABC News)

200,000
Number of U.S. children at risk for commercial sexual exploitation. (US Department of Justice)

$9.5 billion
Amount of money generated annually by human trafficking. (FBI)

2nd
Ranking of human trafficking among all income-generating syndicates (illegal drugs are #1; illegal arms are #3) (Stop the Traffic)

We can change these statistics.

“Given all the power and resources that God has placed in the hands of humankind," writes Gary Haughen, president of International Justice Mission, in his book Terrify No More, "I have yet to see any injustice of humankind that could not also be stopped by humankind."

My goal is to work myself out of a job.

I really don't want to be fighting this horror the rest of my life. The only way that will happen is for all of us to work togther to end it now. 

Audacious, you say? Yes, it is. In the words of my fellow abolitionist Rob Morris, director of Love 146, "Ending human trafficking is not idealistic or naive. It is audacious. And it is people of audacity who change the world." 

So on this day, 1/1/11, I ask you to be a world-changer and work to stop human trafficking in your city. If we all do that, we won't have to have a Human Trafficking Awareness Day ever again.

* * *

To learn what The Born2Fly Project is doing to stop child trafficking, visit www.born2fly.org.

Here's a guest post I wrote for Safe4Women about how I first learned about child trafficking: The Day My Life Changed.

 

Can I quote you on that?

All year long whenever I need some quick inspiration, I just look at the top of my daily to-do agenda where I keep a list of motivational quotes I've gathered. Whenever I find a new one, I add it to the list. I post them front and center to inspire me as I work on The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

When the fight seems impossible, I read what Einstein said. Or Edison. Or Zappos.com.

Today I start a brand-new list, so enjoy these now. I hope they motivate you as much as they do me.

Most of these come from my fellow Twitterati, so I've included their Twitter names after each quote in case you want to follow them.

Got a fav quote of your own? Leave it as a comment. (I've already begun my 2011 list and could use a few good ones to start the year right.)

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music."—Angela Monet (via @zappos and @yuho123)

"In every generation it has, without exception, been those who dared to live with an irrepressible dream who changed history."—P Greig (via @JeremyAffeldt)

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."—Frederick B. Wilcox (via @BriarcliffManor)

"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"—Proverbs 24:11-12

"All of us want to preach like Martin Luther King. We don't want to die like he did. The two can't be separated. They are the same sermon." (via @MikeGlenn)

“A minister cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring social conditions in his own community that cause [people] an earthly hell.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.

“This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the actions of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority."—Martin Luther King, Jr.

"All mankind is divided into 3 classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."—Benjamin Franklin

"211ºF is hot water. 212ºF moves a train. Keep the fire burning. Don't lose a degree. There's power in your passion." (via @theRAMP)

"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."—Albert Einstein

"The moment of enlightenment is when a person's dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities."—Vic Braden

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”—Neale Donald Walsch

"If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere."—Frank A. Clark (via @CoryBooker)

"Everything you believe to be impossible is."—Seth Godin (via @Sarah_Stuart)

“All you need to know is that it’s possible. Somewhere in the world, someone is doing something that you decided couldn't be done.”—Seth Godin

"If you don't like change, you are going to like irrelevance even less." (via @Just_Shane)

"How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."—Trina Paulus

"Things fall apart so that other things can fall together." (via @OhMyDelisa)

"Is anyone laughing at your goals? If not, think bigger." (via @caroljsroth)

"Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations."—Ralph Charell (via @gailtiv)

"We may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all: the apathy of human beings."—Helen Keller

"You've got to win in your mind before you win in your life."—John Addison (via @gailtiv)

“Human traffickers have just little bit more info than victims.”—Ambassador Luis CdeBaca

"It's not too late, just later than it was."—Seth Godin

DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk is this Saturday

Countdown to the big anti-trafficking march in Washington DC this Saturday:

Sat., Oct. 23, 2010
National Mall - Constitution Gardens
Constitution Avenue and 19th St. NW
Washington DC

www.walk.stopmodernslavery.org
walk@stopmodernslavery.org

The SMS Walk is a united effort to bring attention to the fact that human trafficking is the 2nd-largest illegal industry on the planet--and to raise fund for organizations that are working to stop it. 

The Born2Fly Project has a "virtual" team for the walk. You can join us without having to walk a step. :-) Just go here, scroll down the list of teams til you find Born2Fly, and make a donation to "walk" with us. 

The SMS Walk is organized entirely by community volunteers who are passionate activists. 100% of the contributions go directly to organizations in the US that combat human trafficking and care for victims:

• Provide emergency, short-term, and long-term care and services for victims of human trafficking
• Create, strengthen, and implement anti-trafficking laws
• Operate the national human trafficking hotline
• Train law enforcement to identify victims
• Rescue victims
• Raise awareness about all forms of human trafficking

For more information or to help sponsor this event, check out www.walk.stopmodernslavery.org or www.meetup.com/wdcsms. And don't forget to join the Born2Fly Project "virtual" team; just go here, scroll down the list of teams til you find Born2Fly, and make a donation to "walk" with us.

Countdown to the 10/10/10 Twitterthon...Updated plans for Dominican Republic test

6 days and counting to the 10/10/10 Twitterthon to stop child trafficking! Our goal is 10,000 people giving $10 each on 10/10/10. All the funds go to the Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking

We're moving forward on plans to test the B2F anti-trafficking curriculum and wordless book in the Dominican Republic in just a few weeks.  Here's an update I received today from the educator organizing it:

I'm meeting on Wednesday with some of the people who'll be delivering the curriculum to the teaching teams in the D.R. next week.

All is looking good for delivery and implementation.  I'll keep you advised as things progress. 

My daughter is going down on a medical/dental project on the 16th and will be able to see the first B2F community rally--which may be more like a door-to-door march by a women's group.
 
If they design a t-shirt to go with the B2F groups, I'll get you a copy.  This is all in the works and dependent upon stretching the finances.

They're going to start teaching 2 groups of older kids: 1 is an after-school boys' group and the other a typing class for girls who also do an outside study project together and then practice their typing about it. 

I'll probably do a couple of conference calls with the teachers after they see the material to help with any initial adjustments.

Once they train the older kids,they're thinking of using the materials in a sort of big-brother/big-sister way and in family groups to teach the younger children.

The women's community group will promote the project in the community through the clinic-school connections already established. The women are very excited about getting their hands on this material so they can reinforce this information with their children and neighbors. I think this is going to be very exciting. 

I agree--very exciting! After 5 years of work, the Born2Fly wordless book and curriculum will be in the hands of at-risk kids in a matter of weeks.  The Dominican Republic has a huge problem with child trafficking, so this is a strategic place to begin training kids, parents, and teachers.

Remember, the 10/10/10 Twitterthon will help get these amazing materials into the hands of even more at-risk kids around the world. Our goal is 10,000 people giving just $10 each on 10/10/10.

You don't have to wait until then to donate, of course. Just click the orange ChipIn button above and donate by credit card or PayPal.

If you agree that no child should be bought and sold like an animal, please respond today. 

 

10/10/10 Twitterthon to stop child trafficking

Many of you emailed or tweeted me on September 9 in honor of last year's 09-09-09 Twitterthon for The B2F Project to stop child trafficking -- and asked if I was doing another one on 10/10/10.

By popular demand, yes, there WILL be a Twitterthon on 10/10/10.  And no, you don't have to be on Twitter to be part of it!

Here's our goal:

Every penny we raise will go to The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

And here's how you can help:

1. Click on the orange Chip-in button above (or here if you're reading this by email) and donate $10 via PayPal or credit card.
2. Then email 10 of your friends about 10/10/10.  Just send them here.
3. If you're on Twitter, tweet about 10/10/10 to your followers.

That's what made last year's Twitterthon a success.  YOU got behind it and told people about it--and it went viral. Let's see if we can do it again, okay?

Why we're doing this

Each year more than a million kids are lured into modern-day slavery where they’re raped for profit 30 or 40 times a night—night after night. Some of them are just 4 years old. Many are right in the U.S.

If that makes you angry, there IS something we can do about it.

Most kids are tricked into sex slavery because they don’t know the deceptive tactics of traffickers. What if we could warn children and their parents ahead of time?

What if we taught them about the lies traffickers use—and how to stand up against them? The rate of trafficking would drop and millions of kids would never enter the dark world of trafficking.

Reaching kids before the traffickers do

The B2F Project educates at-risk children and their parents about the dangers of trafficking through a strategic 6-week community campaign. The project's centerpiece is a wordless book that teaches kids to make wise choices—wordless so we don’t have to translate it into hundreds of languages. A 70-page companion curriculum reinforces the important concepts in the book.

The B2F wordless book and curriculum are complete and ready for testing next month in the Dominican Republic.

Once we have feedback from teachers and kids, we’ll begin distributing these amazing materials all over the world. The 1-day fundraiser will raise money to do that—and prevent millions of kids from ever being trafficked.

What you can do

• Donate: Use the Chip-in widget above (or here) to donate $10. (You don't have to wait til 10/10/10 to donate of course.)
• Email: Tell 10 people about 10/10/10 and send them to www.born2fly.org or this blog.
• Blog: Post about 10/10/10. Include the Chip-in widget (see code below).
• Facebook: Talk about 10/10/10; include the Chip-in widget.
• Twitter: Tweet about it. Follow me, @DianaScimone, director of The B2F Project.
• Updates: Check my blog for the latest:  www.dianascimone.com
• Show: Add a Twibbon to your Twitter and Facebook photos: http://twb.ly/9Hccsi
• Paste: Copy and paste this code for the Chip-in widget onto your blog and Facebook:

<embed src="http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/fff5a4bf4be4bb24" flashVars="event_desc=10K%20people%20donating%20%2410%20each%20on%2010/10/10%20to%20stop%20child%20trafficking.%20All%20funds%20to%20go%20The%20Born2Fly%20Project%20to%20stop%20child%20trafficking.%20www.born2fly.org&color_scheme=blue" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" width="220" height="220"></embed>

Traffickers think kids are commodities. On 10/10/10, tell kids they’re priceless.

All it takes is $10.

The B2F curriculum is FINISHED!

This is huge news!  After 1 year of solid work, we've FINISHED the curriculum for The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Can you see me jumping for joy? Dancing? Spinning? Doing cartwheels?

I wish I could show you this amazing curriculum that gives teachers all over the world the tools they need to teach the important concepts in the B2F wordless book.  Our goal is to reach kids before the traffickers do -- and this curriculum does that.

The team has worked on it for a year and they did a brilliant job. Mega thanks to educators Karen Armistead and Georgia Ana Larson for sharing their expertise and heart on every page, and to artist Leah Wiedemer whose illustrations make it all come alive.

Georgia Ana, who's taught at-risk kids in 3rd-world countries, told me, "If you want to make a change in a community, you have to involve every level of that community in what you're doing."

That's what we've done. 

She helped us create a 6-week community program to stop child trafficking. It involves not just kids, parents, and teachers, but the entire community.

It's nearly 70 pages and includes age-appropriate teaching material, games, posters, activities, and more. Adults mentor teenagers to be "apprentice teachers," and they work together to teach the younger kids in their community. That way we reach everyone.

There's NOTHING else like this anywhere. 

That's why dozens of people all over the world have written to us and are waiting for copies of everything.

But first we have to test it.

And here's more good news.

Someone has offered to cover the costs to test the B2F program in the Dominican Republic -- starting THIS MONTH. They're even taking care of printing costs. Awesome!

Once we get feedback from these teachers, teens, and kids, we'll tweak everything and begin distributing these amazing materials around the world.

So watch this space for details!

One Day, One Place, One Voice: DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk

If you're in Washington DC in October, make plans to be part of the DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk:

Sat., Oct. 23, 2010
National Mall - Constitution Gardens
Constitution Avenue and 19th St. NW
Washington DC

www.walk.stopmodernslavery.org
walk@stopmodernslavery.org

The SMS Walk is a united effort to bring attention to the fact that human trafficking is the 2nd-largest illegal industry on the planet--and to raise fund for organizations that are working to stop it. 

It's organized entirely by community volunteers who are passionate activists.  100% of the contributions go directly to organizations in the US that combat human trafficking and care for victims:

• Provide emergency, short-term, and long-term care and services for victims of human trafficking
• Create, strengthen, and implement anti-trafficking laws
• Operate the national human trafficking hotline
• Train law enforcement to identify victims
• Rescue victims
• Raise awareness about all forms of human trafficking

For more information or to help sponsor this event, check out www.walk.stopmodernslavery.org or www.meetup.com/wdcsms.

UPDATE:  The Born2Fly Project has a "virtual" team for the walk.  You can join us without having to walk a step. :-) Just go here, scroll down the list of teams til you find Born2Fly, and make a donation to "walk" with us. Pretty cool, huh?

B2F in DC

Last week I was in Washington DC where I met with a number of people about child trafficking and what The Born2Fly Project is doing to stop it.

Here are some quick quotes from some of them:

"The whole issue of human trafficking is not taken seriously by governments. They ratify the treaties but don't follow through and do anything. The US is the only country with an ambassador heading their anti-trafficking office. More countries need to do that."

-- Baroness Mary Goudie, abolitionist and member of the House of Lords

"Many countries have a very 1880s view of what human trafficking is. For them it simply means 'moving prostitutes across borders.' The US and UK focus on the exploitation nature of human trafficking. You can't just relegate women to be prostitutes. These women are exploited."

-- Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director, Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, US State Department

"Corporations must recognize there is a real vulnerability if they don't recognize these issues. They can be trailblazers on these issues."

-- Mark Lagon, former ambassador-at-large with the Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking, US State Department; now consultant to corporations

"The exemplar of this is Avon [and their foundation to stop domestic and gender violence]. We must build a message that philanthropic goals are going to shape a corporation's name, brand, and profits. It's doing well by doing good."

-- Paula Stern, former chairwoman of the International Trade Commission

I also met with Amy O'Neill Richard at the State Department, one of the authors of the annual Trafficking in Persons Report; Julie Stricker at the State Department, who works with international programs fighting human trafficking; and Dr. Laura Lederer, former head of the Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking and now director of Global Centurion, which works to stop the demand side of trafficking.

Laura invited Born to Fly to join Triple S Network (Stop Sex Slavery), a coalition of 100 anti-trafficking organizations. (We accepted, of course!)

I've had some follow-up conversations with Baroness Goudie, and she'll be guest-posting on this blog (and graciously invited me to write for hers).

"We must keep writing articles and blogging about human trafficking," she stressed. "That is the place to make changes." 

Amen. Thank you for reading this blog and wanting to make changes.

Dear Craig: Quit selling sex with kids.

Who hasn't bought something from Craigslist?

I'm sitting on a chair I bought on Craigslist. I even bought a Christmas tree one year from this popular site.

You can buy anything on Craigslist. Even a person. Even a child. In fact Craigslist is one of the top sponsors--and benefactors of--human trafficking.

This video by the Rebecca Project describes how young girls are lured into prostitution and how Craigslist has become the primary marketplace for trafficking.

I've written about this in the past (here, here, here, and here) and have stopped patronizing Craigslist. The company claims to monitor the site, but anyone can easily find children (and adults) to abuse.

"It's just like Ebay--only it's a human being."

I hope you're as outraged as I am by Craigslist's continued refusal to do anything to stop their flagrant trafficking of women and children.  Later this week a massive coalition of 75 anti-trafficking organizations and other groups will protest in front of Craigslist headquarter in San Francisco:

Thursday, July 8, 2010
Craigslist headquarters
1381 9th Avenue (Between Judah and Irving Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94122
12:00 – 2:00 PM

More info here.

“Craigslist continues to cynically profit by functioning as an online pimp,” says Norma Ramos, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, one of the organizers of the event.

“Craigslist is the new stroll where pimps traffic, johns buy, and Craigslist profits,” adds Melissa Farley, executive director, Prostitution Research and Education.

Massive money-maker for Craigslist

According to statements released by organizers of this week's protest:

• Craigslist is projected to realize a 22% increase in revenue--an estimated $36 million in 2010--largely because it functions as a virtual red light district for pimps/traffickers and johns.
• Craigslist displays a reckless disregard for human rights by increasingly becoming a part of the sex industry.
• Craigslist could act to create a sex trafficking free internet by no longer hosting prostitution ads and thereby setting an industry standard.

What you can do about it

Here's what the Rebecca Project recommends:

1. Read the Dear Craig letter from two survivors who were trafficked on Craigslist.

2. Place a free ad on Craigslist and include this message: "Dear Craig: Don’t turn your back on young girls. They should be safe, not sold. Shut down the Adult Services section."

3. Post this message on your Facebook page: “Don't let Craigslist put profit above protection. Tell Craig to quit selling sex with kids" and put a link to Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster on Facebook

4. Post a personal message to Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster on Facebook urging them to close the Adult Services Section of Craigslist.

5. Tweet the same message to Craig Newmark: http://twitter.com/craignewmark

This is my 5th post about Craigslist and this horrendous subject. I hope it's the last.

* * *

UPDATE:  I tweeted #5 above and a few moments later received a tweet from Craig Newmark telling me to "please stick with honest info."

 

Is there slavery in your backyard? (Yes.)

Human trafficking--a.k.a. slavery--exists everywhere.

Including in the US.

In your town. The nail salon around the corner.  The restaurant across the street.  Your daughter's middle school.

Free the Slaves has a great interactive map that shows you where slavery exists.

And here are the Top Ten Facts About Human Slavery -- also from Free the Slaves. 

Remember: Slavery exists in the darkness, so the more we can do to shine a light on it through awareness and education, the faster we can uncover it and free those enslaved.

Photo: Kay Chernush, US State Department

US Secretary of State Clinton: "Human trafficking is not someone else's responsibility."

A few years ago I was in northern Thailand visiting a safe house filled with women rescued from human trafficking.

The director of the home told me that the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act--and the annual TIP (Trafficking in Persons) Report that accompanies it--has made an enormous dent in the multi-billion dollar industry of human trafficking.

This morning the US State Department released the 2010 TIP Report, which ranks 170+ countries  according to their efforts (or lack of effort) to eliminate human trafficking within and across their borders.  

There are 3 tiers and a "watch-list" tier--Tier 2 countries that are in danger of being demoted to Tier 3 unless they make substantial efforts to get rid of trafficking within their borders.

US now ranked

This is the 10th annual report--and the 1st one that includes a ranking of the United States. Thankfully the US is in Tier 1. That is not to say we don't have a trafficking problem in the US.  We do, but efforts are being made to eliminate it.

"[The US ranking is] based on the same standards to which we hold other countries," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this morning when the 2010 TIP Report was released. "The United States takes its first-ever ranking not as a reprieve but as a responsibility to strengthen global efforts against modern slavery, including those within America.

"This human rights abuse is universal, and no one should claim immunity from its reach or from the responsibility to confront it," she emphasized. "Human trafficking is not someone else's responsibility."

Heroes in the fight

I was in tears watching the live event online this morning when Laura Germino of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers was honored as one of the heroes of the fight to stop human trafficking.  She talked about forced field labor in the US. 

When she began the fight 20 years ago, things were so bad that "there was nowhere to go but up," she said. "It takes a whole community to fight slavery. It is our collective fight to wipe slavery off the face of the earth. We are fighting for tier zero."

Trafficking follows disasters

One of the additions to the 2010 report is a section on the need to quickly mobilize to prevent human trafficking (particularly child trafficking) following natural disasters.

As you know if you read this blog regularly, the earthquake in Haiti was a prime example of the need for this kind of strategy. (See February post here.)

Child traffickers were in Haiti before the ground even stopped shaking, and they quickly scooped up children and carted them around in wheelbarrows selling them to the highest bidder.  (I wish I were making this up.)

Hopefully this report, and the many "best practices" that it spotlights, will do more to eliminate that kind of disaster-related trafficking--as well as many other forms of it.

Links if you want to read more

I'll have more to share with you as I peruse the 372-page report.  Meanwhile, here are links if you want to see the report yourself:

2010 TIP Report (pdf)

2010 country-by-country tier rankings

2010 heroes

Global law enforcement data

Video of June 14, 2010, release of 2010 TIP Report

Have a burger; help Born2Fly

If you live in central Florida, you're invited to the soft opening on Monday of a brand-new restaurant called Line Drive Burgers.

Here's the cool thing:

When you place your order, you get to pick from a short list of non-profit organizations, and manager Rob Swanson will donate 5% of your total order to that charity.

Yup, Born to Fly is one of the sponsored charities! Just let your server know you want 5% of your order to go to B2F to help stop child trafficking.

You can check out Line Drive Burger's fun website and menu. Everything is baseball themed with gourmet burgers, brats, and more.

Then come to the soft opening when almost everything is half price while Rob trains the team, or the grand opening a week later:

Soft opening
Monday, June 7 (continues through June 12)
10 am - 8 pm

Grand opening
Monday, June 14
10 am - 8 pm

Line Drive Burgers
3801 Lake Mary Boulevard (corner of Rinehart Road)
Lake Mary, Florida 32746
Map
www.linedriveburgers.com
http://linedriveburgers.wordpress.com (blog)
@LineDriveBurger (Twitter)

I'll be there around noon both Mondays. Let me know when you're coming and be sure to choose Born to Fly as your charity!

MTV: Good News and Bad News

MTV has a great anti-trafficking campaign called Exit -- End Expoitation and Trafficking. 

Since MTV launched the EXIT campaign in 2004, it's created programming that's informed millions of young people from source and destination countries about trafficking and empowered them to take action within their communities.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that you can watch EXIT programming all over the world EXCEPT in the US, where MTV doesn't air it. 

Instead MTV US airs a lot of programming that actually promotes sex trafficking of children and adults.  

The Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking just launched a petition drive to encourage MTV to air EXIT in the US and be a little more responsible about what else they do air.

You can sign the petition here. It takes about 30 seconds. (Warning: The video clip with the petition is graphic.)

Orlando: How to fight slavery in your own backyard

Want to know more about how to fight modern-day slavery in your community?

This Saturday the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking will begin monthly trainings for anyone who wants to get involved and equipped in practical ways. 

There are 2 sessions in Orlando this weekend, both free.  One is community based and the other is faith based:

Human Trafficking 101 - Community-based training 
Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Orange County Central Library
Magnolia Room - 3rd floor
101 East Central Blvd.
Orlando, FL. 32801
(If parking on street bring change for meters or city of Orlando parking garage across the street - $2 per hour)

Human Trafficking 101 - Faith-based training
(Includes prayers and references to spiritual factors)
Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Orlando House of Prayer
Main Sanctuary
495 West Silver Star Rd.
Ocoee, FL.  34761
Free parking

For more information, contact fcahtorlando@gmail.com.

* * *

Get additional information on how to stop the traffic by following me on Twitter: @DianaScimone. 

Twitter helps rescue 2 girls from sex slavery

This is why I love Twitter. (Please take note, people who think all we tweet about is what we eat.)

A few days after the earthquake in Haiti last January, I saw a tweet from someone standing outside an orphanage in Haiti where traffickers were soliciting orphans. The person was desperately tweeting for someone to send law enforcement or media to stop what was happening.

I knew my colleague Pat Bradley, prez of International Crisis Aid, was already on the ground in Haiti.  Pat has rescued kids from slavery in many countries; you may remember what I wrote about him in Begging last year. 

As soon as I saw that tweet, I retweeted it (forwarded it) to Pat in Haiti and he got back to me within moments.  His team was understandably overwhelmed at the orphanage where they were already helping kids--and sadly could not get to this one.

Side note: Someone did get some international media attention on what was happening at the original orphanage--all thanks to Twitter.

Flash forward to this week. Here's what Pat emailed me:

Hey Diana

Since you sent me an email in Jan regarding trafficking in Haiti it never left my mind. Please read below, you are responsible for this happening.

Bless you
Pat

Well I'm not sure if I'm responsible, but here's what happened:

Dear all

Dennis and I just found a red light district that is as bad as Addis [Ethiopia], if not worse. We saw several small girls also.

The place is located on the road to the orphanage in Leogane, Haiti.

Girls are paid $1.00 for services, there are several hundred girls. To say these are horrible conditions is a gross understatement.

Not sure what we will do about it yet because we just now left the place BUT WE WILL DO SOMETHING.

The experience was like I had in Ethiopia. I felt led to ask about sex trafficking/prostitution and we found ourselves right in the middle of it.

Pray for wisdom that we know what to do and resources to do it.

Bless you
Pat

Then the next day:

Dear all

We went back to the red-light district yesterday and gave out the gift packs to about 200 girls. They told us it was the first time anyone did something nice with no strings attached. It went very good.

Today we returned with a group from Trinity Fellowship from Amarillo Texas. While walking around I felt God point 2 different girls out to rescue.

We are going to set them up with a roadside kiosk selling a variety of different products. We explained that if they are successful it will make it possible for us to rescue others from this horrible situation. I also explained to them that God picked them out specifically to be the first ones that He is rescuing. We explained that His heart breaks for them and all the other girls and He wants them to be set free to live His plan for their lives.

So all that to say we now have a Safe Campaign in Haiti. I had no plans to do this but God saw differently.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this possible.

Pat

Pretty amazing, huh? You can read more here:

ICA's blog
Follow Pat on Twitter: @IntlCrisisAid
Follow me on Twitter: @DianaScimone
Learn how Born to Fly International works to reach kids before the traffickers do: www.born2fly.org

"You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them" (Psalm 10:18).

You = you. And me. Thank you for making stories like this possible.

Demi Moore: "It's like the dirty little secret."

"It's not a popular [issue]," said actress Demi Moore. "There isn’t anyone who disagrees that it's unacceptable [but] people don't treat it like a top priority. In general, it's like the dirty little secret."

Moore was talking about child trafficking — "the dirty little secret." 

She spoke yesterday in Washington DC at a panel discussion at the US Capitol and said sex trafficking of US children is a domestic issue that should be viewed with a greater sense of urgency.

When she said, "We are focusing on the effect and not the cause," I wanted to cheer.  Yes, we need to rescue kids who are already trafficked — absolutely. But at the same time we need to stop the pipeline that feeds it.

That's what The Born2Fly Project does. Our goal is to reach kids before the traffickers do. 

In January, Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, launched the Demi and Ashton Foundation to bring attention to the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

"We've bought into the myths," Moore said, "I think, collectively as a society that the girl is choosing it, she likes it, she's making a lot of money. And, I tell you, you go into a room of 13-year-old girls and ask them to raise their hands if they want to be a prostitute and then tell me if they're gonna choose it, and I guarantee you that none of them will be raising their hands."

The panel discussion was organized by the DNA Foundation and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights.

How to Tell If Someone Is Being Trafficked--and What to Do About It

Last night, in the space of about an hour, 2 people on opposite sides of the planet emailed me to ask what to do about suspected cases of human trafficking.

One is a friend teaching English in Asia. She went to a respectable spa for a massage, but felt something more was going on behind the scenes and that the massage therapist who helped her was being trafficked.  What were the signs, my friend wanted to know, and what should she do?

A few minutes later another friend emailed me about a suspected case of trafficking--this time in the US.  Was there a number she could call?  Someone to report it to? (Yes; read on.)

A few years ago I wrote a post for this blog about how to tell if someone is being trafficked--and what to do about it.

That post has received more hits from all over the world than anything I've written on this site. With so much in the news about trafficking, people are keeping their eyes and ears open--which is great.

I'm re-posting the information here. You may never need it, but just in case, you'll know where to find it.  Meanwhile, please forward this to others so they'll be aware, too.  You can send them to this link: http://bit.ly/aoFdn0

*  *  *

Some slaves are kept out of the public eye. Others are right in front of you--waitresses, nail salon workers, kids in your neighborhood, laborers you see every day. I'm not talking about illegal immigrants, but actual slaves.

How can you tell if someone is a victim of human trafficking and slavery? What do you look for?

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, here are clues to help identify a trafficking victim:

• Accompanied by a controlling person or boss; not speaking on own behalf
• Lack of control over personal schedule, money, I.D., travel documents
• Transported to or from work; lives and works in the same place
• Debt owed to employer/crew leader; inability to leave job
• Bruises, depression, fear, overly submissive

Asking the right questions will help to determine if the person is a victim of trafficking. Here are key questions to ask:

• What type of work do you do?
• Are you getting paid? Anything taken out of your pay?
• Can you leave your job if you want to?
• Can you come and go as you please? Are you afraid to leave? Why?
• Have you or your family been threatened?
• What are your working and living conditions like? How are you treated?
• Do you have to ask permission to eat/sleep/go to the bathroom?
• Are there locks on your doors/windows so you cannot get out?
• Has your identification or documentation been taken from you?

In the US, if you think someone might be a trafficking victim, call the National Trafficking Resource Center hotline at (888) 373-7888. It's open 24/7.  In another country, call one of these hotlines.

To learn what Born to Fly International is doing to stop child trafficking, visit www.born2fly.org.


Photo: Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department

In Our Own Backyard: Child Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in the United States

Guest post by Julie Taylor Shematz
Director, Beauty From Ashes

Note from Diana:  I asked my colleague and fellow red-headed abolitionist Julie Taylor Shematz if she would guest post here about yesterday's Senate hearing on domestic minor sex trafficking.  Julie has a perspective that most of us do not--because she was trafficked in the US herself.

Yesterday the Senate Human Rights and Law Subcommittee had a hearing on domestic minor sex trafficking entitled "In Our Own Backyard: Child Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in the United States."  

It was NOT filibustered and absolutely demanded the undivided attention of anyone watching.  They not only addressed the lack of resources for specialized, comprehensive victim services, but they also went into detail why existing government funded foster care and group homes are high recruitment areas for pimps and traffickers.

Evidence was presented why domestic violence and youth programs are NOT working for these victims and what is needed to get the victims stabilized in order for them to be key witnesses.  They even discussed why we should NOT separate the adult victims from the minors [see more on this below] and that 70-90% of adult victims were sexually exploited as children. 

Additionally, they addressed the demand and the need to arrest and prosecute johns -- versus arresting the victims (prostituted children) and treating them as criminals.  Currently 80% of victims arrested for prostitution versus 20% of johns. 

Here is a link to the entire hearing including the 4-minute video they opened with called "Playground." [Warning: graphic content.)

* * *

I asked Julie for more information on her comment above that we should not separate adult and minor victims of human trafficking.  Here's her reply:

They discussed how when a minor is a victim of sex trafficking, they are embraced [and helped] by the adult victims while in captivity and once they are rescued. When we separate them (after rescue), it is not in either of their best interests.  Restoration services, shelters and safe homes need to be created that allow them to remain together (if the relationship is not going to hinder their healing process) throughout their healing journey.

This is EXACTLY what I have learned from working with both the minors and adults. It's advantageous to put them together for healing and restoration. They relate and can support one another like NO ONE ELSE CAN. Placing a minor who has been raped for profit 8 to 30 times a day for only God knows how long, into a home with typically "rebellious, bratty and cruel" minors is NOT an environment that will be conducive to their healing. 

I remember a 15-year-old international victim of sex trafficking with 2 children of her own (one was 3 days old and the other 1 year old). Because this victim was only 15, we had to remove her from the women's shelter she was placed in and relocate her to a teen pregnancy home.

A Department of Children and Families investigator said to me, "That is too bad she has to be removed from a loving environment with adult women that embraced her and her children, to be placed into an environment filled with rebellious, bratty and cruel minors." 

I asked him what he meant by that. As he explained how mean children are to other children, I just cried as his comment sunk in. 

The model we have developed includes allowing minors to coincide with adults for their restoration journey. 

Julie and the BFA team have done a fantastic job working to abolish sex slavery in the United States and to provide the holistic services needed to restore the victims. They are in the process of building a specialized emergency shelter, long-term safehome, and walk-in resource center that will serve domestic victims of trafficking in the US.

I encourage you to read more on her website, www.BeautyFromAshes.org. You can follow her on Twitter @JulietheArtist1 and @BeautyFrmAshes.

Haiti: Getting Kids Off the Streets and Away from Traffickers

A few hundred feet over my head the planes keep coming--all day and all night. They're cargo planes arriving from Haiti and so far they've brought more than 8,000 people to Orlando--orphans, injured, and more.

My first thought when the earthquake hit was "child trafficking."  Haiti has always had a huge problem, and when disaster strikes, the traffickers flock to the rubble for easy pickings.

I've gotten report after report of kids being openly trafficked--even a hospital that was selling kids.

That's why I personally have supported 2 organizations that are getting kids off the streets and into safe houses.

These are not high-profile organizations that get the big bucks from telethons or Hollywood celebs. They're just laboring away doing good work without a lot of attention or fanfare--and are very effective at it.

If you're looking for places to give, I highly recommend these 2:

Danita's Children

Danita has long had a presence in Haiti, where she set up an orphanage that until January housed 75 orphans. It was not damaged by the earthquake, thankfully, and has since been taking in many more kids and getting them off the streets. 

Danita can use your support and I can attest that her organization is a good one to invest in.

International Crisis Aid

I've known ICA founder Pat Bradley for 12+ years and wrote about him in my post called Begging.  As soon as the earthquake hit, Pat was on a plane and has been there ever since.

His small team has single-handedly repaired a totally destroyed orphanage and got it going again.  They're working with the US Marines, who wrote this to Pat:

Your ability to locate the people in need and get them the supplies they so desperately needed has been nothing short of remarkable.  The partnership that our Marine unit [has] formed with ICA has become the blueprint for success in this devastated region. 

Our ability to bring the resources ashore and provide the necessary security, coupled with your complete devotion to an efficient, honest and timely distribution has saved thousands of lives and will positively shape and influence generations in Haiti.

I would be remiss if I didn't beg ICA to remain in Haiti for the foreseeable future and continue to set the example for the other NGOs.

You can read the full letter from the Marine sergeant on ICA's blog--where you can also donate.  Follow ICA on Twitter @crisisaid and get Pat's real-time updates. Here's a story that NPR did about ICA this afternoon.

Whether kids are orphaned or not, whether they get adopted or not--the critical and immediate need is to get them off the streets and away from the hands of traffickers.  Thank you for helping these 2 organizations do that.

[photos: ICA]

 

Super Bowl's Not-So-Super Side: Human Trafficking

2011 UPDATE: Human trafficking at Super Bowl XLV: How to stop the traffic

* * *

I love football and am thrilled the Super Bowl is just around the corner. 

I’m not at all excited, however, about what will come to Miami the same week:  A huge increase in human trafficking.

"Every time we have a big event like the Super Bowl," says Anna Rodriguez, founder of the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking (FCAHT), "you have pimps that move people across the nation to where there is a large activity and a quicker way to make a lot of money."

Human trafficking is the 2nd most profitable crime on the planet, after illegal drugs. You can sell a drug once but you can sell a human being over and over again. 

Traffickers know there’s money to be made so when there's an international sporting event like the Super Bowl or World Cup, they show up in force.

Remember, we're not talking about voluntary prostitution.  Human trafficking involves force, fraud, and coercion. Women and girls are forcibly trafficked to cities where events like the Super Bowl are held.

There's nothing voluntary about it. It's human slavery.  And in some cases child slavery.

The human trafficking industry may be getting ready, but so are abolitionists and law enforcement.

Anti-trafficking organizations are mobilized to reach out to Miami hotels and business owners who might come in contact with victims of commercial sexual exploitation. They'll also reach out to minors in areas known for commercial sexual exploitation.

These organizations include:

Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking
KLaasKids Foundation
Global Child Rescue
Stand Up for Kids
Kristi House
Free International
Florida Abolitionists
Local, state, and national law enforcement

Last year a similar coalition provided 13 leads to law enforcement—one of which turned out to be the “Treasure Island” case in St. Petersburg, Florida. Six pimps were arrested and 4 domestic victims were rescued.

This year’s outreach in Miami includes a week of training and outreach for team members and volunteers along with an army of people praying for their success.

Want to join them? Contact anna@stophumantrafficking.org.

Let's see if we can set some captives free--and put some traffickers behind bars.

 

The Dream Is Alive

Today is a national holiday in the US to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  I wrote this a few years ago about how he inspired me in the fight to stop child trafficking.

* * *

Five decades ago, my sisters and I set up a little store in the playroom of our house in New York.  When we invited our parents to come and shop (i.e. to spend their money), they were aghast to see the sign we had hung in our store:

    "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

My parents explained to us the meaning of this sign, which we must have seen in a real store, and why it was wrong--that it was racial discrimination designed to keep out blacks.  (As Italian-Americans, my parents had their own encounters with injustice and discrimination, particularly my father.)

I had no clue.  I went through the 1950s and, I regret to say, the 60s and still had no clue.

What was happening in the south didn't seem to affect me--Little Rock, Birmingham, Memphis, the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr.  It was all something on the pages of newspapers, but didn't really involve me.

When I was 17, I moved to Washington to attend college during the years when race riots scarred the streets.  The events of the day began to get a little closer to home.

A decade later, I moved to Alabama, and met people personally affected by injustice.  The struggle for justice got closer.

Then I moved to central Florida, where one morning I looked out my window and saw five men cloaked in white sheets protesting outside the Jewish community center across the street, claiming the Holocaust was all a myth.  Now the struggle for justice was just outside my front door.

Yet another decade later, I was co-writing a book called The Dream Is Alive about the struggle for racial justice within the Christian church.  The title, of course, refers to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  While researching information for the book, I read his speech on the internet and listened to scratchy on-line recordings of many of his other speeches--and they powerfully impacted me.  Now the struggle was right at the tip of my fingers.

Today, five decades after taking down that sign, I think I'm finally getting it.  Injustice has many forms and faces, and they're all ugly.  In my travels, I've seen the injustice of child trafficking face to face--girls in cages, boys sold on streets, and more.  As I took down that sign 50 years ago, now I'm working to take down a different form of injustice through The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

Dr. King's struggle in the face of overwhelming odds, along with his profound words that documented it, are part of the inspiration that has propelled me.

Here are some of his words from his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." I hope they inspire you the way they inspire me.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Justice too long delayed is justice denied."

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor.  It must be demanded by the oppressed."

 "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.  Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.  We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

"Was not [the biblical prophet] Amos an extremist for justice?  'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream' [Amos 5:24] . . . So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.  Will we be extremists for hate or for love?  Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

--excerpts from "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

To read and hear more:

"Letter From a Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963 (audio clips)

"I Have a Dream" speech, August 28, 1963 (text and audio versions)

"I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech, April 3, 1968, the night before he was killed (text and audio versions)

The King Center

* * *

A few more great quotes (hat tip @charlestlee):

“A minister cannot preach the glories of heaven while ignoring social conditions in his own community that cause [people] an earthly hell.”

“This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the actions of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority.”

Girls That Vanish

This is why I launched  The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking--and why I am pressing through against all odds to get our awareness materials into the hands of girls like Maria:

Maria described how at the age of 16 she was lured off the streets by a young man who promised the world, but delivered nothing but pain.

She was raped, drugged and sold for sex. "They took a gallon of gasoline and started pouring it over a girl," Maria said.

"One of the men told me if you don't do as I say I will do the same to you.

"I wanted to look away, but they didn't let me. Even though the girl was on fire they kept hitting her and they were laughing as if they were enjoying what they were doing."

The report describes a cross-border trade between Mexico and the US--a trade in children and babies.  Please understand these babies are not for adoption.  They are part of the child sex trade.  Yes, babies.

You can read more in CNN's excellent report, Human Trafficking in Mexico Targets Women and Children.

Oh yeah, for anyone who tells me--again--that these girls ask for it or know what they're getting in to, please watch this:

(If you can't see the video, click here.)

Child sex tourism: They're kids, not tourist attractions

Little-known fact about Diana:  The very first thing I ever published was a travel article. 

It was way back in the 1970s (I was 2 years old at the time, of course), and it was a newspaper article about the week I spent eating fantastic foods while visiting relatives in Sicily. 

The Washington Star graciously published it (and I suspect my atrocious first attempt at writing contributed to the demise of the Star a few years later). 

I still love to travel (41 countries and counting).  There are many things I do not like about travel, however:

1. Jet lag
2. Tummy trouble
3. Child sex tourism

You can guess which one this blog post is about. 

This is about organized tours that you can book on the internet so you can fly to a another country—or another city in the US, like Atlanta—and pay a few dollars to repeatedly rape a little girl (or boy).

Why would anyone want to do that? How's this for justification:

"On this trip, I've had sex with a 14-year-old girl in Mexico and a 15-year-old in Colombia. I'm helping them financially. If they don't have sex with me, they may not have enough food. If someone has a problem with me doing this, let UNICEF feed them."

--Retired U.S. school teacher (via US Department of Justice)

This Monday, January 11, is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. (Actually all of January has been set aside in the US as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.) 

Since I love to travel, I’m commemorating the day and month by writing about the not-so-nice side of travel:  child sex tourism.

The facts

• More than one million children worldwide are drawn into the sex trade each year. (ECPAT)
• They service 10-40 customers a night.
• Some are just 4 years old.

According to World Vision:

"Some Americans take advantage of prostituted children while traveling to impoverished countries for business, tourism and other legitimate reasons. Others travel abroad specifically for a 'sex tour.'

"Sex tourists travel to countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil, expecting anonymity, low-cost prostitution, easily accessible children and impunity from prosecution.

"Notably, it is estimated that one-third of the prostitutes in Cambodia are children.
The United States has laws that prohibit sex with minors in other countries and has greatly increased government efforts to combat this problem. Under the Protect Act of 2003, United States citizens or residents who engage in sexual activity abroad with a child under 18 can face 30 years in a U.S. prison. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now actively investigating American sex tourists abroad and making arrests.

"Sexually exploited children are severely wounded physically and emotionally. Many acquire diseases such as HIV and AIDS, and almost all experience rejection by their families and communities in addition to fear, shame and despair."

Under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2423), it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to travel abroad intending to engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 18 that would be illegal if it occurred in the U.S.  Individuals who commit these crimes are subject to prosecution in the U.S. even if the crime was committed on foreign soil. (National Center for Mission and Exploited Children)

You don’t have to fly around the world to find child sex tourism. It happens in the US, probably in your city. The documentary Playground reports on this horror in Atlanta. (Warning: graphic content.)

Traveling? Here's what you can do about it:

1. Whatever your profession or interest, here’s a comprehensive list of what you can do: www.endslaverynow.com (hat tip blogger Emily Bain Murphy at Season of Light).
2. Call or e-mail your representative to voice your support for the Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737).
3. Report an American sex tourist if you have information regarding someone who has sexually exploited a child. E-mail the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Operation Predator: operation.predator@DHS.gov
4. If you’re planning an international trip, look up your destinations in the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report and learn about the child sex tourism industry there.
5. See where your destination country ranks in the fight to stop child trafficking.
6. Take free anti-trafficking brochures, posters, info cards with you (available in many languages).
7. Watch US Immigration and Customs Enforcement awareness videos.
8. Learn what to ask if you think someone is trafficked.
9. Carry a copy of Global hotlines to report child trafficking in other countries.
10. In the US, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center to report a trafficking victim: (888) 373-7888.

If you're in the travel industry:

• Thecode.org:  What the tourism industry is doing to stop child trafficking
• Fact sheet about child sex tourism (ECPAT)
• U.S. law on child sex tourism (World Vision)
• Information about the Protect Act (World Vision)
• Young Person’s Guide to Combating Child Sex Tourism (ECPAT)
• Child Sex Tourism Prevention Project (World Vision)
• www.slaverymap.org
• How India is cracking down on the tourism industry for promoting child sex tourism
• Google “human trafficking awareness day.”  There are more than 1.5 million entries listing events, resources, and stories.
• Google “how to stop child sex tourism.”
• Google “what hotels are doing to stop child sex tourism.”
• Google "Olympics child trafficking."
• Google "World Cup child trafficking."

Travel blogger Pam Mandel (@nerdseyeview) has a great post on BlogHer about her own experiences in Cambodia seeing the horrors of child sex tourism all too up-close-and-personal. I'd love to see more travel writers cover this not-so-nice side of travel. (If you do, leave a link in the comments.)

Thanks for reading this extra-long post.

 

Can I quote you on that?

At the top of my daily to-do agenda, I keep a list of motivational quotes I've gathered. I post them front and center to inspire me as I work on The Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking. All year long, whenever I find a new one, I add it to the list.

When the fight seems impossible, I read what Einstein said. Or Edison. Or Bono.

On January 1, I'll start a brand-new list, so enjoy these now. I hope they motivate you as much as they do me. 

Got a fav quote of your own? Leave it as a comment. (I'll begin my 2010 list on Saturday and could use a few good ones to start the year right.)

1. “God has a plan to help bring justice to the world—and his plan is us.”
    —Gary Haugen

2. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."
    —Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

3. “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the children."
    —Isaiah 1:17

4. “The day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
    —Anais Nin

5. “Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”
    —Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens

6. "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."
    —Paulo Freire

7. "Dreams have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely."
    —Erma Bombeck

8. "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"
    —Proverbs 24:11-12

9. “When you choose to look past the horizon, the sky is the limit.”

10. "Glance up to the summit, know that you're worthy of journeying there, and focus down on your feet, and just take the next, simple step."
    —Jamie Clarke

11. "You do the ridiculous, God will do the miraculous."
    —Jaeson Ma

12. "Dream the dreams that alter the course of world history."
    —Bill Johnson

13. "If God answered all your prayers of the last 7 days would anything in the world change or just your world?"

14. "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
    —Exodus 14:14

15. "It is not safe to play it safe."

16. “My very greatest asset was that I simply did not understand what was impossible.”
    —Wendy Kopp, founder, Teach 4 America

17. "This is what the Sovereign Lord says to you, dry bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life."
    —Ezekiel 37:5

18. "Isn't 'Love thy neighbour' in the global village so inconvenient? God writes us these lines, but we have to sing them."
    —Bono

19. "How would you treat a friend who lied to you as much as your fears do?"
    —W.P. Young

20. “God...gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."
    —Romans 4:17

21. "When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this—you haven't."
    —Thomas Edison

22. “It will cost us heavily to stand for the right when the wrong is in the majority, which is 100 percent of the time.”
    —A.W. Tozer

23. "A time comes when silence is betrayal."
    —Martin Luther King, Jr.

24. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
    —Martin Luther King, Jr.

25. “It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s just that I stick with problems longer.”
    —Albert Einstein

26. “It always seems impossible until it's done.”
    —Nelson Mandela

Who Knew Santa Was an Abolitionist?

It's amazing what you can learn by reading children's books.

Earlier this year I had an opportunity to edit a new children's book called Tales of the Tick-Tock Time Traveler: Saint Nicholas's Secret, written by Karla Johnson and illustrated by Nathan Wiedemer.

Nicholas, a 3rd-century bishop who lived in what is now Turkey, learned about a poor man with three daughters to marry off. 

The man was too destitute to pay the dowry for the girls, meaning they would be sold into slavery (aka child trafficking).

Nicholas heard of the girls' plight and late one night quietly waited outside the family's meager home and threw coins into their window--making sure no one, especially the father, saw him.

The father found the money and used it to pay off his debts--and his girls were rescued from a life of slavery.

OK, no one knows for sure if that truly happened, but according to the Saint Nicholas Center there's good reason to believe it did:

This story, distinct to Nicholas, can be regarded as historical in its essence. There are three very ancient accounts which only differ in regard to the number of maidens and other detail.

This event reveals important aspects of St. Nicholas's personality, namely, his charitable nature and humility. This story is not found in hagiographic accounts of other saints' lives.

Saint Nicholas, of course, became the model for modern-day Santa Claus. 

Who knew Santa was really an abolitionist?

Making a List, Checking It Twice: Gifts made by women & girls rescued from trafficking

This year you can give Christmas and Hanukkah gifts that help stop child trafficking. 

Here are organizations that teach new skills to women and girls rescued from trafficking--such as making jewelry, purses, and handmade paper. 

When you purchase their beautiful crafts, you help provide income, education, and support for trafficking survivors.

Hat tip to Cassandra Clifford and Amanda Kloer for many of these sources. Leave a comment if you know of other sites, and I'll add them to the list.

Buy Her Bag, Not Her Body (Nomi Network) handbags

Free the Slaves and Made by Survivors jewelry, t-shirts, handmade paper

Made By Survivors Bags, wallets, paper, holiday gifts, books

Nightlight International jewelry

Not For Sale Soaps, bags, coffee, kitchenware (including petal bag below right)

RIJI Green Journals, felt products, and recycled rice bags

Stop Traffick Fashion handmade bags, jewelry

Starfish Project jewelry and bookmarks (including pendant necklace above left)

Wonderfully Made jewelry

One more site to check out: Free2Work, a project of the NotForSale campaign, helps shoppers find great gifts that do not have forced or child labor in their production.

If you know of other sites selling gifts made by trafficking survivors, leave a comment and I'll add them to the list.

"They are merchandise because they are just pounds of meat."

That lovely thought is from the mouth of a human trafficker, talking about his victims.

He mentions it a number of times in Lives For Sale, a documentary that traces the story of 2 young women who cross the US/Mexico border illegally and end up being trafficked--one in California and the other in Florida.

Lives For Sale shows the strong connection between immigration and human trafficking, and why immigrants are willing to risk everything--even slavery--for the American dream. Many, of course, have no idea they are signing up to be slaves.

Click here to watch the trailer.

Human trafficking is the 2nd most profitable illegal industry on the planet, after illegal drugs. You can sell a drug once, but you can sell a person over and over again--and that's what happens to the women in Lives For Sale.

Here are some of the notes I scribbled in the dark while I was watching the film:

• There is an increasing "feminization of immigration."  54% of immigrants around the world are women--and many pay their way with their bodies--willingly or unwillingly.

• One young woman in the film was brought from Mexico to Phoenix to Los Angeles.  When she arrived at a dark and dirty home, she was asked, "Do you know why you are here? To work.  This is a brothel." To which she replied, "What is that?" This innocent young woman was forced to work as a prostitute.

• Another young woman was held hostage in a home in a middle-class neighborhood in the US--which was actually a brothel.  A neighbor noticed what was going on and called the police, but it took many calls before anyone believed her and rescued the young woman and others held hostage in the same house. "Finally someone believed my story," the neighbor said.

• Quote from a state attorney in the US who prosecutes traffickers:  "One of the first things I have to do is convince a jury that slavery actually exists."

• 500,000 undocumented people enter the US illegally every year.  70,000 of them will be trafficked. Desperation and crushing poverty lead them to believe the lies of traffickers who promise them the moon. 

Whatever you think about illegal immigration, no one deserves to be a slave.

The film showed two programs in Guatemala that help people out of poverty -- which means they are less likely to become illegal immigrants and be trafficked:

One program gives kids economic incentives to go to school and stay in school. This is particularly important for girls. 80% of women in Guatemala are illiterate.

Another program--a coffee co-op--gives farmers a place to sell their coffee beans, make money, feed their families, and get out of poverty. 

BTW, this excellent documentary has been shown on television only a handful of times.  In Florida where much of it was shot, it was shown on a Sunday night at 12 midnight--not exactly prime time. 

Why?  Why don't more media show this type of film and expose the horror that is going on in our backyards?

To learn what The Born2Fly Project is doing to stop child trafficking, click here.

501 Unwanted Girls

I met someone this week who adopted 501 unwanted little girls.  He legally adopted every one of them, built homes for them, and even built schools--elementary through Ph.D.--for them to attend.

Yeah, I was pretty amazed, too.  His name is Dr. P.P. Job, and he is from India. 

To give you an idea of the status of girls in India, this is the greeting given to a woman on her wedding day:  "May you be the mother of a hundred sons."

In India, almost no one wants a daughter. Here are some of the tragic statistics that Dr. Job shared:

• 2,000 girls go missing in India--every day.
• 5,000,000 girls are aborted in government hospitals in India--every year--simply because they are girls.

"From abortion and infanticide," says Dr. Job, "it goes on to denying education to the girl child, later to abuse of women. When a boy is born, there is celebration. When a girl is born, there is mourning."

The story for these 501 girls is doubly tragic. They were orphaned when their parents were murdered. Their parents were Christians and were killed for their faith.

Dr. Job and his wife know something about that; their 2 sons were killed for their Christian faith. Michael was 21 and in medical school, and his older brother, John, was murdered a few years later. Dr. Job and his wife started this amazing orphanage in their honor.

In India, there is no lack of children for the insatiable child-trafficking industry, and 501 suddenly orphaned little girls would have been prime targets for recruiters.  Thankfully Dr. Job and his wife took them in--and continue to take in others.

Each one is one more little girl off the streets and in school. 

One more little girl who will not be trafficked for sex or labor.