Diana Scimone

Day 19: Taking a Break to Stop Child Trafficking

You're sitting at your computer reading this, right?

You're probably slouching. Your wrists hurt, your back is scrunched, and when you stand up you feel like you have to unfold yourself from your chair.

Enter BreakPal.com, today's featured prize for the upcoming 09-09-09 1-day fundraiser to stop child trafficking. 

BreakPal is the web's only fitness-at-your-desk program. It reminds you throughout the day to do 1-2 minute stretches, exercises, cardio, and even a little kung fu--and actually shows you what to do.

BreakPal pres Phil Weaver let me try out the program, and it's great. I do an hour-long Funiq Fitness workout twice a week, but in between I sit slouched over my laptop, so I'm loving these 2-minute breaks.

You can love it, too, because BreakPal is giving a premium membership ($125 value) to one lucky winner on 09-09-09.  Everyone who donates to the fundraiser is eligible. Just click the orange bar on the Chip-in button to the right or here.

Remember, our goal is 9,000 people each giving $9 on 09-09-09--and all the funds go to the Born2Fly Project to stop child trafficking.

* * *

Here's the answer to yesterday's question:

Q: What's one of the not-so-super-sides of mega-sporting events such as the SuperBowl, World Cup, and Olympics?

A: Human trafficking. Sadly the rate of trafficking skyrockets in cities where these and other international sporting events are held.

Anti-slavery groups are already working with organizers of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 Olympics in London to make sure this doesn't happen. Read more here about the most recent SuperBowl, or Google "human trafficking" and any of those events and you'll find a ton of links.

Tomorrow's question:

Q: 2.8 million kids live on the streets in the US. How long does it take them to be lured into child trafficking?

Answer tomorrow, along with another prize to be given away to a donor during the 09-09-09 fundraiser.

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

I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan (second only to the Washington Redskins), so I was thrilled by the outcome of yesterday's Super Bowl.

I wasn't thrilled, however, by what else was going on in Tampa over the weekend:  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."

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...is getting ready for the event," said Bret Bartlett, a captain with Tampa's Criminal Intelligence Bureau, "and so are we." 

For the past week, FCAHT and local law enforcement officers worked together to break up trafficking rings.  They held training sessions for volunteers who handed out fliers to party-goers and businesses to send a message that human trafficking is alive and real right here in the U.S.  They also told them what to do and whom to call if they suspected someone was being trafficked.

Sadly there's always an increase in human trafficking at international sporting events including the 2006 World Cup in Germany when 40,000 women were trafficked from eastern and central Europe, and last summer's Olympic games in Beijing, when women were trafficked from North Korea. 

I love sports. I love American football, I love soccer, and I'm glued to the TV whenever the Olympics are on. I just wish there weren't a direct connection between international sporting events and human trafficking.  Hopefully the efforts of FCAHT and law enforcement helped stop some of the traffic this past weekend.

Meanwhile, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers!  You are #1!

Photo by Kay Chernush for the US State Department

It's Impossible

If anyone knows about doing the impossible, it's Zach Johnson.  He's the come-from-behind kid who recently accomplished the impossible--the professional golfer that almost no one heard of who won the Masters Tournament three weeks ago. The Masters is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, and Zach beat all the impossible odds (not to mention Tiger Woods) to win it. 

Last evening, my friends Cheryl and Allan invited me to hear Zach and his wife, Kim, speak at their church, Discovery, which the Johnsons also attend regularly.

Zach and Kim talked about the years of waiting, the years of preparing, the years of not winning any major tournaments, then winning a few and going through another dry spell.  Yet they always knew that Zach had it in him to win the big one--and he did.

When you're trying to do the impossible yourself--oh, let's say helping to end child-trafficking--it's always great to hear from someone else who has accomplished something that everyone said was impossible.   

You can watch the interview with Zach and Kim or download the podcast of the message following it by clicking here (it's the April 27/28 session, which may not be on Discovery's website until tomorrow).

I'll end with one of the encouraging words you'll hear: 

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26 New International Version). 

Isn't that good to know when you're facing the impossible?

To learn more about PawPaw's Pals' "impossible" anti-child trafficking project, just visit www.pawpawspals.org.

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this post, just go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of "It's Impossible").