Friday night I went to the presentation on human trafficking - Stop the Traffik. It was a very overwhelming evening, sort of like watching Hotel Rwanda or Blood Diamond, only not quite as dramatic. They showed several videos, testimonies and gave lots of statistics. For instance, human trafficking is the 2nd largest source of profit for organized crime, following arms. It used to be the third largest behind arms and drugs. They also tied the fight to stop human trafficking with the abolition of slavery. I don't think most people think that slavery goes on but there are actually more slaves now than there were when the slave trade was originally abolished.
What can we do about it? Well, that's the overwhelming part. Here are a few ideas they suggested:
1. You can sign the petition that they will be presenting to the United Nations and global governments.
2. You can donate money or buy a freedom key. I bought a Freedom Key for 1 pound. It seems like it will take a lot of keys to make a difference.
3. Buy fair trade products.
4. Sponsor a child. People become vulnerable to human trafficking when they are in great povery. Sponsoring children through Compassion or World Vision prevents children and families from becoming vulnerable to trafficking.
5. Get up and do something (that's my way of saying it, not theirs). There are lots of organizations and projects that you can get involved in if you have the time. This is something that I hope to do some day, I'm not sure exactly when and how but I don't think I'll be content giving money to the cause. Here is a cool article about some people making a difference that Kelly passed along to me. Even just raising awareness in your community will help and there are resources on the website to do so.
Okay, I'm stepping off of my soap box for now...but I might get back on it later.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Stop the Traffik
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1 comments:
Presenting a petition to the United Nations is totally fruitless. It won't accomplish much of anything barring getting them some exposure in the press maybe. They may have some luck with governments though it depends on which governments.
As far as the freedom keys, I suspect they do need a good bit of money so they can work on keeping the issue before the public. It is only through public support that they can hope to stop human trafficing. They have a big problem in that there are so many evils in this world and each one clamors for our attention. The causes that fail to raise enough money will fail to keep our attention and thereby our support.
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