Soft Hands, Kind Hearts Against Child Trafficking

Apparently I'm on some sort of "hand" theme this week. I am going to track down the nearest Body Shop as soon as I can and stock up on this wonderful hand cream. (On second thought, looks like it's only available outside the U.S.; Body Shop, please offer this campaign here, too!)

A large portion of the proceeds will go to Beyond Borders to fight child sex trafficking. Apparently sales of cotton bags and gift boxes will also benefit Somaly Mam's foundation.

Some of the funds will pay for the smaller (and incredibly meaningful) actions beyond the typical shelter and treatment; things like removing the tattoo of a pimp's name from a child's hand.

It reminds me of what Billy Graham once said: "The most eloquent prayer is the prayer through hands that heal, and bless."

What [Your] Hands Can Do

This Not for Sale PSA about fighting trafficking and "reabolishing" slavery is awesome. Take a minute to watch it; and all it takes is a couple of clicks of your hand to forward awareness on to a friend.

The Edge of Things

Image by el patojo

We hear a lot about martyrdom throughout history, but there are plenty of people who are really putting their lives on the line today--July 21, 2009.

Just to name a few:

• Workers at a partner organization we visited on the Love146 trip who said that they fear they haven't made enough of an impact because one of them hadn't been killed yet.
• Euna Lee and Laura Ling's potential experience at the North Korean labor camps because of the investigation they were doing on human trafficking (see http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/09/world/fg-north-korea-camps9)
• Aaron Cohen's life risked over and again on slavehunter missions in Cambodia, Columbia and other locations around the world.
• Somaly Mam's regular personal threats and the kidnapping and brutalization of her young daughter by traffickers.
  

As for me? I sit in my cube, watching the rain streak down the window of another gray day in Boston, and wonder how far I would really go to help save someone else.

One Foot in Front of the Other

“I don’t feel like I can change the world. I don’t even try. I only want to change this small life that I see standing in front of me, which is suffering. I want to change this small real thing that is the destiny of one little girl. And then another, and another, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself or sleep at night.”

- Somaly Mam, The Road of Lost Innocence

Ending Child Sex Trafficking in Atlanta

Atlanta is becoming a leader in the abolitionist movement.  We've got to fight a multi-sided battle at trafficking hotspots all over the world--and it's hardest when you have to start in your own backyard.

Innocence Atlanta presents more art for awareness.  I love it that everyone can be a part of ending child sex trafficking and exploitation in this generation.

Innocence Atlanta Art Experience from Erik Newby on Vimeo.

The Trouble with Numbers

Photo by Riot Jane

I've been thinking about something a lot since I was on the Love146 partnership trip, and it was brought back to mind after a conversation this morning with my friend/colleague. He watched the movie "Taken" last night (see my thoughts on the film here) and we were talking about the parts we found the most scary. **Minor spoiler alert if you haven't seen it yet, you might want to skip this.** I mentioned the part where Liam Neeson finds the young friend dead of an overdose and chained to her bed. He brought up the point where the girls were sold and selected by number.

The act of placing a number on a human being is evil--whether it's a price on their worth or simply a method of identification. This was one of the reasons behind starting (and naming) Love146. The 146 is a reminder about the little girl who inspired the organization, who had only a number on her life, not a name. This idea was reinforced during our trip to the Tuol Sleng museum in Phnom Penh, where room after room of displays showed murdered Cambodians (men, women, children) with a number pinned to their shirts. Reduced to a figure, easier to throw away.

After reading Richard Stearn's "The Hole in Our Gospel" I got to thinking about this idea even further. Stearns describes how deadened we become to the mass statistics of horror. The number of people murdered in genocides; people starving to death and dying of AIDs and being trafficked as commodities. The numbers become overwhelming and in a sense, one step removed. Alternatively, if you see a single person's face or name or hear about their specific situation, it is much harder to slip into that feeling of numb separation. We seem to be wired to care about the individual. I wonder sometimes if the vast statistics surrounding child sex trafficking (and human trafficking in general) do more to motivate us to action or paralyze us in our tracks. I'll most likely continue to refer to numbers and statistics in this blog as forms of information and depiction of the problem; but I think this is careful to keep in mind.

Time to stop thinking about human beings in terms of any numbers, and instead see their beautiful faces with hope for each individual future.

07.08.09--One Day to Make a Difference

My amazing friend Bethany Needham had a crazy idea: what if we all gave one single day of our pay to a charity we love? What if we picked a day and all did it together? What kind of an impact could we have?

Well, that day is today. One Day is taking place now, 07/08/09, and if you are blessed enough to have a job today, I hope you will consider joining in. It's simple: just pick a charity you care about, make a donation directly to them of the amount of money you earned today, and share who you're supporting at www.onedaygive.com

Even if you're not currently employed, or have the day off, consider pledging to volunteer somewhere in honor of One Day. My favorite charity, Love146, is featured as a suggested site for donations. If you don't have a favorite, choose them! Or Born2Fly, or Transitions Global, or IJM, or Ahava Kids, or any of the other wonderful organizations working to end child sex trafficking.

Check out OneDayGive for all of the information and a really cute video. Last time I checked, One Day was up to around 950 fans on Facebook. Imagine how much of an impact almost 1,000 people will have to give away their earnings today. Proud of you Bethany!

The Killers Take on Child Trafficking and Exploitation

More musicians adding their voices and influence to publicize the horrors of human trafficking. As of today, add The Killers to the list.


MTV, UNICEF and USAID have joined forces with The Killers to film a music video for the band's song "Good Night, Travel Well"that looks at the reality of human and child trafficking. The full video will begin airing on MTV on July 13. In the meantime you can see a preview in the clip above. The concept is similar to the amazing Radiohead music video that MTV worked on last year.

Hat tip to new friend @JaimeWalton for finding this one.

Child Trafficking, the Fourth of July, and Celebrating Freedom

This is the first year I've really celebrated our Independence day and freedom while also having the knowledge of child trafficking and modern day slavery heavily on my mind.  

To me, those fireworks tomorrow are going to be a bittersweet promise. <3

Beautiful Art for a Beautiful Cause

Feeling inspired by the ways people use their talent to raise funds and awareness for anti child trafficking purposes.

Today's Black and White is the creator of the butterfly photograph. As I've mentioned before, all proceeds from photographer Jeff Hall's pictures go to Free Chains to fight child sex trafficking.

The SOLD Project, run by Rachel Sparks (who just got married, by the way, and is moving to Thailand for the next 9 months--congratulations!) has some great art for sale at Etsy. The photo montage was made by orphaned street children in Chiang Mai.

I'd love to wallpaper all the rooms in my house with these beautiful pictures made for a beautiful cause.

GEMS, Netflix, and the One and Only Beyonce

You might remember a post I wrote last year about the work GEMS (Girls Educational & Mentoring Services) is doing and the film "Very Young Girls." Thanks to @cfpdx for alerting me to the next development in the program--something that the likes of Beyonce, Halle Berry, and Netflix have teamed together for.

On July 7, Netflix will begin streaming the Showtime documentary "Very Young Girls," and high profile musicians and actresses will be using live events and "e-activism" to draw more attention to the fact that between 100,000-300,000 American children are victimized by child traffickers and pimps each year.

Beyonce says that she saw the documentary 6 months ago and has been inspired to try to help in whatever way she can. Besides visiting the girls at GEMS, Beyonce is inviting a group of the girls to be her special guests at an upcoming concert in New Jersey. She says,

"I realized that they were no different than I am. If I grew up with some of the struggles and challenges they have had to deal with and live with every day, I could have possibly been them and vice versa. After hearing the shocking stories of what those young ladies have gone through, I want to use my voice to do what I can to bring awareness to this horrific sex trafficking that happens right here in America."

You can find more information at The Council of Daughters and GEMS websites, and show your support by becoming a fan of Girls Are Not for Sale on Facebook here.

Between Beyonce's support for GEMS, and Paramore and The Fray spreading the word for Love146 at their concerts, it's good to see the music world taking an active interest in fighting child sex trafficking in America around the world.