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“Sex trafficking—What can I do about it?”
I originally wrote this story in November of 2019. In the past two years, many people have asked me this question. During the month of January—Human Trafficking Awareness Month—it seems timely to post this article again.
November 13, 2019
This morning, I asked myself this question as I drove forty minutes into the city to visit a “safe house.” A “safe house” is a refuge for women who have been rescued off the street.
If you would like to learn more about what a “safe house” is, or you would like to talk about this topic with your children in an age-appropriate and kid-friendly way, check out my new children’s picture book, Mommy, What’s a Safe House?—now available in English and Spanish.
“Sex trafficking—What can I do about it, really?” I thought to myself, wondering if it was worth me taking my entire day—again—to volunteer there.
After sitting at the dining room table with the women to make jewelry for a few minutes, some other ladies walked through the door from their language classes.
I greeted them at the door, noticing that one of them seemed quiet and sad.
You Seem Sad
“How are you doing?” I asked her.
“Not well, I have a lot of problems,” she responded.
“You seem sad. Do you want to take a walk and talk?” I asked her.
She gladly accepted, and we walked across the street and sat on a park bench.
For more than two hours, this broken woman poured out her heart and her sad life story.
The Torn Tissue
We wept together. We hugged each other. She pulled out the one tissue in her purse and ripped it in half. We shared it and wept some more.
The other ladies called us in for lunch. She hugged me and thanked me over and over for taking the time to listen to her—to listen to her story.
Listening to her story mattered. Loving her mattered. Caring for her mattered. Hugging her mattered. Crying with her mattered. Sitting with her mattered.
Some of you may not have the opportunity to volunteer in a safe house. You may never have an open door to sit on a park bench, hand-in-hand, and listen to a woman’s heart-breaking story, to weep with her, and to share a torn Kleenex.
But, you can make a difference right where you are.
You don’t have to go to the other side of the world to make a difference. You don’t even have to leave your living room.
How?
Are you wondering . . . “How?”
In the back of my new book, Our Journey to El Dorado: Two Women, Two Immigrants, Two Worlds Collide— A True Story of Faith and Freedom from Human Trafficking, I have a chapter called, “Now That You Know—Do Something!” It’s full of practical ideas that you can do to make a difference and to fight with us against human trafficking—right where you are. Check it out!
—The Cultural Story-Weaver
MY GIFT TO YOU—GET YOUR FREE EBOOK—“THE 5-DAY JOURNEY TO CULTURAL AWARENESS”!
LET’S WEAVE CULTURES!
Are you wondering how you can make a difference? What can you do about sex trafficking right where you are? Check out my book, Our Journey to El Dorado, and find out how!
We invite you to tell us your own cultural stories and global adventures . . . as you engage with the world, breaking down barriers, building bridges, and “weaving cultures”! Write about them in the comment box below.
