I have been wanting to get a new documentary since I heard it would be coming out. It is called Not My Life and it is a sampling of the types of trafficking going on in the world today. It focused on various places in the world including Ghana, the US, India, Cambodia, and some other places.
Well I got the DVD for Christmas from my sweet mother in law (thanks :)) and got around to watching it today. It is a very good documentary. If you want to see what is going on in the world in terms of slavery, this is a great film to check out.
I had not even watched the film for two minutes before the tears fell down my face. The first scenes are of my precious children on Lake Volta. How I miss those kids, how I miss the reality of trafficking in front of my eyes, how I miss the heartache that motivates me so much. Sounds strange to miss heart ache and reality of atrocity but I do. The atrocity can be easily overlooked in the US, it can be easy to come home and do what I have always done and I don't want to be that person. I think if I become that person, in the end I won't be able to respect myself. So I dive into information to remind me of it.
And it did. I saw my friend George discussing his passions and I saw children that I recognized. I saw some of my heroes discussing their passion and heart for children and human rights abuses. I saw Desmond Tutu and Somaly Mam and George.
But most importantly... this guy who I don't know his name... he was just in the last clips. He said something that resonated with me. He said something like this: I don't have a passion to do what I am doing because I am a good person. Or because I have better morals than anyone. I am not worth more or more valuable. I do what I do because I am human too.
I am human too. This could have been me, this could be my kids we were born in a different culture and time. It could be my nephews or nieces. But more importantly... this is OUR world. Each child is vital to it and the progression of human kind. To say that is "not my life" is to say that this is "not my world". To say that they are "not my children" is to say that they don't matter to our world. Future leaders are there in trafficking. Do we want them to be products of life long abuses or do we want to change our world so that their potential can be given back to them?
It is my life. They are my children.
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Rescue
Preface: This is a mostly picture-less post. I hope that you create the pictures for yourself in a way meaningful to you. With the faces you are passionate about. I will post pictures from the rescue and other parts of the trip soon though.
Monday finally arrived and we were all nervous and excited to go back to the island to pick up the children we negotiated the release of. We were terrified that they wouldn't actually be released and we were praying that Richard* would be released with them.
I felt like there was a 4th child. But had no clue who. I had a dream about 3 before we went the first time. Then another about 4 on Saturday night. I told George Jr. about it and we agreed to look for the 4th child when we returned.
We left on Monday to head to the island. It was a bit scary to approach the shore. We saw people working but no Innocence* and Patrick*. As we approached the shore... they walked out of the brush with a sack of belongings between the two of them. "Thank you God" I thought.
Gearge and Kofi took down the children's information. Their names, parents, region where they are from, phone numbers... anything they could get. They have to get in touch with the parents and let them know what happened and where the children are and they have to make sure everything is in order for the kids to be kept at The Village of Life and go to school.
Then... Innocence and Patrick are given to us. Oddly like cattle would be exchanged or silver or fish or anything but not people. Patrick was stoic and serious. He got into the boat and walked to the end furthest from all the crazy white people and sat down.
Innocence though... she was terrified. They literally lifted her over the edge of the boat crying and put her in my arms. Her body was hot from fever and shaking from fear. She could not relax. She was terrified. I wrapped her up in my arms and softly spoke love stories into her ear. I told her she was beautiful and special and that we were going to take care of her. I rocked her and loved on her as hard as I knew how to. Until... she trusted. Until she crumbled into the comfort of someone who was showing her tenderness. Until she laid her head onto my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me in return (tears pour from my eyes as I remember and put into words this experience). I just kept telling her it would be okay and we loved her and would take care of her. She didn't understand my words but it was apparent that she understood my heart. And I soaked in the experience. Watching someone go from scared to death to trusting as much as they could.
And this is one of those times in my life I have no clue how to explain the complexity of emotions I felt. It was such an amazing experience to be a part of that moment with her. She is forever my girl because of those moments. But the fear and the terror in her sweet little face were unlike anything I had seen. I imagine it is similar to things I have felt but I had never seen the same feelings on someone else's face. It was another piece of the puzzle to open my eyes to the fact that my experiences have prepared me for my path in the future. Slow tears rolled down my face as I hugged and loved on Innocence.
But just like that it was time to go find Richard and I left my sweet Innocence on the boat in the capable and loving arms of Tia. We were walking into the village to talk to his master and I saw her. I saw number 4. What I didn't know... she was Richards sister. Jessica* was cleaning and cooking. She worked HARD the entire time we were there negotiating for her and her brother. Most of the kids would leave and hang around while we were on the island. We never saw Richard on this trip and Jessica was never released to join the crazy excitement either.
Not unexpected. For whatever reason... Richard... being such a symbol of child slavery... needed to be kept where he was. It is difficult to explain. But we added Jessica to the negotiations because I felt strongly we needed to take them both.
And we negotiated.
And Negotiated.
And handed out clothes and candy to all the children on the island who hadn't gotten anything last time.
And prayed with JD for God to be present in the negotiations and for evil to flee from the place we were at.
And calling Richard and Jessica's parents.
And just road block after road block. For some reason they just want to keep him. Loud talking all around. George and Kofi try every angle they can. Loud voices and laughing like they are discussing a car transaction.
I just don't understand in that moment. How people can treat children like objects. How there is no value placed on these children outside their ability to work.
We call the kids' parents. Only dad is home. Heck if I know if it is actually their parents. It is the number we were given to call. George works on the phone to get the kids released. Dad says that mom is not home and he will not release them without her permission. And that he would only release Richard and not his sister. My face is feeling hot and red and my heart is angry. More negotiations and more promises of release on "another day".
Another day is several days, weeks, months or YEARS in the lives of children that can't be recovered. It may mean death before we can rescue them. God why is this happening? Again, I just don't understand. Maybe I am not going to understand. Because it just seems so screwed up. Where is the redemption?
My heart is broken as we walk back to the boat. I am silent from heart ache, anger and sadness. We climb into the boat and there I see it... Redemption.
Tia holding onto Innocence singing God's love to her. And Patrick on the other side of the boat looking more relaxed. I grin at him... and there it is: more redemption. A face I had not yet seen smile breaks into a very slight smile. I spend the major portion of the boat ride getting bigger and bigger smiles from this beautiful child.
Redemption hasn't happened for Richard and Jessica yet. And my heart cries over it. My heart agonizes over it. George Jr. is not going to give up on them. He knows that I feel they need to go home and be with their family at The Village of Life. And he is a motivated man. But more than that, I am choosing to trust God with Richard and Jessica. I have no clue or secret understanding to why they couldn't be released with the other 2. But God showed me 4 would be released because of our negotiations... I trust that.
And I don't understand why there are literally thousands of kids on Lake Volta. But God has them in His hand too.
But Redemption always proves to be more beautiful and unexpected than my hopes want. And generally tends to be exactly what I need (funny how that works). I saw Redemption in these 2 beautiful kids as they slowly warmed up to us and to their new Village of Life sibs... but I saw it in ME too.
Redemption from a life of abuse. A purpose and reason and passion I never expected to have. But it was blooming in my heart. Trusting people I didn't know in ways I never expected. Going out and doing something lots of people thought were crazy because that is what I felt passionate about. And truly believe it was a God placed passion. Growing and learning things through this experience that are helping me become a healthier and better person all around. My own corner of Redemption.
I will be waiting though for Redemption and Rescue for my two sweet kids still on that island and all people held in captivity and slavery across the Earth.
Because this face, it motivates me. It makes me feel something. It forces me to action.
*names changed
Monday finally arrived and we were all nervous and excited to go back to the island to pick up the children we negotiated the release of. We were terrified that they wouldn't actually be released and we were praying that Richard* would be released with them.
I felt like there was a 4th child. But had no clue who. I had a dream about 3 before we went the first time. Then another about 4 on Saturday night. I told George Jr. about it and we agreed to look for the 4th child when we returned.
We left on Monday to head to the island. It was a bit scary to approach the shore. We saw people working but no Innocence* and Patrick*. As we approached the shore... they walked out of the brush with a sack of belongings between the two of them. "Thank you God" I thought.
Gearge and Kofi took down the children's information. Their names, parents, region where they are from, phone numbers... anything they could get. They have to get in touch with the parents and let them know what happened and where the children are and they have to make sure everything is in order for the kids to be kept at The Village of Life and go to school.
Then... Innocence and Patrick are given to us. Oddly like cattle would be exchanged or silver or fish or anything but not people. Patrick was stoic and serious. He got into the boat and walked to the end furthest from all the crazy white people and sat down.
Innocence though... she was terrified. They literally lifted her over the edge of the boat crying and put her in my arms. Her body was hot from fever and shaking from fear. She could not relax. She was terrified. I wrapped her up in my arms and softly spoke love stories into her ear. I told her she was beautiful and special and that we were going to take care of her. I rocked her and loved on her as hard as I knew how to. Until... she trusted. Until she crumbled into the comfort of someone who was showing her tenderness. Until she laid her head onto my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me in return (tears pour from my eyes as I remember and put into words this experience). I just kept telling her it would be okay and we loved her and would take care of her. She didn't understand my words but it was apparent that she understood my heart. And I soaked in the experience. Watching someone go from scared to death to trusting as much as they could.
And this is one of those times in my life I have no clue how to explain the complexity of emotions I felt. It was such an amazing experience to be a part of that moment with her. She is forever my girl because of those moments. But the fear and the terror in her sweet little face were unlike anything I had seen. I imagine it is similar to things I have felt but I had never seen the same feelings on someone else's face. It was another piece of the puzzle to open my eyes to the fact that my experiences have prepared me for my path in the future. Slow tears rolled down my face as I hugged and loved on Innocence.
But just like that it was time to go find Richard and I left my sweet Innocence on the boat in the capable and loving arms of Tia. We were walking into the village to talk to his master and I saw her. I saw number 4. What I didn't know... she was Richards sister. Jessica* was cleaning and cooking. She worked HARD the entire time we were there negotiating for her and her brother. Most of the kids would leave and hang around while we were on the island. We never saw Richard on this trip and Jessica was never released to join the crazy excitement either.
Not unexpected. For whatever reason... Richard... being such a symbol of child slavery... needed to be kept where he was. It is difficult to explain. But we added Jessica to the negotiations because I felt strongly we needed to take them both.
And we negotiated.
And Negotiated.
And handed out clothes and candy to all the children on the island who hadn't gotten anything last time.
And prayed with JD for God to be present in the negotiations and for evil to flee from the place we were at.
And calling Richard and Jessica's parents.
And just road block after road block. For some reason they just want to keep him. Loud talking all around. George and Kofi try every angle they can. Loud voices and laughing like they are discussing a car transaction.
I just don't understand in that moment. How people can treat children like objects. How there is no value placed on these children outside their ability to work.
We call the kids' parents. Only dad is home. Heck if I know if it is actually their parents. It is the number we were given to call. George works on the phone to get the kids released. Dad says that mom is not home and he will not release them without her permission. And that he would only release Richard and not his sister. My face is feeling hot and red and my heart is angry. More negotiations and more promises of release on "another day".
Another day is several days, weeks, months or YEARS in the lives of children that can't be recovered. It may mean death before we can rescue them. God why is this happening? Again, I just don't understand. Maybe I am not going to understand. Because it just seems so screwed up. Where is the redemption?
My heart is broken as we walk back to the boat. I am silent from heart ache, anger and sadness. We climb into the boat and there I see it... Redemption.
Tia holding onto Innocence singing God's love to her. And Patrick on the other side of the boat looking more relaxed. I grin at him... and there it is: more redemption. A face I had not yet seen smile breaks into a very slight smile. I spend the major portion of the boat ride getting bigger and bigger smiles from this beautiful child.
Redemption hasn't happened for Richard and Jessica yet. And my heart cries over it. My heart agonizes over it. George Jr. is not going to give up on them. He knows that I feel they need to go home and be with their family at The Village of Life. And he is a motivated man. But more than that, I am choosing to trust God with Richard and Jessica. I have no clue or secret understanding to why they couldn't be released with the other 2. But God showed me 4 would be released because of our negotiations... I trust that.
And I don't understand why there are literally thousands of kids on Lake Volta. But God has them in His hand too.
But Redemption always proves to be more beautiful and unexpected than my hopes want. And generally tends to be exactly what I need (funny how that works). I saw Redemption in these 2 beautiful kids as they slowly warmed up to us and to their new Village of Life sibs... but I saw it in ME too.
Redemption from a life of abuse. A purpose and reason and passion I never expected to have. But it was blooming in my heart. Trusting people I didn't know in ways I never expected. Going out and doing something lots of people thought were crazy because that is what I felt passionate about. And truly believe it was a God placed passion. Growing and learning things through this experience that are helping me become a healthier and better person all around. My own corner of Redemption.
I will be waiting though for Redemption and Rescue for my two sweet kids still on that island and all people held in captivity and slavery across the Earth.
 |
| Photo Credit: JD Richardson |
*names changed
Friday, December 2, 2011
The acceptance of truth: Child Slavery
JD wrote a very touching post today about a little boy we had to leave behind. I encourage you to read it.
This experience, going to see modern day slavery for myself, has turned into a processing experience like none I have ever known until this point. As I explained in my last post, even coming up with analogies is hard because it is so unlike anything I have ever seen. And we want, so desperately, to believe that it doesn't happen or it isn't "that bad". But the fact is that it IS that bad.
So today I am going to attempt to show you a bit of our experience of exploring slavery on Lake Volta. This is the part that gets hard for me. It was such a personal and deeply felt experience that a lot of me doesn't want to let out the vulnerabilities I have surrounding it. But I know what is required of me and that is to be an advocate for child slaves.
It was actually quite a nice day. On the lake its much cooler and has a pretty decent breeze. It was the coolest I had felt the whole time I was in Africa. We boarded the boat and our navigator (shown above) untangled the boat from some trees and stuff that we were kind of caught in and we set off on our first experience on Lake Volta
It did not take long until we saw our first boat with trafficked children in it. How do we know they are trafficked? Well there are several ways... the vast majority of the kids you see are trafficked. Slave masters don't often put their own kids on the lake for 16 hrs a day and make them go without an education.You can also tell by their physical appearance. Underfed, over developed, apparent and frequent scars laid across their bodies. The fact that the children absolutely are not allowed to respond to us if a master is with them (they may ruin the lie of "hes my nephew" "he is my son").
We approached several boats and spoke with masters about the children they had. George Jr. was flawlessly making arguments and asking questions about the children. He was trying to have the real picture painted for him by interviewing and befriending these slave masters. An approach I had never really understood but that I was starting to come to cherish (but it took me and is still taking me a long time and a hard road to get there).
And another boat. Two boys diligently working on the nets and bailing water out of their boat. Thin frames and over developed muscles belie their age a bit. The master is on the left just out of the picture... paddling and watching. The kids know what we know... because they have been at the end of the beating several times. If they make a wrong move, punishment is on the way as soon as we disappear into the horizon. My heart aches as I think about my sweet sons doing work like this for 16 hours a day on little to no food. Tears start to form in the corners of my eyes but also anger starts to seethe a bit in my heart.
We approach boat after boat meeting the trafficked children of Volta. I ask nearly silent questions to the children that are just as silently translated to them. I am at the end of the boat and all the commotion and conversation is going on on the other side where the master is. How old are you? 8 Where are your parents? I don't know. Have you eaten today (they get up at 2am and it was will into the morning by now)? No. Do you want to go to school? Yes.
One boy was sold to his master several years ago. He is now a teenager (maybe 15) and impregnated the masters daughter. So, the master went to his parents and told them to give him his brother since he committed such a horrible act. Now two children with no education and no way to escape are working the lake. And it is like that. I met orphans and I met siblings of the children who have already been rescued.
Eventually boats started running from us not wanting to have us confront them. Again, I felt angry. How could people do this to children? One boat in particular had several (SEVERAL) children in the canoe and he hightailed it to the island. We watched him unload a boat full of kids and tell all the other children to run and hide (the apparent message was that we were the police). And they all fled.
As we pulled up to the island, there were a group of people working on the shore. I immediately (as did my friends) noticed a little girl in just panties. We rustled through the bags of dresses we had brought and pulled on out for her. She had longer hair than normal (well for little girls in Ghana anyway) which is often times associated with trafficking because trafficked children are not taken care of. I do think she had parents on the island though. I just can't remember well. Anyway I took the dress and went up to her. At first, I handed it to her. She gave me a shy grin. My hands then took over. I spoke softly to her as I told her how beautiful she was. I unfolded the dress and gently slipped it over her head. The blue looked amazing next to her brown skin. I looked down at her and told her a few more affirming words and she let me take a picture.
Be still my heart, beautiful girl. I gently rubber her sweet cheek and patted her head and we went on. The trail of people at the shore following along.
And we went... we went into the village where the children outnumbered the adults and where little tenderness and love was given to the trafficked children (which were most of the children on the island). And we loved. We passed out clothes and cherished smiles and patted heads.
JD also made a trade with a little boy. She gave him 2 pairs of shorts for his pair of old, worn out, holy shorts. A reminder of where we have been and testimony to people that these children exist and have real, tangible needs. A way to say, this is our story and here is what we have to show for it. I still tear up when I look at those shorts.
Eventually we met up with some of the people, masters, we needed to see. We also found a pile of handsome, sweet boys. Some as young as or even slightly younger than my Kolt. My heart sank. All of them... every last one of the boys we met there... were trafficked. I asked if they had eaten today... none of them had. They get up at about 2 am and it was 10 by this time.
This handsome young guy was very muscular and well defined. Lots of scars (face, neck chest, arms) and wear from working on the lake. The most surprisingly built child that I saw. His muscles were very overdeveloped and you can tell that he does a lot of the "hard work" on the lake. He has a beautiful smile.They all do if you can get them to show it to you.
Next we met our sweet Richard*. The face of slavery and the face of hopelessness that has been haunting me since I left him. Very poorly taken care of. Dirt covered, red tinged hair and most devastating of all...
Hope Lost Eyes. I don't know where this sweet child has retreated to and I am certain that knowing would scare the hell out of me. But he is not present, doesn't respond, doesn't connect. His eyes are empty. His soul is buried under hurt and fear and hopelessness. I had no clue what to feel other than despair and hopelessness at the obstacles ahead myself. I just wanted to give him tenderness and love and care but had no clue how to do that for him. This is what captivity does to the human spirit. This is what slavery turns you into after long enough.
The last stop of the day was to meet Innocence* and Patrick*. Innocence was sitting in the boat busily working on the net when we approached. I was positively shocked to learn that she was a girl. She had some shorts on but that was it. Her lean, muscular body fooled me quickly into believing she was yet another young boy. Her half brother, Patrick, was hauling heavy nets across the shore. Hanging them up and various things. These were the children we were negotiating for on this day. They had been promised before to the team. The master said we could pick them up on monday and that he would have them ready for us. My heart sank again... Monday? Dear God, I just want to take them with us now. I don't understand why this is working out how it's working out.
I discuss with the slave master what he is doing with these children. He knows that it is not okay to purchase children and force them to work. He told me he would never do it with his own children. When I proceeded and asked him why he does it, I got nervous laughter. My face was red with anger. My emotions were supercharged from the day and the previous experiences. I stood there red-faced and angry, in silence.
We got into our boat without our children. Without ANY children. I sat solemnly and reflected on the boat ride home. I accepted in my heart the truth I had seen. I had long ago accepted it with my brain but now, it was a heart level truth. The anger slowly faded into grief and sadness as I thought about Kolt and his friends and how so many of the kids we met were his age or not much older. Sadness creeped in when I thought of the sheer desperation and manipulation it must take to sell your child to someone. Grief overwhelmed me as I thought about how many bodies were lost forever under the water we were cruising across. And I let myself cry.
*Child's real name not used
This experience, going to see modern day slavery for myself, has turned into a processing experience like none I have ever known until this point. As I explained in my last post, even coming up with analogies is hard because it is so unlike anything I have ever seen. And we want, so desperately, to believe that it doesn't happen or it isn't "that bad". But the fact is that it IS that bad.
So today I am going to attempt to show you a bit of our experience of exploring slavery on Lake Volta. This is the part that gets hard for me. It was such a personal and deeply felt experience that a lot of me doesn't want to let out the vulnerabilities I have surrounding it. But I know what is required of me and that is to be an advocate for child slaves.
We approached several boats and spoke with masters about the children they had. George Jr. was flawlessly making arguments and asking questions about the children. He was trying to have the real picture painted for him by interviewing and befriending these slave masters. An approach I had never really understood but that I was starting to come to cherish (but it took me and is still taking me a long time and a hard road to get there).
One boy was sold to his master several years ago. He is now a teenager (maybe 15) and impregnated the masters daughter. So, the master went to his parents and told them to give him his brother since he committed such a horrible act. Now two children with no education and no way to escape are working the lake. And it is like that. I met orphans and I met siblings of the children who have already been rescued.
Eventually boats started running from us not wanting to have us confront them. Again, I felt angry. How could people do this to children? One boat in particular had several (SEVERAL) children in the canoe and he hightailed it to the island. We watched him unload a boat full of kids and tell all the other children to run and hide (the apparent message was that we were the police). And they all fled.
JD also made a trade with a little boy. She gave him 2 pairs of shorts for his pair of old, worn out, holy shorts. A reminder of where we have been and testimony to people that these children exist and have real, tangible needs. A way to say, this is our story and here is what we have to show for it. I still tear up when I look at those shorts.
|
| Photo credit: JD Richardson |
I had grown up in an abusive home. I had been beaten and molested. I had felt like I could never speak out. I had felt angry and lost in myself. But I had never seen a face like this before. I had never seen despair so blatantly written on anyone's face. As I walked away from him, I felt grief. I felt struggle. I felt overwhelmed. I cried quietly as we walked to the next place. Prince was talking to me and I was half listening but not able to focus. How can I ever forget this child? I can't. I can never go on acting like I don't know about him and the thousands of other children on the lake in Ghana.
The last stop of the day was to meet Innocence* and Patrick*. Innocence was sitting in the boat busily working on the net when we approached. I was positively shocked to learn that she was a girl. She had some shorts on but that was it. Her lean, muscular body fooled me quickly into believing she was yet another young boy. Her half brother, Patrick, was hauling heavy nets across the shore. Hanging them up and various things. These were the children we were negotiating for on this day. They had been promised before to the team. The master said we could pick them up on monday and that he would have them ready for us. My heart sank again... Monday? Dear God, I just want to take them with us now. I don't understand why this is working out how it's working out.
I discuss with the slave master what he is doing with these children. He knows that it is not okay to purchase children and force them to work. He told me he would never do it with his own children. When I proceeded and asked him why he does it, I got nervous laughter. My face was red with anger. My emotions were supercharged from the day and the previous experiences. I stood there red-faced and angry, in silence.
We got into our boat without our children. Without ANY children. I sat solemnly and reflected on the boat ride home. I accepted in my heart the truth I had seen. I had long ago accepted it with my brain but now, it was a heart level truth. The anger slowly faded into grief and sadness as I thought about Kolt and his friends and how so many of the kids we met were his age or not much older. Sadness creeped in when I thought of the sheer desperation and manipulation it must take to sell your child to someone. Grief overwhelmed me as I thought about how many bodies were lost forever under the water we were cruising across. And I let myself cry.
*Child's real name not used
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Human Suffering
Have you ever taken the time to truly ponder suffering? I mean worldwide, large scale suffering?
Every. single. day. 18,000 children die from hunger. Over the course of a year that is 6,570,000 little people who die from starvation. Which, that is not even the tip of the iceberg as far as human suffering goes.
And how many people suffer with cancer?
How many people die of easily prevented diseases every year?
What about persons who are permanently physically or mentally disabled?
And what about the MILLIONS (246 million or 1/6 of the worlds children is the last estimate I saw) of children who are working as child slaves across the globe?
It blows my mind to think about these things. There are a lot of people out there suffering. It is overwhelming. It is sad. It sometimes feels hopeless.
But as Mother Teresa said:
"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
And that is the essence of turning this world on its head. If each of us makes the choice to do small things with great love... the collective work will result in less suffering. Fewer children dying of hunger, fewer outcasts in society, fewer children being forced into the labor force and out of schools.
All it takes is you knowing your calling and attacking it with much love. We can't change it all but we can impact our own parts of the world. That is what this trip is about for me.
It isn't changing the world. It is following my calling to help the people I feel called to help. And to help them with much love. It is taking Loving God and Loving Others to its logical conclusion. And we ALL have the ability to do that. We all have the ability to lessen suffering wherever we are. The world's suffering is overwhelming and I think that is kind of what Mother Teresa is getting at. I can't do it all but I CAN do what I do with great passion, conviction and love.
So I just want to encourage you to not over-estimate your importance but also don't under-estimate it. You can't do it all but you can and should do what you can when and where you can.
"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale
May you be encouraged to do what you can do... always.
Every. single. day. 18,000 children die from hunger. Over the course of a year that is 6,570,000 little people who die from starvation. Which, that is not even the tip of the iceberg as far as human suffering goes.
And how many people suffer with cancer?
How many people die of easily prevented diseases every year?
What about persons who are permanently physically or mentally disabled?
And what about the MILLIONS (246 million or 1/6 of the worlds children is the last estimate I saw) of children who are working as child slaves across the globe?
It blows my mind to think about these things. There are a lot of people out there suffering. It is overwhelming. It is sad. It sometimes feels hopeless.
But as Mother Teresa said:
"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
And that is the essence of turning this world on its head. If each of us makes the choice to do small things with great love... the collective work will result in less suffering. Fewer children dying of hunger, fewer outcasts in society, fewer children being forced into the labor force and out of schools.
All it takes is you knowing your calling and attacking it with much love. We can't change it all but we can impact our own parts of the world. That is what this trip is about for me.
It isn't changing the world. It is following my calling to help the people I feel called to help. And to help them with much love. It is taking Loving God and Loving Others to its logical conclusion. And we ALL have the ability to do that. We all have the ability to lessen suffering wherever we are. The world's suffering is overwhelming and I think that is kind of what Mother Teresa is getting at. I can't do it all but I CAN do what I do with great passion, conviction and love.
So I just want to encourage you to not over-estimate your importance but also don't under-estimate it. You can't do it all but you can and should do what you can when and where you can.
"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." ~Edward Everett Hale
May you be encouraged to do what you can do... always.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Why go to another country?
Lately, it seems as if I have a lot of questions concerning why I am going to Africa. No, not about motives or the importance of what we are doing in Ghana or anything like. But WHY go away from your family and home to help when there are lots of people to help right here.
It is a complicated matter to explain my exact feelings on this but I am going to try my best.
It is about "The Big Picture" for me. I think so many Americans really have no real idea how people in the rest of the world live. Yes, we have poverty here. Yes, some kids are going hungry. Yes, some kids have abusive parents. Yes, some children live in filth and horrible neighborhoods. I am not disputing those things even one bit. I am also not saying that we don't need to help in our own back yard! I have a lot of goals and ways to help in my own community and country. I am passionate about education and our public education system and food in schools and making sure children are getting good nutrition when they eat 2 meals, most days, at school.
But when I went to Mexico after I got married... my perspective was permanently altered in a way that is hard to describe. We traveled down through Mexico on a bus to Comitan, Chiapas from Cancun. Cancun was like a very fancy and nice tourist area. UNTIL we got to the bus station where the people who live in Mexico and are not attached to the tourist industry were. We saw our first glimpses of poverty. And as we began our journey southward, we saw more and more severe poverty. No running water, homes built with wood and cardboard boxes, children playing in the dirt and helping with chores instead of going to school. Many meals skipped, many begging children, people in literal rags. No system to help orphans, the elderly, or the disabled. Many proposals of marriage to escape a life of extreme poverty. It is both soul breaking and extremely encouraging.
Why is that? Well because it HURTS to see so many people suffering. It is uncomfortable. It is odd having people look at you like you are wealthy beyond imagination. It is sad to get marriage proposals from young women and men wanting a better life. But, through the experience you learn a ton about humanity. About selflessness and hospitality. We built water tanks in Mexico for 2 months and every time we were with a new family, they would sacrifice their own meals to make sure we were fed well and taken care of. They would offer their very best with an extremely grateful heart. It made us feel thankful for our own comparative wealth and realize that even in very dire situations in the US, we are still very well taken of. It opened our hearts to other people and cultures. Gave me a love for travel and a heart for people.
A heart for people. God's heart for people being made clear. The BIG picture of what putting action to your words looks like. Before I experienced time away from the United States, I was very self-centered (certainly, I still can be). I cared about others but cared about myself and my own needs being met much much more. The people we came into contact showed me how to love people when it didn't directly meet my immediate needs. With no expectations. Just to care and to love and to help. These are things that *I* probably would have had a hard time learning without that experience. Now I have such a heart for people, especially children, that I feel positively convicted to go and help these children in Ghana. I am one person with 2 friends and a big and Mighty God. Maybe I can't change the world but I do feel like we need to do our part to change what we can change. And that is why I need to go to another country. Because I have been given the opportunity to make a difference somewhere and in a way I am passionate about. That is God! I can't speak for everyone else but this is where I need to be for me to pursue a passionate love of people and receive a passionate, pursuing love from God.
We can't do it alone though. We have had so much help along the way and are praying that we continue to get more help going forward. This school needs to be built. It will allow George and his NGO, PACODEP, to rescue more children from slavery and a hopeless existence on Lake Volta. It will provide education to these children who will then have the knowledge, power and redemption to change their country and be advocates for the children on the lake. It does more than just help 60 children who use the building to learn in. Much, MUCH more. Education is powerful. We don't think about how powerful it is sometimes because we just have it. Our kids turn 5 and go to school just like we did. Oh but education changes nations. And it will change the culture in the Volta region to educate these beautiful children. Christ and Education are their hope and vehicles for change.
Please consider making a donation to the school. I will be money that will never be thought to have been unwisely spent. It is money that, with every "brick" placed, will live on and do good, positive work for years and years and years to come. It is an investment in the lives of children who are going to grow up and change their nation. THAT is amazing.
It is a complicated matter to explain my exact feelings on this but I am going to try my best.
It is about "The Big Picture" for me. I think so many Americans really have no real idea how people in the rest of the world live. Yes, we have poverty here. Yes, some kids are going hungry. Yes, some kids have abusive parents. Yes, some children live in filth and horrible neighborhoods. I am not disputing those things even one bit. I am also not saying that we don't need to help in our own back yard! I have a lot of goals and ways to help in my own community and country. I am passionate about education and our public education system and food in schools and making sure children are getting good nutrition when they eat 2 meals, most days, at school.
But when I went to Mexico after I got married... my perspective was permanently altered in a way that is hard to describe. We traveled down through Mexico on a bus to Comitan, Chiapas from Cancun. Cancun was like a very fancy and nice tourist area. UNTIL we got to the bus station where the people who live in Mexico and are not attached to the tourist industry were. We saw our first glimpses of poverty. And as we began our journey southward, we saw more and more severe poverty. No running water, homes built with wood and cardboard boxes, children playing in the dirt and helping with chores instead of going to school. Many meals skipped, many begging children, people in literal rags. No system to help orphans, the elderly, or the disabled. Many proposals of marriage to escape a life of extreme poverty. It is both soul breaking and extremely encouraging.
Why is that? Well because it HURTS to see so many people suffering. It is uncomfortable. It is odd having people look at you like you are wealthy beyond imagination. It is sad to get marriage proposals from young women and men wanting a better life. But, through the experience you learn a ton about humanity. About selflessness and hospitality. We built water tanks in Mexico for 2 months and every time we were with a new family, they would sacrifice their own meals to make sure we were fed well and taken care of. They would offer their very best with an extremely grateful heart. It made us feel thankful for our own comparative wealth and realize that even in very dire situations in the US, we are still very well taken of. It opened our hearts to other people and cultures. Gave me a love for travel and a heart for people.
A heart for people. God's heart for people being made clear. The BIG picture of what putting action to your words looks like. Before I experienced time away from the United States, I was very self-centered (certainly, I still can be). I cared about others but cared about myself and my own needs being met much much more. The people we came into contact showed me how to love people when it didn't directly meet my immediate needs. With no expectations. Just to care and to love and to help. These are things that *I* probably would have had a hard time learning without that experience. Now I have such a heart for people, especially children, that I feel positively convicted to go and help these children in Ghana. I am one person with 2 friends and a big and Mighty God. Maybe I can't change the world but I do feel like we need to do our part to change what we can change. And that is why I need to go to another country. Because I have been given the opportunity to make a difference somewhere and in a way I am passionate about. That is God! I can't speak for everyone else but this is where I need to be for me to pursue a passionate love of people and receive a passionate, pursuing love from God.
 |
| Me with a precious girl in Comitan the week we led a VBS |
Please consider making a donation to the school. I will be money that will never be thought to have been unwisely spent. It is money that, with every "brick" placed, will live on and do good, positive work for years and years and years to come. It is an investment in the lives of children who are going to grow up and change their nation. THAT is amazing.
 |
| Children who have been rescued from child trafficking on Lake Volta. A new life and a renewed hope. |
Monday, September 5, 2011
Convictions of starting kindergarten
I am sure you didn't miss the memo because I have hung it like a banner... my son started kindergarten a couple of weeks ago. He is in love. Three recesses a day! Oh my :) Rules teaching him how to be respectful of himself, others and property. Art class, library time, and parent volunteers. Reading new stories that hes never heard before or seen and illustrating his very own book (with an amazingly drawn American Flag. Backwards but awesome effort!). Looking like a tiny boy with his over sized bag on his back but proving that he is anything but a small boy when he comes home each day and tells me about his day. Community, friends, fun, learning. This is what kids in the United States do at age 5. Nervous parents usher their children out the door to school everyday with the promise and hope that they will learn the things they need to know to be successful, informed adults.
In other parts of the world though, things are not at all like this. Parents are trying to figure out how to survive and get enough food for their family. They need their kids to stay home and help them make money or they just live too far from school and can't get their children there. Unfortunately in some areas of the world, these families are exploited because of their struggles. This is the case in the Volta Region of Ghana. Tricky masters come in and convince parents that if they sell their children to them and allow them to work for them that they will make sure their child is educated and learns job skills to help them be successful. The money isn't great by our standards... about $20/year for the service of a child. But the promise that their child will be fed and educated and the fact that they can use this money to feed their other child is, unfortunately, a pretty promising offer. And so children are sold.
Children, the same age as my sweet son, are sent to work on Lake Volta for 14+ hours a day. They are made to dive deep into the lake and face drowning, eels, crocodiles and various other dangers of life in the fishing industry. These 5 year olds are the size of 3 year olds from malnutrition. They are beaten for making mistakes. And often the very young boys do not know how to swim but are forced to learn or never again rise to the surface of the lake. Refusal to do these things yield boat oar beatings or sometimes beatings entangled in embarrassment at the hands of other trafficked children. There is no hope. Their families don't have the money or resources to get them back or visit them. And they genuinely think that they are helping their child by giving them an opportunity for schooling. It is a lie and manipulation but desperate times make parents choose what they think is best for their kids using the resources they have.
And then the days start blurring together. Children on the lake don't remember what village they come from after a while or their birthdays. Little sleep, little food, work that adults find excruciating and difficult, no time for being a child. My heart breaks.
No, I can't change the world alone. But I believe that God calls each of us to use our lives and experiences to serve Him wherever we are and however we can. I am being led to Africa this November and my heart has already fallen in love with the children on the lake and with the kids at The Village of Life. I keep telling their story so more people fall in love with them. So that ignorance is no longer an excuse. The burden is now on all of our shoulders. We KNOW the horror of child trafficking and we all have to figure out what to do with that. I would ask for your prayers both for the trip and for how you can be involved in loving on OUR children.
The truth is, that since my son has been riding up on kindergarten and then beginning, the more I have thought about and mourned the fact that there are so many children who do not have access to the same things our children have. That has rocked my world. Absolutely to the core. And I can't just leave it at thinking because that feels so wrong. And that is the conviction of kindergarten for me.
In other parts of the world though, things are not at all like this. Parents are trying to figure out how to survive and get enough food for their family. They need their kids to stay home and help them make money or they just live too far from school and can't get their children there. Unfortunately in some areas of the world, these families are exploited because of their struggles. This is the case in the Volta Region of Ghana. Tricky masters come in and convince parents that if they sell their children to them and allow them to work for them that they will make sure their child is educated and learns job skills to help them be successful. The money isn't great by our standards... about $20/year for the service of a child. But the promise that their child will be fed and educated and the fact that they can use this money to feed their other child is, unfortunately, a pretty promising offer. And so children are sold.
And then the days start blurring together. Children on the lake don't remember what village they come from after a while or their birthdays. Little sleep, little food, work that adults find excruciating and difficult, no time for being a child. My heart breaks.
No, I can't change the world alone. But I believe that God calls each of us to use our lives and experiences to serve Him wherever we are and however we can. I am being led to Africa this November and my heart has already fallen in love with the children on the lake and with the kids at The Village of Life. I keep telling their story so more people fall in love with them. So that ignorance is no longer an excuse. The burden is now on all of our shoulders. We KNOW the horror of child trafficking and we all have to figure out what to do with that. I would ask for your prayers both for the trip and for how you can be involved in loving on OUR children.
The truth is, that since my son has been riding up on kindergarten and then beginning, the more I have thought about and mourned the fact that there are so many children who do not have access to the same things our children have. That has rocked my world. Absolutely to the core. And I can't just leave it at thinking because that feels so wrong. And that is the conviction of kindergarten for me.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Why go to Ghana?
I think everyone is interested in the intentions of someone they are helping with prayer, money, time or supplies so that is the first thing I want to do... share my intentions.
A couple of months ago I started praying fervently for God to ignite a passion in me. I was so... soul sad. I don't know how else to explain it. I had hurt my knee and felt pretty depressed and upset about it. I felt like there was no part of me that wasn't somehow attached to my kids or husband. And I just felt like the world was bigger than what I was experiencing. There was more that I could do to make an impact on the world. More that I felt God wanted me to do. So I prayed and prayed for God to give me an idea of what my passion is. I had long known I had a passion for children. I had a passion for abused and abandoned children. I had a passion for ending human rights violations. I had LONG known that. But what I didn't know was how I was being called to use those passions. So over years of just doing my thing with my family I started to feel lost. Like a big part of the me that I liked was buried. The passionate, motivated parts. The flame of those passions had definitely started to burn dimly. The things that make me unique were being buried by family and responsibilities. And I didn't want to feel like I was just floating through life any longer. I wanted to look back when my kids were grown and see that I made an impact on more than just my immediate family. And I definitely wanted to be an example to my children of a woman who loves God first and loves others passionately. And I prayed. "God, what is it that I need to be doing right now? What is it that is waiting for me to be absolutely passionate about? I need to see it and experience it." And for a while the still small voice seemed even quieter than normal.
Until... I saw JD's post about going to Kete-Krachi. When I read it, I immediately knew that this was what God wanted me to be passionate about. These children were who I needed to see and experience and write about. The demons from my past and my background with children... they had all prepared me for what was being revealed to me. I am not sure how else to explain it really. I often struggle with knowing what exactly God wants us to be doing. But I felt SO drawn to it. But I of course hesitated and thought of the 900 ways I would be forced out of this opportunity. So I asked my husband about it a couple days after I read the entry JD posted and he said... I could go. What? Wait a minute, he was supposed to be difficult to convince. Then I went to my counselor and asked her about it and she said... "I think its a great idea. It will be difficult on you in many ways but you should go". Huh? I thought for sure she would tell me I wasn't ready for it. She didn't, he didn't. I was going. And I have been running full speed with that passion ever since. The passion to love children and comfort them. The passion to free children from slavery. The passion to share Jesus with them so they can fully experience redemption.
So that in a nut shell is why I am going. God answered my prayer with Ghana. And I am going to follow that passion full speed and full heart.
~Debra
A couple of months ago I started praying fervently for God to ignite a passion in me. I was so... soul sad. I don't know how else to explain it. I had hurt my knee and felt pretty depressed and upset about it. I felt like there was no part of me that wasn't somehow attached to my kids or husband. And I just felt like the world was bigger than what I was experiencing. There was more that I could do to make an impact on the world. More that I felt God wanted me to do. So I prayed and prayed for God to give me an idea of what my passion is. I had long known I had a passion for children. I had a passion for abused and abandoned children. I had a passion for ending human rights violations. I had LONG known that. But what I didn't know was how I was being called to use those passions. So over years of just doing my thing with my family I started to feel lost. Like a big part of the me that I liked was buried. The passionate, motivated parts. The flame of those passions had definitely started to burn dimly. The things that make me unique were being buried by family and responsibilities. And I didn't want to feel like I was just floating through life any longer. I wanted to look back when my kids were grown and see that I made an impact on more than just my immediate family. And I definitely wanted to be an example to my children of a woman who loves God first and loves others passionately. And I prayed. "God, what is it that I need to be doing right now? What is it that is waiting for me to be absolutely passionate about? I need to see it and experience it." And for a while the still small voice seemed even quieter than normal.
Until... I saw JD's post about going to Kete-Krachi. When I read it, I immediately knew that this was what God wanted me to be passionate about. These children were who I needed to see and experience and write about. The demons from my past and my background with children... they had all prepared me for what was being revealed to me. I am not sure how else to explain it really. I often struggle with knowing what exactly God wants us to be doing. But I felt SO drawn to it. But I of course hesitated and thought of the 900 ways I would be forced out of this opportunity. So I asked my husband about it a couple days after I read the entry JD posted and he said... I could go. What? Wait a minute, he was supposed to be difficult to convince. Then I went to my counselor and asked her about it and she said... "I think its a great idea. It will be difficult on you in many ways but you should go". Huh? I thought for sure she would tell me I wasn't ready for it. She didn't, he didn't. I was going. And I have been running full speed with that passion ever since. The passion to love children and comfort them. The passion to free children from slavery. The passion to share Jesus with them so they can fully experience redemption.
So that in a nut shell is why I am going. God answered my prayer with Ghana. And I am going to follow that passion full speed and full heart.
~Debra
An Introduction: The Trip
This is the initial blog post written by my dear friend JD that compelled me to join their efforts. This is a basic run down of what we will be doing but I am not the author of this post.
We're going to Africa in November of 2011.
And we're not going alone. We’d like you to join us.
Yes, you.
All of you.
You -- the one who has always wanted to go to Africa. We need you.
And you -- feeling as though you can't afford to come to Africa. There's also room for you.
And you -- feeling as though you can't afford to come to Africa. There's also room for you.
Or you -- the one who has never wanted to go to Africa. We need you too.
Why are we bringing you with us?
To introduce to you a beautiful story of hope rising out of Africa, a story that you are being invited into and won’t want to miss.
Welcome to Lake Volta, located in eastern Ghana, West Africa.
Hope begins on Lake Volta, but at first glance, the hope is hard to see. Lake Volta is home to a very lucrative fishing industry, but the fishing industry has a very dark and dangerous side.
There are no employees in the Lake Volta fishing industry.
Only slave masters, and slaves.
Child slaves.
With false promises of an education and a future, something so many families feel no hope of reaching in Ghana, children as young as 3 or 4 years old are unwittingly sold by their parents to cunning slave masters, and then forced to work under cruel and inhumane conditions.
Imagine poverty so desperate that selling your child might be the only choice you feel you have?
Which of your children would you sell in hopes of giving them a future?The boys are used as slaves in the fishing industry, their childhood vanishing as they spend
their days trapped on the lake, endlessly fishing, hauling and mending nets, and diving to the bottom of the lake when nets become tangled. If they refuse, the slave masters may chose not to beat them, but instead force the other child slaves to beat them into submission.The visible scars they bear are horrific; one can barely fathom the seemingly invisible scars that shred the heart of these precious children. It only takes a look into their eyes, and the scars on their souls can be seen.
The days are long and dangerous. Working up to 18 hours a day, sometimes getting one meal, sometimes not… these young boys are not only facing cruelty, hunger and exhaustion, but environmental dangers such as drowning, crocodiles and electric eels. Children who die are buried by their fellow child slaves on the shores of the Lake Volta islands.
Even though it’s the young boys who are kept as child slaves in the fishing industry, young girls aren’t spared. The girls are initially used as slave servants for the slave masters’ families.The slave master’s own children go to school while the slave children are denied an education as they are made to do all the domestic labor as well as cleaning and preparing the fish caught that day. The work is literally endless.
As they get older, the girls’ future becomes even more desperate. The girls are eventually used as sex slaves, often ending up pregnant before reaching their teenage years.
Escapes are rare. These islands are isolated, with few opportunities for the children to flee. Fear and terror is enough to keep them from attempting an escape.
While it would seem as though these children have lost all hope, God knows each of them by name, and so does the man God has sent to rescue them.
His name is George Achibra Sr, a modern day Moses living on the shores of Lake Volta in Ghana. George has dedicated his life to negotiating for the release of these child slaves and has rescued several hundred of these children from slavery on Lake Volta. One by one.
George demonstrates a capacity to love that is rare, refreshing, and breathtakingly beautiful. I see evidence of Jesus in his heart not only in how he devotes his life to these children, but also in the way he has compassion and concern for the slave masters.It’s not enough to rescue the children peacefully and respectfully, George loves God enough to provide alternate means for the slave masters to earn incomes that do not rely on these children. His goal is not only to give the children a better future; he strives to do the same for the men who enslave them.He builds a relationship with them, treats them with respect, and works hard to change their future and their hearts.
Does that not have the fingerprints of God all over it?
Our trip to Africa will be in support of George and his team atPACODEP. We will serve alongside of him while he visits the child slaves on the islands of Lake Volta. This will allow us to gain a better understanding of their situation, which will help us as we work with the rescued children on the mainland and share/write their stories. God willing, we will also witness first hand the rescue of any children released while we are in Ghana.
On the mainland, we will work alongside of George and his team at the Village of Life, the campus built to accommodate the children who have been rescued. Love will be poured onto these children as they adjust to their new freedom and learn to read and write, learn the basics of hygiene, get proper nutrition and care… even as they learn to play.
There is no need too small to fill,and one need larger than the others.
George’s success in rescuing these precious children poses a challenge. The current three-classroom unit is at max capacity, and without more space, George’s team cannot accommodate and rehabilitate more rescued children. They currently have 51 children living at the Village of Life, and the construction of a new classroom unit would enable them to bring in more children from the islands of Lake Volta.
Education is crucial at the Village of Life. The children’s rehabilitation and future depend on it… breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness depends on it…
Education is crucial at the Village of Life. The children’s rehabilitation and future depend on it… breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness depends on it…
...and George’s success depends on us.
In America, it would take hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a school. In Ghana, it’s considerably less. The cost of a three-classroom unit for the Village of Life is $30,000.
$30,000 that George does not have.
I’ll be honest, I don’t have $30,000. It's likely the neither of us have $30,000. So, to you and I, building the school may seem like an insurmountable challenge. What matters is that we serve a God for Whom nothing is impossible, a God who has gathered us together to make a difference for these children.
Alone, we can't. Together, we can.
We will be spending the next 7 months working hard to raise the necessary funds for our trip expenses, the school construction, as well as collecting school and educational supplies, malaria nets, toys and treats for the children. Every penny counts, every bake sale and yard sale important, every donation precious and life changing. It may seem overwhelming through the world’s eyes, but if enough of us gather generously in His name, we CAN succeed in providing this gift to the children of Lake Volta.
We need people like George, who stand in the gap for these children… and George and these children need us to stand in the gap too.
Will you be the answer to this child's prayers?
Your prayers and your support are greatly needed and appreciated.
To support this project, click here:
For more information please contactAfrica@BeyondMeasure.me
Stay tuned for information on the "Paint Tia Pink Project" fundraiser...
For more information on George’s team, visit PACODEP’s website http://pacodep.com/index.php
NY Times articles on the Lake Volta slavery:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/world/africa/29ghana.html?_r=1
Unforgettable video of the children of Lake Volta and the work that George and his team have devoted their lives to:http://www.touchalifekids.org/lake-volta-video
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