October 2011 | Love146.org

25
Oct

Really?? Posted by Nicole von Oy

I am continually amazed, shocked and blown away by people and their actions on a weekly; no let’s make that daily, yes, a daily basis. For example, when I come in on a Monday morning and hear stories from authorities or agencies about a new case of trafficking or at lunchtime when I want to heat up my leftovers and find that our microwave is broken, I just have to ask the question, “Really??” …Obviously some realities are harder to swallow than others, but the question "Really??" has become a source of sanity.

The root of the word really is real.

When you know something is happening for real and someone acts in a way that suggests that what you know is real isn’t reality that’s when you need the question: “Really??” Or when someone does something so outrageous and ridiculous that it’s hard to believe it’s reality, you need the question: “Really??” I found myself asking this question so much that a friend and I started to joke that it would be funny if I had a teddy bear I could squeeze that would ask: “Really??” You know, the kind you get from the Build a Bear Workshop where you can put recorded voices in the hands?

The next day, I decided to incorporate the idea of a REALLY Bear into my trainings and found that many people could relate to this imaginary bear. It brings lots of laughs from participants and helps them to engage and connect at the trainings. The REALLY Bear, I found, breaks the tension of such a hard dose of reality.

Last week, I received one of the most amazing and thoughtful gifts from some trainees. It was REALLY Bear! His name is Roger Really and when you squeeze him he asks the question, “Really??” …dripping with the perfect attitude; softened by a cuddly yet professional appearance in a tie.

The Love146 lunch table is generally a place for some pretty silly conversations. But today it got real and it prompted me to bring out Roger Really. I was informing staff about a high school I am scheduled to go into had sent out letters/permission slips home to parents to inform them about Love146, the issue of trafficking and how important an issue it is for their kids to learn about it. It gave parents the opportunity to opt their child out of the program and the child would be given an alternate assignment. I was in touch with some of the school officials today who said parents are already opting their kids out of the program. These parents are saying child sex trafficking is not a problem.

REALLY????????????

I was immediately frustrated and perplexed. It is a shame that I am so accustomed to how real and prevalent a reality this is and I realize not everyone else is. But all I kept saying in my head was “C’mon, really??” What’s even more frustrating is that knowing, in reality, there have been recent confirmed cases of child trafficking happening in the very town where the school is located. Really.

Lamont Hiebert, co-founder of Love146, always asks the kids when we go into schools, “Are we going to bury our heads in the sand and act like this doesn’t exist or should we talk real about this?” What happened today, goes to show how important awareness and education are. It’s so important not bury our heads in the sand. This problem is real and our kids really need to be defended and empowered.

Let’s acknowledge the reality of this problem, create awareness, and stop another child from being trafficked. Otherwise, Roger Really is going to get really upset. Really?? Really.

Nicole von Oy, MSW, is Love146's Training & Outreach Coordinator. Read more about our U.S. Programs here.

24
Oct

Be Brave continued. Posted by Desirea Rodgers

Thank you all for your amazing response to Ann Marie's story. Your prayers, positive energy and words are deeply appreciated. We will keep you posted on the court case and Ann Marie's continuing story.

I want to extend another thank you to Shara Worden of the band My Brightest Diamond. Shara's song "Be Brave" is the song I quoted in my last blog. Shara sent us an email saying that she would like all of the proceeds from the sale of the Be Brave Dear One tee shirt to come to Love146!

In Shara's own words:

"Be Brave, dear one. Be ye changed or be undone. Since I have several friends who are working with non-profits to raise awareness of this reality, and try to help prevent human trafficking, I decided this was a small thing I could do to help. I’ve known the founders of Love146 for 10 years and I trust them. I believe in their work. So I thought for starters, I could make a tee shirt, a little prayer, a hopeful wish for those people who are trapped, to trust that change will come. "

If you would like to purchase this shirt, please visit Ink In Bloom. All proceeds come directly to Love146.

It does "take trust that change will come." Let us work, let us educate ourselves, let us pray, let us Love. Change will come.

Abolition,

Desirea

19
Oct

Be Brave Dear One. Posted by Desirea Rodgers

I clicked "quit" on my Skype and hung my head in silence. My first thought, "I kind of want to kill him." Ten girls (that we know of) have been threatened, coerced or given money to not testify against their rapist. The only girls who will testify are the three that are in our Round Home.

Ann Marie was 7 when her parents separated, at 10 her mother left her with an aunt and uncle. Ann Marie wanted so much to attend school but her family had no means. When she was 13 her aunt told her that she would be taken to a place where she could receive an education. Instead, Ann Marie was taken to a cult and given to a "holy man" called "Daddy." She was not the only child brought him, Ann Marie was told by Daddy and the cult members that she was not allowed to attend school and if she tried to leave the compound her entire family would be punished by God and she would become sick.

For almost a year Ann Marie was repeatedly raped by Daddy in religious rituals, these rituals were meant to "cleanse her of her sins." After each ritual and rape, she was given a pamphlet on devotional prayer. Once, she escaped with some of the other girls but eventually returned because Daddy and the cult members knew where her family lived and Ann Marie was afraid her family would be hurt or killed.

Eventually she was rescued and brought to a government shelter. There, she had difficulty sleeping because she could always see Daddy’s face and her abuse in her mind.

She expressed to her rescuers, that she wanted to go to school and be a lawyer someday. It was then decided that in order for her dream to be realized, she should be referred to the Round Home.

Ann Marie came to the Round Home in June, she is 16 and excelling at school.

Her decision to testify against Daddy was a major one. Not only did she have to face her rapist but all of the members of the cult that attended each day of his trial. She was questioned, and with her words, she relived the exploitation and abuse. Ann Marie and our staff of the Love146 Round Home were surrounded by armed guards with machine guns for protection but that didn't keep the cult members from surrounding them after the testimony, it didn't protect Ann Marie from their words and the fear. She was scheduled to testify again last week, only to be told that the testimony will be postponed until January.

After the Skype call ended, after hearing the news that Ann Marie would again be put through the hell of testimony and that hell was now waiting for her four months down the road, my thoughts began to drift to the man who calls himself Daddy, these thoughts were dark with brutal justice, vivid with vengeful images. Daddy should be a word sacred and loving to little girls, not bastardized and used for control, brain wash and torture. I turned on music to clear thoughts and what came on was a song with the line "be brave dear one." Over and over I sang be "brave dear one, be brave." As I chanted, Daddy and his exploitation left my mind and only Ann Marie remained. Chanting may not help the court case or bring justice but it reminded me that hate will not heal and abolition will only come through Love.

~Desirea

Co-founder, Chief Story Crusader - Love146