SHARKS IN THE WATER
There has been so much said and written regarding Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 effort over the last month, and there will be more said and written with the launch of their “Cover the Night” campaign. While there have been some thoughtful critiques as well as thoughtful responses to those critiques, there have also been plenty who have been at best, unhelpful and cynical, and at worst, venomous in their criticism.
Boys will be boys…
Boys will be boys, so they say (and by de-fault I suppose girls will be girls!).
Where I live in Cambodia, there is a popular proverb that, ‘a girl is like a piece of cloth, if thrown in the dirt then she is soiled for ever compared to a boy who is like a lump of gold, it simply needs washing and it is clean and restored’.
One Day’s Wages For Love146
If my short time with Love146 has taught me nothing else, it’s that I live a terribly excessive lifestyle. On the way to work, I thought nothing of the $2.12 I spent on a cup of coffee and I didn’t bat an eye at the $2.63 price tag for a breakfast croissant.
One hundred years ago in Cambodia
One hundred years ago in Cambodia most families kept together in extended groups. Boys would learn farming from their fathers. Girls would also learn to help out on the farm but would learn child-care from their mothers and quickly become responsible at keeping the house and finances in order.
Youth Advocates in Romania
Love146 worked with partners in Romania last month to train the country’s first group of young activists as advocates against human trafficking.
Sticking Around
It’s easy to find thousands of people that are willing to click a couple of buttons to “show support” for a certain issue. It’s incredibly rare to find someone who is willing to stick around.
To all the Love146 girls (and guys)…
A few weeks ago, I was able to visit some of our field projects in Asia. The trip culminated in a wedding that took place in the Love146 Round Home. The bride was a survivor of sex trafficking who moved forward from the home (was reintegrated) last year.
English Club Inductions
Three of the girls in our Round Home, Majel, Maribel, & Chile, are now students at a nearby highschool. They’re star students; always praised by teachers.
Poverty Porn
We’ve all seen the images, a malnourished child (usually African) with a bloated belly, a tortured look and a fly which has landed near an eye or mouth. The child seems to be begging us for help and with that image comes an easy answer. For a certain amount of money you can save this child by helping them have daily food, water and an education.
Survivors in the Round Home are Treading on Trafficking
Upon hearing about the efforts of so many people participating in Tread on Trafficking, eleven of the girls in the Love146 Round Home have decided to jump in and become Treaders themselves!
What does “Prevention” do?
It is a harsh reality of counter trafficking that prevention work is underfunded globally.
