I am free. I have freedom of religion. I have freedom of speech. I have freedom of choice. I am free to live.
Nothing
special I guess. After all I was born to be free.
How
lucky I am. There are an estimated 27 million people in slavery today
- more than ever in history. People trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are enslaved. Trafficking is also the fastest growing international crime and one of the largest sources of income for organised crime (The UN Office on Drugs and Crime). Every year 2-4 million men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own country (Stop The Traffik).
I
have not been able to shake off the growing discomfort of the reality
of trafficking since I was faced these facts last year during my
visit to South Africa. Something was stirred in my heart. I cannot
just keep on living my life as normal when there are people, even
little children, forced to work, forced to let someone use their
body. They are broken down. They are silenced.
”Use your liberty to promote ours”, Aung San Suu Kuy pleaded for her country and her people. Maybe it is time for us freedom people to promote the freedom of the enslaved, to give voice to the voiceless.
I
am in no way saying that I am an expert on this field; but I want to
learn more. I have been accepted to do an anti-trafficking internship
in South Africa. I want to learn as much as I can of how this
terrible industry works, how it can be prevented, and how the victims
saved from enslavement can be restored and empowered, so that I can
be effective fighting against it. This is an amazing opportunity for
me to take a stand against injustice. However, I believe there are
different ways of doing that; something that anyone can do is raising
awareness and being active through social media. I will be updating my blog during my preparation for South Africa and once there with
all that I am learning.
This
is where the journey begins...
Anna
