Team Hillcrest is walking to end modern day slavery!

Please check out the link:

http://grouprev.com/teamhillcrest

House Party For Justice

I'm planning to host a house party for justice.

Check out the info at CAS' site for more information on how you too can be involved!

CAS HOUSE PARTY for JUSTICE

CNN launches new Freedom Project

Check out promo vid for the new CNN Freedom Project.

Polaris Project : Trafficking Hotline

From the Polaris Project website:

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.

---

The NHTRC is a program of Polaris Project, a non-profit, non-governmental organization working exclusively on the issue of human trafficking.

We are not a government entity, law enforcement or an immigration authority.

Call us at: 1-888-3737-888

• To report a tip;
• To connect with anti-trafficking services in your area; or,
• To request training and technical assistance, general information or specific anti-trafficking resources.

Llama la línea gratuita y confidencial: 1-888-3737-888

• Denunciar casos de trata;
• Conectarse con servicios en su localidad;
• Pedir información o recursos en español sobre la trata de personas y la esclavitud moderna.

Force Facebook To Block All Child Pornography

If you use Facebook, please join this cause: Force Facebook To Block All Child Pornography.

Pacific Alliance To Stop Slavery (PASS)

Yesterday I learned about the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery based in Hawaii. PASS is working on two important 2011 bills. I am particularly interested in keeping up with PASS, because Hawaii is my birth place and I've had the blessing of living there for most of my life. Although I have been a resident of beautiful California for almost ten years now, Hawaii will always be my island home.


Here is some info about PASS copied from their website's about page:

The Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery (PASS), is a Hawaii-based not-for-profit 501(c)3 whose mission is to stop Human-Trafficking in Hawaii and the Pacific. PASS provides services and advocacy for survivors of Human-Trafficking, education and training on the identification of victims of Human-Trafficking, and public awareness and prevention education for the greater community.

PASS works holistically to combat Human-Trafficking, building alliances with public interest legal services, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), churches, non-profit community organizations, domestic violence shelters, educational institutions, and law enforcement.

Please check out PASS' website, especially if you now live in the 50th state.

Abolitionists, unite! :)

CAS rally on1/11/11 : Human Trafficking Awareness Day

I heard about a CAS rally that would take place on 1/11/11, Human Trafficking Awareness Day, at the California state capitol. The night before the rally, I asked my husband if he wanted to take a drive on his day off to Sacramento from the East Bay to drop me off at the capitol while he and our son enjoyed the train museum or old town Sacramento. He agreed, so on 1/11/11 we did just as we planned. 

Upon arriving at the ornate Capitol building, I didn’t really know what to expect, since it was my very first time at a CAS rally. I was ready to carry a sign or yell Stop human trafficking! or something like it. Until meeting wonderful volunteer Rosario that morning, I didn’t know that we would actually be speaking with assemblymen. I felt intimidated upon hearing what the plan was for our time there, but was willing to give it a shot. I didn’t know any of the other CAS volunteers at the rally, but coming together to help make leaders aware of human trafficking made strangers seem like long time friends. Our team agreed to a short prayer before we started, so I enjoyed leading out in that. Each of the four members on the team I was on took turns approaching politicians at their offices, letting them know that the day was Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and CAS' goal of getting an initiative on the 2012 ballot. We left copies of letters which we all individually signed, and also a pic of the reality of modern day slavery. 
After talking with the first assemblymen, I was no longer fearful, and I was pumped to share with any and everyone! After speaking with assemblymen, chiefs of staff, assistants, etc., two of my new friends and I had lunch downstairs in the cafeteria and had the opportunity to engage in conversation about human trafficking with the nice guy behind the counter. Oh, the first politician we spoke with was on the elevator. I think a lot of important conversations and decisions take place in elevators, hallways, and lobbies in the capitol! Speaking of lobbies, I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience as a lobbyist. I know that our efforts that day made a positive difference. 

California State Capitol, Sacramento

CAS volunteers

California Against Slavery

The issue of  human trafficking was introduced to me by volunteers for California Against Slavery. I am grateful to them for helping to open my eyes on this horrible reality. Now I proudly say that I too am a CAS volunteer! In my next post, I'll share about my first volunteer experience with this wonderful group.

Here is some info about CAS copied from the website:

"California Against Slavery (CAS) is a non-profit, non-partisan human rights organization.  We want to make human trafficking the riskiest criminal business in California.

Our Mission:
To defend the freedom of every child, woman and man
by empowering the people of California
to fulfill our obligation to stop human trafficking.

Our Goal:
To pass a ballot initiative in 2012 to enact just and effective state laws
to protect victims and prevent and prosecute the crime of human trafficking.

In doing so, California will lead our nation in a historic movement to stop modern day slavery."

Please visit CAS to find out how you can get involved.

International Justice Mission

At the Freedom Summit, I met and learned from many cool people from great organizations.
International Justice Mission is one group. Here is their mission on their web site:

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.

Check out this page where you can sign a letter to President Obama, asking him to fight slavery:
Letter to President Obama.
I signed. It is easy and will help make a difference.

Why fight?

For the past few days, I have praying and pondering about what my 10...10...10 actions are and what they will be. This has led to a new blog, a passion for bringing awareness, looking at where I spend money, becoming more educated, etc.

Why? Why am I involved in this fight? Here is one passage from the Bible that helps me answer this question.

HCSB version
Micah 6:8
Mankind, He has told you what is good
and what it is the Lord requires of you:
to act justly,
to love faithfulness,
and to walk humbly with your God.

In The Message paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, the passage reads:
But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple:
Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.

not a conference like this

Freedom Summit 2011 my 10...10...10 

This past Friday & Saturday, my friend and I attended Freedom Summit 2011:Building the Bay Area Response To Human Trafficking, held at Harbor Light Church in Fremont. I was grateful that we both received a 50% discounted registration fee just by clicking on a link to inquire about the limited scholarships they had available. This shows the heart of the conference's organizers; they wanted everyone to be able to attend. I know that putting on a conference like this is expensive, so I very much appreciated the discount which very much helped. Looking back at the sentence before this one, I see the words a conference like this. In my experience, I have never attended a conference like this. I have been to many well executed training events, rallies, motivational talks, classes, etc. that all could come under the heading conference, but for me, Freedom Summit 2011 was a very different experience. I was challenged to action. Not that I haven't been challenged at other venues by other people, but this time was quite unique. The question posed to me: What will I do in the next 10 minutes...in the next 10 days...in the next 10 months to help fight human trafficking and slavery? will be on my mind and heart. I am still pondering it all, so some of my thoughts may come out garbled...

Something that keeps coming to my mind as I reflect on the two days is the truth that everyone at the Summit was in it together; that we all had an important role to play in this fight against modern day slavery and we chose to be there to learn how to fight smart. The speakers and presenters, some of whom were very well known, and others not well known helped me to see that we are all needed. Nobody was more important than another. The folks on stage and the folks off were the same. We all had the freedom to attend and are choosing to to use our own freedom to help rescue individuals who are not free; the estimated 27,000,000 girls,boys, women, and men in bondage by people abusing their own freedom and power. 27 million... globally...in countries far...in countries near...in the USA, the country in which I live...in my state...in the bay area...in my city...in yours...

In the coming days, I will be prayerfully processing the information that was passed on to me by passionate people who have been in this fight a whole lot longer than myself. I will use this blog to share this with whomever chooses to read, in hopes that more free people will come to understand that they (you) too are needed in this fight...