Langley Advance
Dear Editor,
How many of us wake up in the morning and say, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could change the world in which we live?”
Is this not what drives us in our daily lives to excel at our careers, to make an impact?
Sometimes, though, the task is so immense, so daunting that we are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem. But you can, in the words of Mahatma Ghandi, “be the change we wish to see in the world.”
The M.A.D. Challenge (www.madchallenge.ca) is a movement originating in Sherwood Park, Alberta, of students aged 12-18 who want to see slavery and human trafficking come to an end in our lifetime, and who are ready to do something about it.
The Challenge was born out of a desire to see a generation of young people reaching out and helping those who cannot help themselves, a generation filled with compassion, not content to live their lives isolated from the tragic realities of our world, a generation that will hear the cries of the oppressed and respond with mercy, a generation willing to stand together and Make A Difference.
At its core, the M.A.D. Challenge is a call for all of us to participate in the process of bringing light to the darkest places in whatever ways we can. It is an opportunity to be part of the solution.
You may not be aware that mass atrocities and modern-day slavery share a common and deplorable distinction. The world agrees that each is intolerable, yet both persist today on a massive scale.
Human Trafficking is one of the most dehumanizing and victimizing acts perpetrated on the most vulnerable of our societies. There are more slaves on the planet now than at any time in history – an estimated 27 million men, women, and children are enslaved across the globe.
Modern-day slavery manifests itself in many forms, from forced labor to sex trafficking, but each is alike in that it poses a severe threat to the future of human freedom.
Sometimes hidden in the dark corners of our globalized world and at other times occurring in plain sight, modern-day slavery and human trafficking are legal nowhere but present in every country across the globe. In South Asia alone, nearly 10 million people languish in debt bondage. As many as two million people have been traf_cked into prostitution or forced labor.
So right about now you are asking yourself what it is that we want.
The challenge that we have taken on is two-fold: raising awareness, and raising funds to help end slavery once and for all. One hundred per cent of the funds that we raise during the M.A.D. Challenge will go to help the International Justice Mission.
International Justice Mission is a nonprofit human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. They are currently working in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.
IJM’s founding principle is the defense and protection of individual human rights for all people by bringing the law to bear on their behalf, and by prosecuting perpetrators who violate local and international laws.
Its casework has a four-fold purpose: victim relief, perpetrator accountability, victim aftercare, and structural change.
IJM investigators, lawyers, and social workers work in partnership with state and local authorities and at all stages of the justice process, from investigation to prosecution.
In addition to the services provided to individual victims through IJM’s casework, the organization’s firsthand interaction with local justice systems makes them uniquely qualified to identify systemic challenges, to achieving justice within these systems. In collaboration with local authorities, IJM addresses these specific challenges to better serve the urgent needs of victims of injustice.
The work of IJM has been featured by “60 Minutes II,” “Dateline NBC,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, National Public Radio, Forbes Magazine, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The New York Times.
Even though many of us in society have more or less heard of and known about this issue of modern day slavery, most choose to either ignore or forget it. After all, don’t we have other important business waiting for us to deal with?
In this fast-paced 21st century, it seems that we do not have enough time to care about those far away from us who might be in misery. Individually, we might have compassion about the poor and the oppressed, but might feel powerless confronting the issue, or unsure about how to participate in the struggle against slavery.
Furthermore, the issue of modern slavery is also far more complex and difficult to deal with than ever before; today, it involves a larger scale of transnational interests and international situations in the global context.
This is where the scope and knowledge of the legal profession shines. Lawyers worldwide are on the forefront of this fight to rid the world of the slave trade. IJM and other organizations like them work closely with the legal profession to bring about justice and restore the human dignity of these individuals.
We would encourage people to visit our web page (www.beingthevoice.com) to see firsthand the stories of some of these men, women, and children whose lives have been restored to them, and to hear of the good works by the legal profession world wide.
The Voice is stepping out boldly by seeking to raise funds by asking lawyers, doctors, business people, and individuals to support the good work of the IJM. We would deeply appreciate your support to get the message out on this matter, to see this cause furthered to help in the world wide fight to end human slavery, once and for all.
Our mission is to be a Voice for change. Please stand with us in this fight. We have big ideas but little practical experience. We are after all only 14 years old and in high school.
Rachel Fagan, Langley
Slavery: Be your own change in the world
No comments:
Post a Comment