Bill Conrad / Staff Photo: Jordan Daniel Wood, left, and KC Ajike sample some food from DC’s Café and Catering. The two attended a human trafficking awareness event at the La Valencia at Starwood Apartments in Frisco.
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@acnpapers.com
At first, human trafficking may seem like a problem that is far away from Collin County. However, one Frisco woman is doing everything she can to end the practice.
Venita Benitez describes herself as an abolitionist and works daily to end modern day slavery. She said she began her work when she found out her distant relatives owned slaves."When I was doing my genealogy, I discovered that my great, great, great, great grandfather's will included slaves," she said. "That gave me an understanding of what slavery was really about. Since then, I have been trying to make up for what happened in my own bloodline and doing something to correct it."
"This event is about raising awareness," she said. "I want everyday people to know what is going on in our world today and what is being done to end human trafficking and modern day slavery. This should raise the social consciousness of everyone who attends. I am not trying to scare people with pamphlets; I am just letting them know one-on-one what modern day slavery is about."
The event featured catering from DC's Cafe and Catering. The menu featured items such as brisket sliders, black eyed pea dip, vegetarian angel hair pasta and bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos. The catering company owner, Damon Crow (DC), has known Benitez for 18 years.
"We got involved through our friendship with Venita," said Armando Crow, Damon's brother. "DC wants to be involved in solving some of the world's problems such as human trafficking. That is why we are here."
Attendees at Benitez's event said it raised their awareness of human trafficking. Colleen Park said she learned a lot, because she didn't know the extent of human trafficking.
"I knew that human trafficking existed, but I had no idea that Dallas was one of the main hubs," Park said. "I also didn't know that organization's existed to combat human slavery."
KC Ajike, who was born in Nigeria, said he enjoyed the event and that the food was "marvelous."
"I learned about the event on Facebook," Ajike said. "I was already informed about modern day slavery, because I am African. In America it is covered up, but events like this may change that."
At the event, Benitez showed attendees a copy of the book "Tell me About ... The Slave Trade," which is published by the United Nations. The book was released in 2007 and says there are close to 300 million slaves in the world today, with an estimated 246 million children also living in slavery. One of the ways Benitez and her fellow abolitionists are trying to educate the public and end the slave trade is through social networking, specifically a new game titled SOS_Slaves.
The game is being developed by documentary filmmaker Chelo Alvarez-Stehle and aims "to inform players of the critical, yet delicate issue of sex trafficking in an innovative way."
Information provided by Alvarez-Stehle says, "because of the sensitive nature of [sex trafficking], the issue is rarely addressed in schools. This is particularly problematic, because young adults are not included in the conversation -- the very people who could have the energy and fresh ideas to make a real difference. By using social gaming to include youth with SOS_Slaves, we can change the trafficking game."
Players assume the role of a sex trafficking victim and face the challenges that victims in the industry typically face. Users can interact with other users on message boards in order to engage in real-life activism.
The game will be available on Facebook and should be released later this year.
Star Local News > Frisco Enterprise > News > Modern-day slavery 'rarely addressed'
Source: friscoenterprise.com
Thank you for your work. Job well done.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Venita Maria Benitez