Bike For Shelter in the News

I met the mother of a trafficking survivor

Ok.. .So, some of you know that I am working like mad to help coordinate www.bikeforshelter.org

I have the rest of this afternoon and tomorrow before the event on Sunday.... So, needless to say, I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. :-)

One would be correct in asking the question, "If Seth is so busy then why the heck is he taking time to blog? Shouldn't he get to work!?!"

I had to share this, because it is what will keep me going this weekend!

I was in Staples about 15 minutes ago faxing something that I had already faxed and I shouldn't have been there because I am really busy... Honestly I had a lousy attitude and it was just a pain in my butt. (sure go ahead and judge me, I am sure none of you have ever done that :-) )

However, there was apparently a reason I was there. The lady behind the print counter asked how my day was and I did the usual small talk... I told her about the event and how busy I was. I told her I never imagined that it would take this much work to get several hundred people on bikes to ride around in a big circle.

She tells me she totally understands and that she will email her friends about the event because she used to work with "Bike Oregon". I thought, "Wow, that is huge and could get us some more exposure." She then asks, "What is the cause?" Which prompts me to launch into my standard Human Trafficking speech that I have given a thousand times....

The response I received was different than any other to date.

She stood their stunned..

She then broke and was on the verge of tears as she told me that her daughter was taken when she was 16 and was prostituted all over the South Western states. She told me that the guy who took her impregnated her and that she is now a 25 year old, single mother, who is an alcoholic.

Now it was my turn to be stunned! How in the world was I having this conversation?

I quickly asked her if her daughter had gotten any help and she said, "That she just drinks to numb the pain and the memories."

I gave her my info and told her to contact me and I am going to work with our Director at Transitions Global to get her some help.

I am honestly blown away... And now I have to run to pick up t-shirts, print outs, keys, etc, etc, etc.....

Much Love,

Seth

Is "Awareness" really all that?

*** The Following is a caption from "Stuff White People Like***


"An interesting fact about white people is that they firmly believe that all of the world’s problems can be solved through “awareness.” Meaning the process of making other people aware of problems, and then magically someone else like the government will fix it.

This belief allows them to feel that sweet self-satisfaction without actually having to solve anything or face any difficult challenges. Because, the only challenge of raising awareness is people not being aware. In a worst case scenario, if you fail someone doesn’t know about the problem. End of story." *** END CAPTION**

Now I know this is a bit snarky and stereotypical but as the old saying goes, "Sarcasm is a subtle revelation of truth."

As someone who works my tail off, everyday, in the attempt to raise funds to make an actual impact on the lives of actual girls who have been rescued from slavery, I can tell you that awareness does not go a long way.

I can't remember where I read it, but I read a section from an activist who stated that, "Good intentions cannot be traded on in the Global Market."

We cannot rescue girls, we cannot give them the trauma counseling that they need, we cannot feed or house them, we can't even buy them toilet paper, with awareness.

I have 617 "friends" on Facebook and 1051 "followers" on Twitter... I can count maybe 20 (and that is generous) people who have donated their time or money to the cause of abolishing slavery.

There are 27 million people (and the number grows everyday) in slavery around the globe. It is the second leading crime around the Globe. Awareness has its place, but it alone is not going to make a difference.

A good example of awareness not making an impact is the Church... the number of people who tithe averages somewhere between 5-10%. It has been said that if 100% of the church tithed then we could abolish hunger. I am pretty sure that we all are plenty aware of what global hunger is... and yet we have not placed a priority on ending it. If I talk to one more Church leader about getting involved in this issue in a significant way, and they tell me that they need to, "pray about it."... I am not sure what I am going to do, but it won't be pretty. (actually it probably won't be more than me shutting my mouth and burying my feelings)

Or another example would be the recent scandal with the well known group, ACORN. They were caught giving advice to a pimp and prostitute (in the Baltimore and DC offices) on how to tax shelter their income (even after being told that the couple was planning on bringing in minors from South America to put them to "work")

The sad thing about this is that ACORN stands to obtain BILLIONS from the Government Stimulus package... And yet the Government only spent 100 Million on Slavery last year. Slavery is not something that is new to our Government... We even have a specific office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. We just haven't placed it as a priority. The Government is not going to solve this problem!

Right now we (the group I volunteer for) have multiple young ladies in Cambodia that are depending on us for their care... Soon we will have girls in Mumbai, India that will depend on us and hopefully, eventually, we will have girls in Portland, Oregon that will depend on us.

We CANNOT do this alone. There is no one in this field that is a "Bruce Wayne" independently funding the fight against slavery.

We NEED your help! I think the main reason that people do not move to action is that they see all of the staggering statistics and become frozen with the the thought of, "I don't have enough to give to make a significant impact on this situation". Your probably right... You ALONE, probably don't have enough...

BUT consider this:

If you invest: $12

You can support one girl’s school supplies and books to attend English classes, or literacy school.

If you invest: $25

You can support one girl’s meals and snacks for an entire week

If you invest: $50

You can support one girl's counseling and social work support to help in healing.

If you invest: $75

You can support one girl's education, including her school uniform

If you invest: $100

You can support one girl’s vocational training in a career of her choice.

The need is urgent and waiting to help these girls is not an option!

Please hear me when I say, that this blog entry is not meant to be a chastisement in regards to our apathy (we are all guilty), but it is meant to be a "Call to ACTION"!!

Please consider partnering with us to make a lasting impact on the Globe!

The best way to give right now is to go to:

GLOBAL GIVING and help us win a $6000 bonus!

OR go to

TRANSITIONS GLOBAL and donate directly to our organization!

Thank you all so much!

Much Love!

Seth

$100 Million Dollars

Have you ever wondered what $100 million dollars looked like?

That is a lot of money, right!?! The problem is, it is such a large amount of money that we don't really compute it... we just kind of go on tilt and just default to, "yeah, that is a lot of cash!"

In FY 2008, the U.S. Government obligated approximately $76 million to 140 international anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) projects benefiting over 70 countries and approximately $23 million to 82 domestic anti-TIP projects. These projects work to ensure the survivors are protected, the traffickers are put in jail and human trafficking is prevented. This is great so far and still looks like a lot of money...

The catch comes in to play when you consider the enormity of the issue. It is estimated that there are more than 27 million people in slavery around the globe.

Often times we hear this, and think that this is an issue that is somewhere other than the US... but in actuality the FBI estimates that there are 300,000 domestic girls that are trafficked every year in the United States of America.

So lets start breaking down these numbers:

1.) There are 27,000,000 people in slavery minus the 300,000 (that is just domestic children) in the US... that equals, 26,700,000 international victims, left.

2.) If there was $76,000,000 spent on international victims that equation would be.... $76,000,000/26,700,000 = $2.84 dollars per international victim.

Now, admittedly, there is somewhat of a discrepancy... Most Governments agree that there are 800,000 people "trafficked" (actually moved across country lines) every year, but that there are many more are slaves within their particular country. So just for fairness sake, let's rework the math.

$76,000,000/800,000 = $95 per survivor.

That is a little better!

3.) There are 300,000 American girls that are trafficked every year... We spend $23 million to help them... So, let's work the math on that.

$23,000,000/300,000 = $76.66 per girl.

At this point these numbers are all relative. This could be good and it could be horrible... who knows?? Well, to give us some perspective, let's back this whole scenario up to before a slave is purchased, and ask ourselves, "What is the purchase price?"

The average price to purchase a slave is $90. (insert jaw drop here)

Really, $90!! I spent more than that on my last trip to the grocery store and I don't even remember what I got.

One little girl who I know personally, was bought for $300, and her virginity was sold for another $300... .That was in Cambodia. How much do you think someone would pay for a virgin here in the States?

So, in summation... We are spending $5 more than the average purchase price per international victim (and that is just the ones that are actually moved from country to country) and $13.34 less than the average purchase price per domestic girl.

I personally don't think this acceptable, especially when it is estimated that Traffickers are making $32 Billion a year!

To give you some perspective on how much $32 Billion is... It is more than Starbucks makes... It is more than Google makes.... and it is more than Nike makes... COMBINED!

Ok... If that were not enough for the comparisons, humor me with one more... think about the fact that the US Government FY budget for 2010 is requesting $130 Billion for more war spending. That is 1,300 times more than the yearly budget for Human Trafficking.

OK, So... I guess my point in all of this is that we cannot count on our Government to do anything substantial about this issue. At least not right now. As to the question of whether we should be able to count on them.... Well... that is another blog all together.

We the people! We the people of The United States of America! We must do something about this! It is time for us a Nation to put up or shut up! Stop talking about how bad everything is and start doing something about it! If I hear of one more "awareness rally" or "awareness campaign" I am going to throw up! How about we have a DOING rally!?!

*** as a side note to Christians (I personally am a Christian)... the way I read things is that James 4:17 says, "If you know the good to do and you do not do it.. that is sin." It can't be more clear cut than that. However, for a little more theological debate, Isaiah 1:17 says to, "Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of the orphans. Fight for the rights of the widows."

If we look at this in context, we see that passage in Isaiah is directed at the "Rebellious nation" the focus is not on the ones who need justice, it is on the ones who need to seek it! We are not to "Seek justice" as long as we get them "saved" or as long as they hear the message. The verse is speaking to us and that we need to do it for us! Not for them.... Let's pull our heads out of our a..err... religion, and start doing what is right because it is the right thing to do.

When we do our good works with the hidden agenda of hopefully one day getting the individual "saved"... we are just prostituting our good works. For crying out loud... Just go and love someone without worrying about their eternal security. Leave that up to God. I dare you!! Don't bother with arguing the theological ins and outs of this theory with me. Just go try it and see what happens!***

***For those of my non believing friends and readers.... Thanks for letting me rant!****

Back to the subject at hand.... There are little girls that are waiting on us to just move to action! To put our time and our pocketbooks where our mouths are!

Edmund Burke (an abolitionist) has two great quotes that I love... The first is, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

The guys that are making $32 Billion a year are banking on this!

The second quote is, "No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."

I understand that we all have lives, responsibilities, and pressures of our own, but we need to step up and do something... anything!

Imagine if everyone in the nation were to give just 1 dollar... We could more than triple the Governments annual budget for this cause.

And for those of you who have read this far... you are probably getting fired up and you might even give a damn! If you decide to actually act on your feelings... you are probably going to get push back from friends and family.

Most people don't want to hear about this. They don't want to think about 14 year old girls being raped 10-20 times a day, by 10-20 sweaty, dirty, disgusting, vile men. They don't want to think about the broken teeth that the little girls have because of what they have had mashed into their faces. They don't want to think about the destroyed GI tracts that are because of what they have been forced to drink/swallow. They don't want to think about the beatings, or the car batteries that are hooked to these girls to shock them into submission. They don't want to think about them and I am not sure why.... I think it might be, because if we do... if we truly think about this part of the population then we feel that we must do something!

And most of us are to busy living for ourselves to do that.

To those of you who are getting fired up and experience push back from those around you... I offer this quote to you from William Lloyd Garrison (an abolitionist in the 1800's). He said to those who criticized him for his enthusiasm, "I have need to be all on fire, for there are mountains of ice around me to melt." He was realistic (as I am) about the immediacy of ending slavery.. yet he was uncompromising. He said, "We have never said that slavery would be overthrown with a single blow; that it ought to be, we shall always contend."

I pray that each one of you reading this entry will be moved to action. There are little girls in our own backyard and around the globe who are waiting on us!

Generosity

There have been two statements that have been weighing on me over the last few days...

The first comes from this book that I am reading. It is titled, "A New Kind Of Christian". These two guys are having this conversation and they start in on financial stuff.... The character known as "Neo" is responding adamantly and says,

"We live in the most affluent culture in the most affluent period of human history. If we can't discipline ourselves to learn the joys of generous living, I think we're an embarrassment to the gospel."

This phrase has absolutely pierced me! I don't make a lot of money (compared to some) and I try to support my wife and 3 daughters... I have debts to pay off, first cars, my own car, we would like to own a house someday, college tuition to worry about, weddings (good lord), retirement, etc... In the midst of all of this I feel compelled to "discipline myself to learn the joys of generous living". How do I balance all of this? I remember being in Cambodia and seeing a woman with her two small children... she was lying in the gutter... We had just come out of a "fun night", eating at an Italian restaurant run by an expat. This lady was dirtier than I have ever seen anyone. I immediately was nauseous and overwhelmed with compassion for her. But I had know idea what to do... I still don't know what to do....

The second statement comes from James Pond on his most recent blog, he says,

"If we are willing to sow indifference to children being sexually harmed, are we equally willing to reap the consequences?"

The answer, for me, is NO!

Am I willing to reap the consequence of just sitting by and arranging my life? Am I willing to be content with climbing the corporate ladder, a super fat house, two cars, a padded 401k?

I am not advocating that we give up everything for others... Or maybe I am... I guess that is still to be determined. It much harder to be a radical idealist when you have a wife and kids to support. Not that I would trade them for a minute... I am just saying that I understand all of this is easier said than done.

So, then if we are balancing life... What are we to do???

I guess for me it comes down to "learning the joys of generous living"! Find out what that means and grasp it and don't let go. I think when we become givers through and through (religious or not)... when we learn to let go of ourselves... that is when we are truly happy. That's my story... for now at least. :-)

Thanks for reading and partaking in my journey! I love community...

Feel free to comment and enter the conversation!

Probing

I had an unexpected meeting with a new friend last week and he shared a quote with me that has been haunting me ever since. I figured I would share it with the few of you that take interest in my writings. :-)

The writer of the quote is Shane Claiborne and it is from his book, "Irresistible Revolution".

"I did a little survey probing Christians about their (mis)conceptions of Jesus. I learned a striking thing from the survey. I asked participants who claimed to be "strong followers of Jesus" whether Jesus spent time with the poor. Nearly 80% said yes. Later in the survey, I sneaked in another question. I asked the same group of strong followers whether they spent time with the poor, and less than 2 percent said they did. I learned a powerful lesson: We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what He did. We can applaud what He preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore His cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor, but that rich Christians do not know the poor.

When the worlds of poverty and wealth collide, the resulting powerful fusion can change the world. But that collision rarely happens. I long for the Calcutta slums to meet the Chicago suburbs, for lepers to meet landowners and for each to see God's image in the other. It's no wonder that the footsteps of Jesus lead from tax collectors to lepers. I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end."

How many poor people do I know? How many people do I associate myself with that are completely different than I am? How accepting am I of people that are different, whether they are poor, fat, skinny, pretty, ugly, gay, straight, black, white, purple, whatever…. Here is a question that I rarely ask myself… how accepting am I of people that are rich? Volunteering with an NGO, it is so easy to be critical of people that are “rich”. I easily pass judgment on them. How dare they live in their fancy houses with their flex fuel vehicles, their boats and jet skis, 2.5 kids? How dare they have their perfect little life and not give to those who are suffering all around them? Yet, if I compare my own standard of living to the other 94% of the globe, I am incredibly wealthy.

Riding the bus this week has been incredibly humbling. I can be SO judgmental! And the crazy thing is… it happens before I even know it. I am instantly sizing someone up and have decided whether or not I will give them the time of day, before I even know it. I am in a sense creating a caste system in my mind. I am deciding who my equal is, who is beneath me is and even who is better than me. Funny, there are not many who fall into the latter category.

I am reminded of the story of Jesus and the woman at the well (the adulterer/prostitute depending on your translation). There is a lot going on in this narrative and I won’t even pretend to try to interpret it all… I am just taking it at face value for the narrative that it is. The thing that stands out to me the most, besides the fact that Jesus was completely chill with the lady, is in verse 6, “…and Jesus tired as he was from the journey, sat down…” After I work a 13 hour shift and stand on the street corner for 15-20 minutes and then have to ride on a bus for 45 minutes… the last thing I want to do is listen to some idiot or meth-head go on and on with their drivel. And yet, this is what they need the most from me…. Just to listen… Just to accept them… Just to “love my neighbor as I love myself.” Why is this so frikin hard?

How does all of this apply to abolishing human slavery? I am not quite sure… other than that as my heart is changed to the world around me… I think I will become more passionate, more caring and more effective in caring for the survivors as they are freed!

If you are still reading… well congratulations! You made it to the end of my drivel and I appreciate the fact that you care enough about me to read through this whole thing. Feel free to comment on your thoughts or points of interest… I love to hear from others and join into conversations about our humanity!

Comments...

This past Friday an article came out in the Portland news on OregonLive.com

The article was about a man who was sentenced to 7 years for pimping out a 13-year-old girl.

The U.S. Attorney was quoted as saying that, "The prostitution of a minor, by both her pimp as well as the 'johns' out there taking advantage of her, is a crime that offends all standards of civility."

The comments that followed the article were pretty passionate and all indicated that this guy should have gotten a lot more time than 7 years...

Here are a couple of quotes....

JLundegaard said, "Seven years? for Pimping a 13 year old? That's rape not 'work'. I'm feeling ill. Seven years! The judge who gave this sentence deserves seven year."

filoviridae said, "watermelons have the same density as a human head, i'm just sayin'"

viking87 said, "I met a guy today that robbed a bank and served 8 years. Not saying robbing a bank is a good thing, but I would rather have him on the streets or living next door than this sick pervert. Even if he turned over the names of her customers, 7 years is too light. I hope they are investigating the sickos that used this girl."

MrWellington said, "He's not only a judge, he's also a client!"

And so it goes.... comment after comment about how this guy needs more time and the judge should be punished as well.

The one question I did not see anyone asking was, "What has happened to this little girl?" I am constantly amazed at this... Maybe it is because working through all of the damage with a little girl is not glamorous, but we (as a society) are not looking beyond the disgusting Johns, or the organizations that find these girls, or the creeps who traffick these girls, or all the awareness dinners... We as a society are not asking the question, "What has happened to this little girl?"

We probably all know someone who was been sexually assaulted at least once. Think about the level of trauma that individual goes through and probably deals with their entire life.... Then multiply that by years and many, many rape scenarios.


What has happened to this little girl????