human trafficking

It’s all fun and games until you can’t pay the rent

Booming economy is often welcome, especially in developing nations. But when consumerism crashes head-on with necessary social change, things get … tricky.

It’s no secret, Indian economy is booming, especially in major hubs, like the IT hub Bangalore. 5 years ago there were maybe 1 or 2 malls in this city. Today, there are more malls than I can count.

The rapid expansion and high end development here wows me at every turn. But this development boom comes at a price tag, one that we don’t often see up front. When land starts being developed commercially, residences come up all around to house the demographic these high-end commercial outlets cater to.

On the good side, I love that I can hit a MAC store and Apple store in the same shopping center. But at a closer look, the resulting gentrification is rampant. And it’s all fun and games until you can’t pay the rent. Gentrification doesn’t affect only people, but also grassroots organizations and NPO’s with limited funding.

And here’s where it gets personal.

The RACE organization I work with (Rescue and Care for victims of sexual slavery) is purchasing land to build a permanent home for their mission. Since they started paying on the land, the value has appreciated exceedingly more than expected. This is due to the area becoming a new hotspot for developers. The landowner (not actually RACE yet) stands to make much more selling the land to a developer today. If only he could take the land back and cancel the selling agreement.

But wait! Maybe he can! 

This NPO grassroots organization with limited funds is making gradual payments. The next installment of $124,000 is due in 10 days. This time, the organization is $75,000 short. This represents a huge opportunity for Mister Owner.

You see, if this payment is missed then he has stipulated that he would increase the total price of the land in the form of a late payment penalty to an amount that the organization can’t afford. RACE would have to give up the land, and the owner knows this. The organization would not only lose the land, but all the money invested in this land project to date. A very big deal.

I can understand from the neighborhood’s viewpoint, it would be great if more shops were built, bringing jobs or new housing. But why does it seem like consumerism always wins?

It’s frustrating because, I’m a consumer. I’m as much a part of that problem as anyone else. 

But some things outweigh my need for convenient places to spend money on things I don’t actually need. One such thing is my need for women and children to NOT be a part of the marketplace of things people conveniently consume.

Human trafficking is one more form of consumerism.

Human trafficking is a booming business.

Brothers, sisters, daughters, mothers and sons are being sold.

But what can we do?? 

We’ll pray. Tomorrow the RACE org will go to the land and pray.

We’ll call on our friends, family, and associates, anyone who will support us through donations.

And I don’t know what will happen. 

Only God knows how this story ends.

I know I’m supposed to say, oh God’s will… and He will make miracles… and things like that. 

But honestly, it’s difficult to fight the feeling that consumerism will edge out the victory. 

So I’m throwing up my hands. 

Not in defeat, but rather in prayer reaching out to God.

Lord Jesus, we have 10 days.

There will be more on my work with the RACE project later. For now, if you feel like there’s value in providing a permanent holistic care center and home for women and children rescued from sexual slavery please donate.

 

 http://www.gofundme.com/rescue-and-care

http://www.rescueandcare.org

As I’m out here on my mission, it’s interesting for me to consider why I’m actively battling human trafficking, instead of tying myself to a giant redwood tree to protect it. I 100% agree that we should not chop down the giant redwoods, but I’m not strapped to one – why?

What is it that makes us feel connected enough to a cause to actively support it?

Sometimes I’m moved by another person’s passion; someone I feel strongly connected to. A cause spearheaded by a loved one would have to be extremely ridiculous for me not to support it. For example, if my brother created a petition to start a fart symphony, that would indeed fall under the category of too ridiculous to support.

Then there are some causes I feel loosely connected to that I passively support. You know Tili? He’s the massive Sea World orca AKA killer whale responsible for the death of that killed a trainer. After watching Blackfish, a documentary that tells us Tili’s story of how a cruel environment of captivity caused him to snap, I was moved. How moved? I shared the story with a couple of other cruelty-loathing friends, we discussed the horrific nature of park captivity for a few days, and that was it. Not very moved, huh?

Whereas there were some people who started petitions, made public vows to never enter Sea World again and urged others to do the same, I did none of that. Why didn’t I have that same reaction? Why haven’t I shown that same sense of urgency to permanently shut the doors to Sea World, forever setting captive Orcas free? 

Why didn’t the Blackfish story flip my “activate” switch? 

Ultimately, it seems that some causes are niche causes that appeal specifically to certain people. On the other hand, some causes have a more universal appeal. The difficulty arises understanding the spectrum between niche and universal and further understanding what moves us individually from passive appeal to full blown activation. The fact remains that, niche or universal, simply agreeing with a statement or cause is not always enough to garner our active support.

Thus, as I think about some the causes that I am moved to actively support, I’m left to wonder why I flipped active when others didn’t.

For example, I believe that grave injustice to fellow human beings should be seen as a universal battle that we should actively, collectively fight. We can always split hairs on what counts as “injustice” but frankly I’m baffled that everyone isn’t going incensed that in 2014, women, children and men are being SOLD as property into real life slavery. I’m not talking about people working 20 hours a day in a sweatshop for unlivable wages. That’s a horrible form of oppression as well. However, by slavery, I mean people working 20 hours a day, accumulating negative wages (debt), being beaten, tortured and otherwise prevented from escape. Why isn’t everyone activated and going gorilla gang wild about it? Not “bombs over brothels” wild, more like, what’s within my sphere of power; beyond saying -“gee it’s awful isn’t it?”

Why doesn’t unjust human suffering doesn’t touch push every human into full active support? I can somewhat understand why everyone isn’t throwing paint at fur coats. However, I can hardly understand why our common humanity is not enough for us to be outraged to the point of action at such brazen injustice and dehumanization of our fellow human beings.

So I ask myself, what’s missing? Is the same missing ingredient that keeps me from picketing Sea World? Are there people who are as strongly opposed to fur coats as I am to trafficking babies for sex? What are we ultimately driven by? 

Perhaps there’s no single answer, but enlightenment on the topic should prove essential to my current mission. I’m genuinely interested in learning – 

What is it that makes us feel connected enough to a cause to actively support it?