TEN's Bloggers - Abolition in Action
<
Destiny - Blogging and Fighting Slavery in Kolkata, IndiaUpdates from our Destiny Program in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, and our Destiny staff's experiences helping us fight slavery and human trafficking through economic empowerment.
Sarah Symons - Everyday MiraclesSarah, co-founder of TEN, blogs about her experiences creating a abolitionist organization and her work building a network of shelters and survivors working together to end slavery.
John Berger - Business With A MissionJohn, co-founder of TEN, blogs about the abolition movement, social enterprise, and life as a social entrepreneur.
Volunteers in ActionReports from volunteers helping fight slavery around the world |
There's no place like Home...
Recently Destiny reached the one year mark and another volunteer sat down with the girls and had them talk about how that time here has affected them. It was good to hear about how they feel they've changed or grown, but it was also sad to hear about the situations that led them here in the first place. One of the girls told her story and I shall recount it here for you so you can hear for yourself how things have changed for some of them.Click to Read more
The depths they plunge
Trafficking has become such a sophisticated and manipulative force that it's very hard for women and girls to even know they are in danger. By the time they do, it's almost always too late. They're in and trapped with little hope of getting out. The thing that scares me is the fact that the people at the top of these organizations are everyday people like you and me. They are businessmen that are very wealthy and have a good standing in the public. Very few people know their real side or agenda and in fact when you go out to eat, for instance, you could be having dinner with or near any one of them without even knowing. That's how widespread and deep this issue goes. That's why this issue has become such a hard one to put an end to. Listen to these examples and see what I mean.Click to Read more
Banged up in Bangladesh
Yesterday, I took a twelve hour bus ride from Kolkata, India to Dhaka, Bangladesh. I went to visit several NGOs so that we can start working with some of the organizations there. Unfortunately, I was there for only two days when I had an accident and broke my ankle in 3 places. My friend took me to the best hospital in the country, and the orthopedic surgeon informed me that I needed immediate surgery to insert metal plates and screws. A bit nerve-racking, I'll admit. But the hospital, Apollo Dhaka, is excellent and the staff did everything they could to keep me comfortable. My friend and his family visited me every day, and after I was discharged took excellent care of me at their house.Click to Read more
Allies
Yesterday I met with an extremely elegant, gracious and passionate woman named Alooka. She is the founder and director of the Womens Interlink Foundation. Alooka has been tirelessly advocating for and helping trafficking victims for over 40 years! She is a major force to be reckoned with and one I'm glad we have as an ally.Click to Read more
The Rhode Island Incident
This is a true story....
On my way back from some time well spent at Sarah and John's in Cape Cod, I had what one would call a potential disaster that thankfully didn't realize it's full potential. As I arrived at the airport I began to prepare for the security line. I took my shoes off, took the change out of my pocket, puled my belt out of it's loops and took my laptop out of my back pack. I mention my backpack last as that is where my troubles began.Click to Read more
New Year, New School, New Hope
April 16, 2009
Yesterday was the Bengali New Year, and throughout the day I received calls from friends wishing me "Shubo Nobo Bosho!" It was indeed a joyous day for ten children from Kidderpore's red light area. These children have been enrolled in a very well-known boarding school outside of Kolkata. They left today after saying goodbye to their mothers, who are so excited that their children will no longer grow up inside a brothel. I went to say goodbye and asked the kids if they were nervous about leaving. But all of them smiled and proudly said, "No, didi, we're happy because there's a good school and more kids to play with!"Click to Read more
Leaving home, Coming home
March 11, 2009
Happy Holi!!!!!!! As usual, I'm flying on Holi, one of the biggest Indian Holidays. It's the Festival of Lights, the Hindu celebration of the coming of spring and first harvest. People across India throw colors at each other, which is symbolic of one of the legends of Krishna. He's the blue god and one day, a bit jealous of his lover's fair complexion, playfully threw colors on her. But just like last year, I missed the fun because of a long flight. It seemed to take forever to get home this time, mostly because I was so anxious to see the women at Destiny.Click to Read more
Florida Fun
February 3, 2009Click to Read more
Going All In to Fight Slavery
My abolition hero this month is author Kathleen McGowan, who is going "all in" - using her gifts and influence as a bestselling fiction writer to spread the word about slavery and to promote the work of our organization. In fact, Kathleen has pledged to donate 5% of the royalties of her newest release, The Book of Love (available at Amazon.com), to help us build a jewelry casting program for survivors in India! Click to Read more
Using Slumdog Millionaire to Fight Slavery and Human Trafficking
I've got to be one of the last people to see Slumdog Millionaire, having only gone to see it this past week. Pretty much everyone I know has seen it, and as you might expect, all my friends know the work we do in human trafficking. I also read almost any blog post or news story that Google can find on trafficking or slavery, so I have a pretty good sense of what is going on. So while I knew that the movie had some trafficking it it, I was really surprised how strongly it was featured in the movie.Click to Read more