Slavery in 2010

http://blog.sojo.net/2010/11/26/underwear-for-a-cause/

“the systems of our world ought to reflect the ideals of our faith; that being, to love and respect the people who grow our food, make our clothes, and work in so many different ways to provide us the things and services we use every day.”


The above blog explains very well a wonderful rising trend. This fair trade trend embodies support of a cause much bigger than high fructose corn syrup; this is people's lives. As we have checked ingredients at the store trying to make healthier decisions for what we put into our body, we have also tried to buy fair trade. Did you know there are actually more slaves in the world today than there were in Abraham Lincoln's time? All kinds of slaves: mostly women and children but also men enslaved by sweat shops, prostitution, brothels, blackmail, other humans who have purchased them- yes, purchased. This is solidly heart breaking. Did you know that sex slaves will be brought in for the super bowl? IN DALLAS? Yes, there is slavery in Texas. It's worldwide. It's nauseating. 


Here is another website about the awful facts of slavery today. I highly encourage you to read and pray. I have copied and pasted a few quotes from this site below the link.

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

The slaveholder acts swiftly to take complete control of the child’s life. Passports, birth certificates, national identity cards, and any other documents of citizenship are stripped from the child’s possession. The child is kept closely guarded and locked in a room when not accompanied. Even if escape were possible, the child has no money, probably does not speak the local language, and does not know to whom he or she could turn for help. Given their past experience, slave children would not instinctively trust public officials or the police.

The slaveholder also generally manipulates a relationship of financial dependence with the child. Basic life necessities like food, clothing, and shelter are charged to the child’s “account.” Until that money is repaid, the child is obligated to continue in the slaveholder’s service.

Slaveholders will buttress these social controls with the constant threat of violence. Almost all trafficked children will testify that they were victims of an extreme act of violence within the first forty-eight hours of their abduction. Whether through rape or brutal beatings, slaveholders use violence to imprint their dominance. In the logic of the trafficking world, a terrified child is a compliant child. The slaveholder therefore will never let the child slip out of a state of terror…  If a client ever complains that the sex slave was less than accommodating, swift and brutal punishment will be meted out.

What if this were you? Forget that, what if this were your daughter?
We must do something.

PRAY.

Perhaps through prayer, the Lord will enable you and I with ideas, information, abilities, to advocate for the broken spirits of these forgotten children of God. These children and people have souls like every other human being. They are not less because of their origin, language, age, color, faith background, or because they are strangers. Please, fight for them. Pray for them. Pay the extra money for fair trade goods and ensure that the hands that created this product received what is fair so they can support their family. Raise and donate money to a cause already seeking to free those in bondage and expose the hidden world of slavery. Share your ideas with others; shed light in the darkness.

Check out this website http://www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/
Google: fair trade, human trafficking
Look for these symbols:

Fair trade UK

Fair trade US

Fair trade certified

Fair trade federation