Awakening

I first heard about Human Trafficking about 4 years ago at my church.  They showed a short clip of young girls being rescued in India.  These girls could not have been more than 7 or 8 years old.  It broke my heart.  The living conditions they were pulling these girls from was horrific.  These girls should have been playing with dolls, but instead they were being held like slaves in dark, dingy, dirty places and being forced to do unthinkable things.  It stirred something in me, but I thought I am in another country what can I do?  I have small kids and I can't pick up and travel to a 3rd world country.  So, I am sad to say I did nothing. 

Then about 2 years ago, our church was highlighting various people who have made an impact in different parts of the world.  One of the organizations was Dress a Girl Around The World.  This organization sews dresses out of pillowcases and sends them to girls in Uganda and many other countries to combat Human Trafficking.  They said that a girl was less likely to be raped if she was wearing a dress.  I was stirred once again.  This was something I could DO! If what I heard was true, then this was a tangible way I could get involved.  I contacted the organization and this is the response I received from them:

Here is what we have been told by village pastors in Uganda:

1)That the fact a girl is wearing a new dress shows she is being cared for and can discourage would-be predators. This made sense to us because we are always taught to act confident in public and not "look like a victim" as this is thought to deter would-be predators here.

2) We put our "hope 4 Women" label on each dress--on the outside--either on the pocket or on the outside hem of the dress. This is, we've been told, to let would be predators know that this girl is not only being cared for because she's wearing a nice dress--AND also sends the signal that she is also being looked after by an organization.

We have no stats to back this up--but it makes sense and we believe if it saves ONE girl from becoming a victim--it is worth the extra expense and time of putting on our label.

Since then I have slowly been collecting pillowcases and materials along with names of people who are willing to help me host an event for Dress a Girl.  The funny thing about this is that I don't sew!  Yes, you got that right.  I don't sew and yet I want to hold an event to sew dresses out of pillowcases.  God is really stretching me out of my comfort zone.  Over the summer, I had a dear friend and neighbor help me and together we made one of the dresses.  It was actually pretty simple.  I am hoping to hold the first event sometime in January.  If you feel moved by this issue and would like to help in any way please let me know. You can learn more about the organization at their website...

Dress a Girl Around the World

 I have been doing a lot of research on the area of Human Trafficking.  It is my hope and prayer that I can raise awareness around this issue.  I am working with my local church to hold quarterly forums where we bring in a speaker to talk about this issue.  I would like to alternate these talks between what is happening globally and what is happening right here in our own back yards.  I would like to do the same thing with this blog.  I'll be sharing current news, local happenings, book reviews, movie suggestions and all things related to ending this horrific practice.  If I can raise awareness and move just one person to action it will be worth it.