Human Trafficking Awareness

I remember clearly learning about human trafficking about five years ago.  I was driving through a rough part of Ft. Worth and witnessed a wild funeral procession.  Cars were turning corners on two wheels with girls sitting out of the windows.  Loud music was basing enough to rattle my windows. 

When I recounted the event to some friends, their comment was, “Yeah, there is a lot of traffic in that area.”  I thought they were talking about funeral traffic or daily traffic.  Sadly, they were actually talking about human trafficking.  I knew a young lady who was working with Redeemed Ministries, but I didn’t really understand everything. 

My friends told me read two books: Sold and Not for Sale.  After reading these books, I went to my principal and asked to buy a class set of Sold as an option for my PreAP English class.  It was not a required reading, but every single kid read it that year.  We had lots of conversations about the story and how trafficking looks in different countries.  We paid attention to the news and stories of a local restaurant not paying workers.  That year, we became aware.  We learned more than we wanted to know.  And we can’t be unaware now. 

Today I’m in a different kind of classroom at a discipline campus.  My students are learning history and literature that I get to flavor with my knowledge of what I’ve learned.  That’s what teachers do: bring personal experience to the classroom.  I get to talk to the students about the amendments and the Civil War.  We talk about what slavery used to be and what it is now. 

More people know about it today, but not everyone does.  I find it easy to talk about the subject because I am a teacher.  But what if you aren’t a teacher?  How do you bring it up in conversation?

Watch the news.  Talk about Redeemed.  Find fair trade products like Sparrow House Botanicals and others to promote.  Read a book.  Follow social media movements.  Do any one of these things and it will help one more person become aware.  It will help to save one more person.  One more person counts for everything.