Two weeks ago I was startled awake from a nightmare in which I had been in a room where adults were buying dozens of children like they were every day commodities. Many races, nationalities and ethnicities were represented among the traffickers and those being trafficked. I remember feeling a sense of great danger in the environment and I was deeply troubled by what I saw happening to the children. Sadly, I had to acknowledge that if I were to be successful at rescuing anyone, my efforts had to be targeted on an individual, not the whole group of children. I awoke from the dream in the midst of rescuing one young boy…it all seemed so real to me and I needed to immediately process the emotional impact of the dream with my wife as it was so disturbing. Since then, the content of that dream has regularly come back to me and is serving as a motivator for my work with Hagar…helping to ensure that survivors gain access to proper trauma care.
Trafficking and modern-day slavery can at times seem so infinite…bigger than any one of us, and it is easy to feel like there is nothing we can do to stop these evils. My mantra when talking to interested individuals, corporates, and donors has become “We each have to do our part with the skills and resources we have.” Hagar is in the recovery business…and we rely upon referral NGOs and government staff to link clients with our services. Hagar is also committed to working toward system changes through government relations, policy change, capacity building, joining forces with other organizations, and through advocacy. We need your help to continue offering survivors the chance to regain the life they once dreamed of, to find hope and healing they deserve.
During this last week of the “Lighting their Way” campaign we ask that you carefully reflect on what your part of the story is…what are you able to offer? We hope you will eagerly join us as we help Sophea, Fatima, Ha and so many others like them throughout Cambodia, Afghanistan and Vietnam.
