Today's vote in the Senate - Slavery?

The U.S. Preventive Service Task Force announced Nov. 16, 2009, that it now recommends against annual mammograms for women 40 to 49 because the potential harms of routine screening in this age group outweigh the benefits. These downsides include radiation exposure, cost and the trauma of false positives. Many doctors agree with the new guidelines. But some breast cancer survivors back the screenings. ABC News asked BreastCancer.org and Breast Cancer Network of Strength for stories from women who believe that mammograms they received before age 50 saved their lives. Here are the experiences of a few of the women who shared their stories with us. Image Credit: Stephanie Scott/Jaclyn Fisher/Joann Long/Susan Lorenz

Today's vote in the Senate - Slavery?

Today, we will see a forced vote in the Senate brought about by the Democrat Political party and the leader in the Senate, Harry Reid (D-NV).

People would like real reform of our healthcare system as it has evolved over these last five decades, but what the Senate is voting on does nothing to reform or correct where our healthcare system has strayed off of the tracks. Instead, this 2,000 plus page monstrosity is designed to make average citizens economic line items of the state while creating a defined ruling class who do not have to subject themselves to the same life determining rules, assistance (or lack thereof), and costs as the rest of us.

The clear signal of what this Administration and Congressional leadership intends for the healthcare management for the rest of us came early this week when a committee working in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Obama Administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius came out with recommendations to reduce screening for breast cancer in women. The new mammography guidelines, released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Monday, suggest fewer mammograms for those 50 and older and no routine mammograms at all for those younger than 50. For those opposed to the health care bill going before the Senate today, the guidelines have become a rallying cry against comparative effectiveness -- which, simply put, means the comparison of different medical approaches to determine which one delivers the best balance of benefits with the fewest possible downsides.

To add even greater insult to injury, for the second time in a week, another group of medical experts has recommended that some women can be tested less frequently for cancer … in general. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists just recommended that young women can hold off until 21 before getting their first Pap smear and get them every two years through the rest of their 20s, instead of annually. Previously, the doctor group had said young women should get a Pap smear three years after first having sex or age 21, whichever came earlier.

I do not understand why this Government is targeting women and showing them “the door” now, just before the Government is poised to vote to take over all decision-making on healthcare issues while exempting themselves from the process … but these recommendations appear to be sexist at best.

The real problem comes when this type of discernment is applied to all of the citizens in the population while the members of Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court remain exempt from being forced into Government run healthcare system sets up a structure of slavery.

This excerpted and edited from Pajamas Media –

Congress: Gov’t healthcare for thee but not for me
By Roger L. Simon - November 20th, 2009 4:52 pm

I guess many Members of Congress secretly realize the Dean of Harvard Med was correct when he attacked the proposed healthcare legislation as a virtual anti-health boondoggle in the WSJ last week, because those members aren’t signing onto the legislation for themselves. They are only signing on for you.

Yes, the healthcare legislation still does not require Members of Congress to be part of the public plan, option, call it what you will, only poor sucker citizens. Those Congressmen are no fools. They know government-run medicine hasn’t worked in Canada and the UK. You think they want their wives lining up for a mammogram?

Here are some interesting tidbits that have been pointed out to me on my current brief visit to DC:

Ways and Means Committee – Rep. Heller (R-NV) offered an amendment to require all (”exchange eligible”) Members of Congress and their families to get insurance through the government-run plan. It failed, by a vote of 18-21, with three Democrats supporting the amendment: Berkley, Davis (AL), and Yarmuth. You can read all about it on p. 518 of this interminable document. (Who says PJM isn’t a full-service media company?) When a similar amendment was offered at the Energy and Commerce markup, it was dismissed by chairman Henry Waxman as “nongermane.” That’s my Congressman, of course. No comment necessary.

Over at the Rules Committee several amendments were filed on this subject, but ultimately not permitted under their rules. Rep. Sessions moved to make an order and provide the necessary waivers for amendment #1 offered by Reps. Fleming (R-LA), Wilson (R-SC), Gingrey (R-GA), and Herger (R-CA), which would automatically enroll all Members of Congress and all Senators in the public option. His motion was defeated on a party line vote of 4-6, with the following Members absent: Slaughter, Matsui, Pingree.
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You won’t read about this nonsense in the MSM, of course, but we’re going to try to deliver more on PJTV and the pages of Pajamas Media.
Reference Here>>

Do your best to end slavery … medical (and life sustaining) slavery now. Call or email your Senator TODAY, before it’s too late!

We need 41 NO votes on cloture!

We need to lean hard on the below Senators, they are our best chance of this getting this stopped in the Senate:

Mark Begich-AK- phone. (202) 224-3004, , toll free. (877) 501 – 6275* fax. (202) 224-2354,
Email: http://begich.senate.gov/contact/contact...

Blanche L. Lincoln –AR-Office: 202-224-4843; Fax: 202-228-1371,
Email: http://lincoln.senate.gov/contact/email....

Mark Pryor-AR Phone: (202) 224-2353, Fax: (202) 228-0908
Email: http://pryor.senate.gov/contact/

Joseph Lieberman- CT-(202) 224-4041 Voice,(202) 224-9750 Fax
Email: http://lieberman.senate.gov/contact/

Thomas Carper-DE Phone: (202) 224-2441, Fax: (202) 228-2190
Email: http://carper.senate.gov/contact/

Bill Nelson- FL- Phone: 202-224-5274, Fax: 202-228-2183
Email: http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/ind...

Even Bayh-IN (202) 224-5623, (202) 228-1377 fax
Email: http://bayh.senate.gov/contact/email/

Mary Landrieu- LA Voice: (202)224-5824,Fax:(202) 224-9735
Email: http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index...

Susan Collins –( R ) ME-Phone: (202) 224-2523, Fax: (202) 224-2693
Email(http://collins.senate.gov/public/continu......

Olympia Snowe-( R ) ME – Phone: (202) 224-5344,Toll Free: (800) 432-1599 Fax: (202) 224-1946
Email: http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm.....

John Tester-MT Phone: (202) 224-2644, Fax: (202) 224-8594
Email: http://tester.senate.gov/Contact/index.c...

Kent Conrad-ND-Phone: (202) 224-2043, Fax: (202) 224-7776
Email: http://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform...

Ben Nelson-NE- Tel: 1-202-224-6551, Fax: 1-202-228-0012
Email: http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact-me.c...

Ron Wyden-OR Phone: (202) 224-5244, Fax: (202) 228-2717
Email: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Robert Byrd-WV- Telephone: (202) 224-3954,Fax: (202) 228-0002
Email: http://byrd.senate.gov/contacts/

Mark Warner- VA- Phone: 202-224-2023, Fax: 202-224-6295
Email: http://warner.senate.gov/public/index.cf...

Bob Bennett- UT-Phone: (202) 224-5444 (no fax)
Email: http://bennett.senate.gov/...ex.cfm?p=ContactForm

Byron Dorgan- ND Phone (202) 224-2551 , Fax (202) 224-1193
Email: http://dorgan.senate.gov/...tact/contact_form.cfm

Max Baucus-MT (202) 224-2651 (Office),(202) 224-9412 (Fax)
Email: http://baucus.senate.gov/...ilForm.cfm?subj=issue

Today is the day we end the slavery movement … again. This time without guns.

The Psycho-Slavery Tactics Of The TUCC

The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Interfaith Service Celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., February 9, 2007 – Image Credit: Amherst College

The Psycho-Slavery Tactics Of The TUCC

The problem with Reverend Wright isn't an "Attitude" he projects when he preaches in front of the gathered parishioners as some would like to think ... it is a BELIEF, a belief that he preaches to enslave people with, in an effort to make himself more important than the teachings of GOD.

Once one buys into this form of Psycho-Slavery, it becomes impossible to think outside of its construct - Hate breeds Hate and the Reverend Wright is the pied piper!

The sad part in all of this is that the messages of Reverend Wright are designed to take people who are already indoctrinated into a culture of fear and hate and strengthens their conceptual bonds. GOD teaches us that there is a way out of oppression, fear and hate and the right Reverend Wright has seen fit to distort GOD’s teachings and turn them around for harm in our society.

We ARE judged by the company we keep. Reverend Wright's Psycho-Slavery of fear and hate (and others who believe and preach the messages he teaches) has got to stop if our country is ever going to get beyond the identity based divisions the Democrat Party is famous for through its embrace and representations.

The media exposure of what actually goes on during the sermons at the TUCC does not bode well, or speak well, of Barack Obama’s judgment given the twenty year association and support Barack has already shown to his (his word) MENTOR!

This episode will leave a mark on Barack Obama. We, at MAXINE, predict that if he becomes the Democrat Party candidate for President ... he will loose against John McCain due to his (and Michelle's) twenty year association with the Reverend Wright, his teachings, and the TUCC.

Additional Obama Background Links:

Michelle - http://tinyurl.com/37wyjo

Barack & TUCC - http://tinyurl.com/33f545

Barack Demographics - http://tinyurl.com/3aahxf

Palm Sunday UPDATE:

The new pastor (and the current power structure at the TUCC) took a moment during the service on this Palm Sunday to launch a defense of Reverend Wright. A defense of a preaching style and message that ensures this congregation will not look to self-reflection.

This excerpted from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Church: Wright's character 'being assassinated'
BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter - March 16, 2008

During a Sunday evening service, Pastor Otis Moss III spoke of "external forces" that want to "box us in and vilify us."

In a Palm Sunday sermon laden with symbolism, Moss seemed to liken a biblical donkey or colt to the oppressed. To undermine it, "You have to assassinate the colt's character," Moss said to shouts of "Preach."

"....The domesticated donkey says, 'You need to stop talking that social justice stuff" and speak only of Jesus, Moss said.

In the church's prepared statement, Moss criticized basing Wright's legacy on a few comments. After 36 years of preaching, "It is an indictment on Dr. Wright's ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,'' Moss said.

"It saddens me to see news stories reporting such a caricature of a congregation that has been such a blessing,'' said church president Rev. John J. Thomas in the statement. "It's time for us to say 'No' to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends."
Reference Here>>

The only thing narrow about the "attacks" are not the political or ideological ends but the recognition of the insult to truth and fact when Rev. Wright used "Moral Equivalence" and our ending WWII with terrorist acts of planes being flown into buildings.

"The TUCC Plantation" speaks!

UPDATE March 18, 2008 - Barack Obama Speaks And Creates More Questions

This excerpted from The O'Reilly Factor's Talking Poinrs Memo:

Barack Obama replies to the pastor controversy. That is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."

Ever since he began his dramatic rise last fall, I have admired Senator Obama's campaign style. He has energized politics, and that is good for America. But I do not believe the senator understands how serious this pastor situation is, how angry many Americans are.

As you may know, Obama's friend and spiritual counselor Jeremiah Wright has been exposed as an anti-American hater. He believes the USA is no better than Al Qaeda. He says America brought 9/11 on itself.
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How can you have a class association with an American-hater for 20 years? Surely Senator Obama knew how Wright felt, even though he might not have heard the exact words. Also, what kind of judgment allows a sitting senator to attend a church that radical?

The latest Rasmussen poll shows Obama losing support across the country. His favorability rating is down 5 points in three days. And the Wright controversy is driving that. The folks don't want leadership that is associated with that kind of hatred.

At this point, the story tells us more about the media than Senator Obama. You'll remember the very liberal New York Times attacked John McCain for associating with a lobbyist nobody ever heard of. The Times put the story on page one and the liberal media ran with it. The McCain story was about association and judgment, was it not? And what's the Obama story about? Association and judgment. But The New York Times buried the pastor's story. The paper must think its readers are stupid.

Likewise, the nightly network programs have downplayed the situation. On Friday, ABC ignored it. NBC News gave it 20 seconds.

Hear me: If we didn't break the story wide last Thursday night, it would have likely died, which is exactly what the leftist media wants.

Finally, Barack Obama says he deplores the racial aspect of the story, but who is really pushing race, senator? I believe that would be your former pastor and far-left zealots like Media Matters and Jesse Jackson. They are the chief race-baiters in America.

So the Wright story is here to stay. Voters aren't going to forget it. Senator Obama should realize that and confront the issues involved on programs like this one, where millions would see him and he would get a fair hearing. Because if he does not fully explain his association with Pastor Wright, he will not be elected president. Period.

And that's "The Memo."
Reference Here>>

UPDATE 3-23-2008 -

AM610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his March 18, 2008, Tuesday morning speech on race at the National Constitution Center in which he referenced his own white grandmother and her prejudice.

Obama told Cataldi that "The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

We, at MAXINE, must ask - Is there such a thing as a "Typical White Person"?

Freedom Day Spirit Is An Everyday Event

ART FOR FREEDOM: Artists from around southern California collaborated on a mural during The Freedom Day, One Voice, One Act to End Slavery gathering at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa Sunday. The 8 ft. by 32 ft. mural will be auctioned off with proceeds going towards battling slavery issues. Image Credit: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER

Freedom Day Spirit Is An Everyday Event

Last Sunday (March 25th) was the first of a worldwide recognition event, Freedom Day, to bring attention to the persistent and vexing problem of Humans capturing and selling Humans into efforts that include labor, sex, and even war.

200 years ago on March 25th, the politicians’ of Great Britain, led through the Christian principle based efforts of William Wilberforce, voted to abolish its effort to support and participation in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The major efforts that led to this historic moment in time were dramatically portrayed in the recent film release – Amazing Grace.

The modern day efforts of slavery - Human Trafficking – need to stop and the only way to start the effort to reduce and bring an end to this business enterprise (one that generates more dollars and cents than Microsoft Corporation) is through awareness. One day a year is a start, but the spirit of Freedom Day needs to become an everyday event for this practice to end.

In Southern California, Freedom Day was a success.

HELPING HANDS: Mike Hartnov crochets a garment as his group Krochet Kids International demonstrated their project at the Sunday gathering. The nonprofit was founded by a group of young men who crochet and will be going to Uganda in May to teach women to crochet caps and other items which will be imported here for sale. Image Credit: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER

This from the Orange County Register -

Program seeks help in fighting human trafficking
Freedom Day gathered supporters for modern-day abolitionist movement.
By SUSHMA SUBRAMANIAN - The Orange County Register - Sunday, March 25, 2007

COSTA MESA - One of the highest-profile human trafficking cases in Orange County would have never been discovered if it weren't for a neighbor.

A woman in Irvine called authorities when she noticed that a young girl who lived next door never went to school.

The neighbors, former Irvine couple Abdelnasser Eid Youssef Ibrahim and Amal Ahmed Ewis-abd Motelib, admitted in June to forcing a 10-year-old Egyptian girl to work as their domestic servant.

Westminster police Lt. Derek Marsh, a co-director on the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, told that story to about 40 people during a workshop at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa Sunday, part of Freedom Day, organized by nonprofits to educate residents about human trafficking.

"I don't see human trafficking driving down the street in a patrol car," Marsh said. "It's not one of those things that are public to check on."

He encouraged audience members to help fight human trafficking by looking for clues in their neighborhoods – people who seem like fish out of water for reasons that might include living with many other people who don't seem to be related or because they get bused to work.

More than 1,000 people attended Sunday's event, which included workshops on different aspects of human trafficking, films, lectures, art booths and music supporting modern-day abolitionist movements.

"When drugs are trafficked, they can be sold just once," presenter Tobi Aclaro said.

"A person can be sold over and over again."

WELCOMING FREEDOM DAY: To kick off the Freedom Day event, organizers asked the more than 1000 people in attendance to put a hand on one another's shoulder and look at them for 30 seconds in silence. The gesture, meant to welcome the dignity and humanity of others, was the starting point for activities to promote awareness of modern day slavery. Image Credit: JEBB HARRIS, THE REGISTER

At the event's opening, people were asked to touch someone standing next to them on the shoulder and to look that person in the face for 30 seconds, an exercise encouraging people to see humanity in others.

"Imagine the change we would welcome if we began to see the worth and dignity of every human being," said Ruthi Hoffman-Hanchett, one of the event organizers.

Nonprofit groups sold bags, hats and jewelry that would benefit human trafficking victims.

Workshop topics included human trafficking related to global poverty, migrant laborers and child pornography.

According to the U.S. Department of State, approximately 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders worldwide each year. About 14,500 to 17,500 of those victims are brought each year into the United States for forced labor or commercial sex.

"Before today, I didn't even know that this existed," said Tim Zarza, 27, who lives in San Diego. "It's become an industry and it's some people's way of living. And it's terrible."

A Burmese woman who was sold into prostitution in Thailand by her mother when she was 12 told her story. She escaped with the help of missionaries and now is married with two children.

"I have encountered so many problems in my life," said Moon, who gave only her first name. "I'm so thankful for what God has done for me."
Reference Here>>

The "Jumbo Jet" Currency Of Human Trafficking

Freedom Day Announcement Banner - The date is significant in the UK as it marks the bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, but we are encouraging everyone around the world to use this day as a focus for awareness on people trafficking, whether or not the date has any historic significance for you. Caption & Image Credit: STOP THE TRAFFIK

The "Jumbo Jet" Currency Of Human Trafficking
(an awareness of FREEDOM DAY, a day to begin the end of Human Trafficking - slavery)

Slavery costs five (5) Jumbo Jets full of people their freedom each day seven days a week and, really, no one is aware (based on a Boeing 747 capacity of about 400 seats). If a Jumbo Jet crashes and it wipes out all who are on board, everyone in the world knows it happened - investigations take place and answers are sought.

Slavery has NOT been abolished in this world. Slavery is a major business enterprise worldwide. Slavery is even a bigger business in overall dollars & cents than that of the software giant, Microsoft.

Frankly, this problem of Slavery/Human Trafficking is a larger problem than the war on terror. The United Nations, and major leadership countries of the civilized world seem powerless to do anything to stop it. Their (our) eyes are NOT on the ball.

We at MAXINE were made aware of the issue of Human Trafficking this last Sunday through a Christian based presentation delivered by Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust and a UK Baptist minister.

The recent release of the movie "Amazing Grace" highlighted the decades long struggle to win the hearts and minds of the people who benefited from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade out of Africa that ended just 200 years ago ... but the job is not done ... not by any stretch of the imagination.

Excerpts from the Stop The Traffik website -

The scale of human trafficking
By STOP THE TRAFFIK.ORG

Men, women and children are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders. Trafficking affects every continent and most countries.

Due to the hidden and illegal nature of human trafficking, gathering statistics on the scale of the problem is a complex and difficult task. There are no reliable national or international estimates as to the extent of trafficking. Figures are usually counted in the countries that people are trafficked into and often fail to include those who are trafficked within their own national borders.

The following statistics may represent an underestimation of trafficking, but are the most credible and frequently quoted.

At least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide. Of these 2.4 million are as a result of human trafficking. A global alliance against forced labor, International Labour Organisation, 2005

600,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year. Approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors. US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2005

An estimated 1.2 million children trafficked each year. UNICEF UK Child Trafficking Information sheet, January 2003

The majority of trafficked victims arguably come from the poorest countries and poorest strata of the national population. A global alliance against forced labor, International Labour Organisation, 2005

Trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are caught in the trap of slavery. Anti-Slavery

Human trafficking is the third largest source of income for organised crime, exceeded only by arms and drugs trafficking. UN office on drugs and crime

It is the fastest growing form of international crime, already generating 7 billion dollars per year in criminal proceeds. There are even reports that some trafficking groups are switching their cargo from drugs to human beings, in a search of high profits at lower risk. UN office on drugs and crime

People are trafficked into prostitution, begging, forced labour, military service, domestic service, forced illegal adoption, forced marriage etc.

Types of recruitment; include abduction, false agreement with parents, sold by parents, runaways, travel with family, orphans sold from street or institutions.
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What is trafficking?

A definition:

“Trafficking in human beings” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
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On 25th March 2007 the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade will be remembered in many countries around the world. STOP THE TRAFFIK will use this anniversary as a catalyst for a initiative whose goal is to cry for freedom for every human caught in trafficking around the world, with a particular focus on children and young people. The conviction that freedom is a human right drove both black and white abolitionists in the 18th and 19th centuries. That same conviction drives the STOP THE TRAFFIK coalition in the 21st century.

200 years ago, William Wilberforce realised the shocking news - Britain’s slave trade was a growth industry, and the backbone of Britain’s economy at that time. A man whose convictions compelled him to act. That same spirit that whispered in his ear to end the slave trade whispers in our ears today. On March 25th 2007 there will a worldwide shout for change – we will raise our voices so that everyone may hear - we will shout with joy to celebrate the traffic that has already been stopped, and shout the call for the release of every trafficked. We will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

William Wilberforce was one man who mobilised a swell of voices to speak out against injustice and make a difference that impacted the world. You can be a voice that influences others and get the group or organisation that you belong to to become a member of STOP THE TRAFFIK.

The abolition of the Slave Trade Act (1807) was achieved by a mass movement made up of those who were enslaved, anti-slavery campaigners and ordinary members of the public, black, white, male and female. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/, http://www.wikipedia.org/, http://www.setallfree.net/ are excellent websites detailing biographies of a broad range of abolitionists.
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CASE STUDIES

Premila from India
It was Premila’s 18th birthday in her small village in rural Bihar. Her parents, desperate to escape their impoverished plight, signed their daughter over to a nightmare. For the paltry sum of 800 rupees (US $18), she was sold to a man living in faraway Punjab state. He claimed there were no “good women” in his village and therefore he was forced to buy a wife. “Wife” is a term used very loosely. There was no marriage ceremony. She was raped by her “husband” and his male relatives for a few years.

Eventually, a new investment opportunity presented itself and Premila was sold to a well-known prostitution ring in the nation’s capital, New Delhi. The sex trafficking trade runs rampant in Delhi and Premila brought a relatively good price: 5,000 rupees (US $109). She joined thousands of other women who exist in impoverished, disease-ridden, dangerous conditions.

Premila was sold yet again to the streets of Mumbai for 35,000 rupees (US $762). It was here in Mumbai that she was finally rescued. Returned to her hometown of Khathiar, Bihar, she was a broken woman. She will never re-marry. She will likely die young.
Source: Dalit Freedom Network

Sokha, Cambodia
Tourist guides call Poipet the ‘Wild West’ of South-East Asia, on account of its roaring sex trade and gambling scene. People also come here to buy or abduct children. Girls as young as five are trafficked over the border into Thailand.

Sokha* and Makara* were sold to a trafficker who promised good jobs for the girls in Thailand. Sokha explains that her mother was ill with a liver complaint. The family needed money to pay for drugs to treat her, and they also hoped to buy some land to build a home. But, reality turned out to be very different.

There were no ‘good jobs’ for the girls, Sokha’s mother died within a year, and the family couldn’t afford to buy land. Sokha, now 17, says, ‘I felt cheated. The traffickers used us for slave jobs, and whilst they earned lots of money we only got enough to feed ourselves each day.’

She explains how she and Makara, 16, were given jobs selling fruit, but it did not pay enough. Soon their bosses forced them into sleeping with men to pay their way. When they were sold they were 14 and 15 years old.

A Tearfund partner provides young girls with sewing skills, counselling and the loving support of a local church. The girls’ parents met staff from Tearfund partner, Cambodian Hope Organisation (CHO), and gave them photos to pass on to an organisation in Thailand that rescues girls from prostitution.

They found – and duly rescued – Sokha and Makara. By then, the girls’ ordeal had been going on for nearly a year. Sokha says, ‘It’s good to be home. We are grateful to CHO who have brought us back to our home, provided us with counselling, taught us the skill of sewing, and brought us into the church.’ When asked what they hope for in the future, Sokha says she hopes to set up her own sewing business and employ and help girls in her situation. ‘We were scared all the time in Thailand,’ she says. ‘Now I’m happy, getting support, living with my family and free to work when I want.’
SOURCE: Tearfund

Mary, Mexico
Mary a 19-year old female came into the United States from Mexico. She was referred to the Salvation Army by a domestic violence shelter where she presently resides with her 11-month-old son.

Mary was persuaded to come to the US with the promise that she would have a better life and be provided a job. Mary was verbally abused and raped several times by her perpetrator - which was the source of her son's conception.

Mary reported that she previously had a miscarriage due to the abuse and at times was not allowed to seek medical attention. She was escorted to her job in a factory where she packaged vegetables, but was never paid for her employment. She reports that she was given a white powder (which was suspected to be cocaine), and only later she determined to be drugs. Mary was not allowed to leave the apartment in which she was staying unless she was going to work. The perpetrator threatened her saying that if she attempted to escape she would be deported or hurt by the immigration department.

Mary is currently being provided shelter, therapeutic counselling, clothing, food and legal advocacy services. Although the authorities have determined Mary to be a victim of human trafficking, the US Attorney's Office has decided not to prosecute the case. She was therefore denied the expedient route to obtaining legal status and is now applying for a visa, which would allow her to stay in the country for up to 3 years after which she could apply for permanent residency.
SOURCE: Salvation Army

Prjua and Ajay, India
Prjua, aged 9 and her brother Ajay, a boy aged 7, lived on Thane train station in Mumbai, India with their parents who were both alcoholics. Prjua and Ajay were regular attendees of the Asha Deep Day Centre, run by Oasis India, where they learnt to read and write and were given the opportunity to play. After attending daily for 3-months they disappeared. The project staff went to look for them. Prjua and Ajay’s father told how a man had come and offered money for them and that he had sold them for the equivalent of $30. That was the last the father and the staff of Asha Deep Day Centre heard of them. In that area of Mumbai every 2-3 months children disappeared, kidnapped or sold into prostitution, forced labour, adoption or child sacrifice.
SOURCE: Oasis India
Read All>>

This last case study is really eye opening. It appears as just a small mention at the end of the study but child sacrifice is STILL a very important ritual performed by some tribes in India.

We in the western world do not want to believe that this sacrifice ritual happens in this world anymore, but as Steve Chalke elaborated during his presentation on Sunday, buildings will not get built in the major cities in India without the labor of members in tribes that continue to believe that a human has to be sacrificed in order to appease their GODS for placing the buildings (modern technology) on the land. A blind eye is turned so that modern development can progress. Unwittingly, outsource projects from the West end up killing children in India.

This is beyond shocking to the average Western mind. An "Apocalypto" world still exists and human child sacrifice is still practiced and facilitated through human trafficking in the world's largest (most populous) democracy - India.

This one story almost pales in comparison to what is happening within the enterprise of producing chocolate.

Most of the cocoa fields that produce nearly half the world's chocolate are located in the Cote D'Ivoire, Africa. 12,000 children have been trafficked (slavery) into cocoa farms in Cote D'Ivoire.

When we buy chocolate ... we are being forced to be oppressors ourselves as we have no guarantee that the chocolate we eat is 'traffik free'!

Our only option is the responsibility of consumer choice - just as with the Tuna industry's response to dolphins being caught and slaughtered on a wholesale level ... "Dolphin Free" labeling - request that major chocolate producers label their products when the products are produced with cocoa sourced from "Traffik Free" fields!

At MAXINE, we say get educated and involved. This activity against Human Trafficking will do more for humanity and the world than most any other effort. Find or sponsor a Freedom Day in your area. Use this organizer's pack as a guide.