Help Trafficking Victims Heal

These are strong words. But the message is clear: selling humans – particularly young girls – for any reason is wrong and must be eradicated!

Trafficking takes many forms including sex crimes, confinement, enslavement, and sometimes torture. Each act violates the God-given dignity of our brothers and sisters and constitutes a crime against humanity.

Human trafficking is a problem around the world. An estimated 45 million people are enslaved – including people in the United States, Europe, and Asia. As Pope Francis points out, “The victims come from all walks of life, but most times they are our poorest and most vulnerable brothers and sisters. Today we have the opportunity, awareness, wisdom, innovation, and technology to eradicate this human plague.”

In Kenya our missionaries are working closely with HAART – Awareness Against Human Trafficking. In partnership with that organization we are setting up a Human Trafficking Rescue Center and seeking $52,330 to establish and staff the facility. This project will operate as a temporary rescue center for victims of trafficking and be a short term placement primarily for girls between the ages of 8 and 18.

Life is horrible for the victims of trafficking. When they are rescued, most often they only have the clothes on their backs, little to eat for days, and scared to death. That’s why we need this Center immediately. It will give them a place to go – a place to feel safe and begin healing their wounds of trafficking. You’ve helped us with projects like this in the past. We are relying on your generosity today to help with this urgent need.
One young lady whose parents died when she was a toddler was left to fend for herself. For a short while Ayubu lived with her grandmother who was too old to take care of her. One day she escaped and was raised by a guardian in Nairobi. Then an aunt arrived and took Ayubu home to ‘meet the rest of the family.’ Unfortunately that meant confinement and forced labor. “I finally ran away and was rescued by a chief from Siaya. I was placed in a shelter and sent back to school. I believe this is now my opportunity to show those who invested their time and effort in rescuing me that they did not waste their time and resources.”

Bishop John Oballa Owaa of the Ngong Diocese sees this project as extremely important to “empower and heal those who have suffered human trafficking.” And our Provincial, Father Charles Obanya wrote: “We are confident that the expertise and capacity of HAART will enable us to provide both protection and holistic care for the victims of trafficking in our care. We need to recruit additional staff and have them trained quickly. This is a real need in Kenya.”

I ask you to please pray for the staff at HAART. Their mission is dangerous and at times frustrating. But because of their dedication and expertise, they are making a difference! That’s why your financial help to assist us in raising the $52,330 needed for this project is so important.

I am also asking you to so something very special this month. Please, look around and see how your actions may restrain people from using their full potential. Ask our Risen Savior to help put aside those feelings of control and replace them with acts of love.

Thank you deeply for your continued faithful support. We rely on your generosity!

 

Your Missionary Friend,

Denis P. Pringle
Director of Development