I visited Haiti and the Dominican Republic for one week. Two beautiful countries that have minority groups that are still searching for Freedom.
In my visit to Dejabon, a city in the Dominican Republic that borders Haiti, I immediately faced the realities of forced labor within these two countries.
One woman pointed out three teenagers, and said that she’d rescued them from Haiti. She claimed that without her help their lives “would be nothing.” But the reality is that she herself is now holding these young women in bondage, because without their labor she cannot afford to send her son to school. The young women work all day selling products for the older women in the streets, and in the afternoon they work in her home. They have never been to school or been paid, and their owner still believes that she is doing them a favor.
In Haiti, exchanging children as Restavek, or slaves, is not uncommon. The people that buy them will even use religious language to justify their actions. This messianic perception of the slaveholders is a big challenge for the modern day abolitionist in Haiti and the DR.
I’m excited to report that I’ve been invited to participate in a roundtable at the White House next week. Sponsored by the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives and the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons the discussion will focus on future strategies and promising practices for combating modern-day slavery.
As we view it, Not For Sale is a reflection of our entire backyard abolitionist community: in collaboration, through 
I spent the past couple of days in Minneapolis where I had the privilege of being present for a premiere showing of the film Call and Response. Our NFS state team packed out the theater, then led a lantern processional through Uptown, a trendy district of Minneapolis. Nearly 300 folks showed up for the film and the processional, including the executive directors of the three shelters for trafficking survivors that offer services in the Twin Cities.
The next day I spoke to the entire assembly of students at Minnehaha High School. A number of the students had attended the movie the night before and were charged up! Minnehaha demonstrates what one high school can do once the students and teachers decide that they cannot stand by and allow any child to suffer in slavery. Every sports team at Minnehaha will sponsor a Free2Play game this year. The varsity football team is foregoing the usual catering at their season-end event and donating the savings to a NFS project. School dances tack on an extra dollar to the ticket price that will go toward NFS projects to free children. Teachers are integrating NFS materials into geography, social studies, and creative writing curriculum. The school will be having a “how do you wear orange day?” to raise awareness in the community. Students are volunteering at the survivor shelters in the Twin Cities. Nearly a dozen students and a couple teachers will have an immersion experience with our Peru project at the end of the school year.
Below is the official list of State Directors for Not For Sale. We encourage you to contact your Regional Director if you’re looking to get involved in the fight against human trafficking on a local or regional level. Pictures, bios, and full contact details for each of these Abolitionists are soon to come on the NFS State Directors webpage!
