We love the story of a heroic abolitionist who rescues children from bondage. That’s the easiest part of an anti-slavery movement to “package,” frankly. But what comes after the rescue?
Kru Nam, our Thai abolitionist partner, represents the challenge in sharp relief. She has rescued over 125 children from one form or another of captivity. We helped her build a village for shelter. When I was with her this last week, however, she had the look of exhaustion and worry written all over her face. “We have no money for food,” she admitted sadly. “We did all we could to help these kids out of crisis situations, but now we have to create a future for them.”
Once or twice a week she takes the kids to the local temple because the monks will give out free food to the destitute. Our Not For Sale filmmaker, Robert Marcarelli, listens to her tell me the story. He puts down his camera and takes the Thai equivalent of $50 out of his pocket and hands it to her, his eyes misty with compassion. Kru Nam, with embarrassment, tells him his gift is not necessary. He insists, and she puts the money into her pocket. Three minutes later one of her assistants runs up and tells her that a delivery of rice bags just arrived, and payment is being demanded. She pulls the newly received donation out of her pocket, and the assistant is puzzled: where did the money come from…we didn’t have the funds this morning!? She points to Rob, who is now enraptured that he could help.
I committed Not For Sale to cover the village’s next two months of basic expenses, food and medicine above all. We are sending a public health and medical team in July to map out a health scheme. A French foundation may start picking up the tab in late July.
Our anti-slavery work has to be holistic – prevention and education for the vulnerable, intervention for the captive, and restoration and hope for the freed. A generation of justice agents…we have our work cut out for us.
I guess it was about halfway up the mountain atop my elephant that I realized that I was no longer in Kansas. I am traveling with a group of my University of San Francisco students this week, and our goal today was to reach a tribal Acha village high in the Thai mountains. The roads are impassable, and in the extreme heat I feared we might lose half of the students (and more likely the professor!) to heat stroke. So we rode elephants. Remarkable how these enormous beasts are so adept at keeping their balance and placing their feet in the right place.
