Belize: Parents and Sugar Daddies Push the Internal Trafficking of Children

I traveled to Belize last week on a fact-finding mission. I discovered a major problematic trend in the country: Parents from poor families are pushing children as young as 12 years old to “date” wealthy older men, between the ages of 40 and 70, in exchange for money and services that cover their basic needs: education, health, clothes, and so on.

The governmental Human Development agency of Belize is trying to tackle this issue, but it struggles to make headway since many adults do not see anything wrong with the practice and it’s not likely that children will come forward to report the abuse.

Other prominent concerns in Belize also emerged. The bars in the south of the country bring every weekend different sex workers from the other side of the border. Additionally, farmers from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are lured into to country to be forced to work in the agricultural fields of Belize.

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China: Forced Labor Is Not Inevitable… It’s Immoral

When Mark, Kique and I launched Not for Sale we did not want to get locked into fighting the crimes of injustice alone. We also hoped to build new spaces for justice where forced labor had no place. So late last year we teamed up with eco-agronomist Dirk Andrews to create a for-profit company with a beyond-profit motive, and christened it Earthware Enterprises. We equip and support sustainable agricultural enterprises to increase yields of organic crops, strengthen communities and create new market opportunities. It is a wonderful parallel activity to Not for Sale.

Our first product are greenhouses used to grow organic produce. We produce them in China using recyclable steel and sell them to organic growers in the United States. I went to China last week to ensure that the workers producing our greenhouses are free to work and that every attempt is being made to produce in an environmentally sustainable way.

I was pleased to see firsthand that the workers have safe conditions and are paid a livable pay – though the salaries are still low by western standards, they are paid overtime for extra hours of labor. Our Chinese partner is also moving aggressively toward steep reductions in its carbon emissions, and hopes to be carbon neutral in the next year.

As Earthware Enterprises grows, we aim to bring sustainable organic businesses into communities that presently have neither the expertise nor access to the organic retail market. Economic instability makes people vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

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Orange County: Saddleback Church Deepens Its Engagement

January 11th was National Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery Awareness Day in the United States, and I took part in an event at Saddleback Church organized as an educational and inspirational gathering to kick their abolitionist group into high gear.

The event was spearheaded by Not for Sale’s director for Southern California, Deb Griffith. Also, Christina Hebets, University of San Francisco junior and Mapping Slavery Project veteran, was on hand to speak about the process of searching for and uncovering human trafficking. I had the privilege of addressing attendees and took the opportunity to call for their collective shock, rage and disgust to be translated not into paralyzing anger but transformative action. Ending the stirring night, Wendy Barnes, a domestic trafficking survivor, who was coerced into prostitution at age 17, shared her harrowing story and shared her on-going healing.

The night proved successful, as people left I couldn’t shake the feeling that the event marked the beginning of something special at Saddleback, and we at Not for Sale are excited to be working with them as it revs up!

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Nicaragua: Education Slows the Traffick

Located in Central America, Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. Of its five million citizens, over half are under the age of 18, and its large population of children are extremely vulnerable to trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation.

During my time in the coastal city of Bluefields I was struck by the vibrancy of the people. Cristian, a local resident, shared with me his vision to teach English in Nicaragua via the Internet. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity that learning English has given him, and explained that having an education is pertinent for Nicaraguans to make change to the surrounding poverty and to build a sustainable future. In his vision to provide education, Cristian not only would be offering his students a viable economic future, but he would be fighting the devastating poverty that leaves so many young individuals vulnerable to the vicious grasp of slave traders. Cristian’s vision was a reminder to me of how multifaceted our efforts must be if we are to prevent and abolish human trafficking.