just think about it

children.

that's the part that gives me pause, every time i consider statistics about this issue. every time i read something new about human trafficking, or watch a new video, or do extra searching around, ferreting out information from the holes it likes to hide in on the internet.

50% of people trafficked yearly are children, some as young as five years old.

and it makes me think. it makes me think about the kids i see every day, the ones i teach, the ones i've met travelling overseas.

and i wonder...

what do these statistics mean? what is the chance that some of these kids are going to show up at the end of their hope, and are going to end up doing something that will change their lives forever? what are their chances of growing up without being touched by these things? and if it doesn't hurt them, if they go through life capable of avoiding these things, if they grow up normally, what about the others, those ones who don't make it?

how many young women, today, are going to find themselves reduced to a hundred-dollar transaction, a piece of flesh to be carted into the united states or to another part of southeast asia, or into a hundred other places where they can be lost, lost to hope and justice and love.

sometimes, here in america, we think we're safe, that we won't be touched by these things--but we will, and we are. it happens even here, though perhaps not in the same clear-cut way that it might happen in africa or southeast asia. after all, we're civilized.



the world has a responsibility; all of it. i have a responsibility--to do what i can, whatever that may be (at the moment, that includes simply blogging about this issue ~o~). organizations like the exodus road can only do so much without people backing them, governmental offices such as unicef can only reach where the law extends, and even then they need people...people who will know and tell what they know. because in the end, as alex said:

- Kyla Denae

i got a thing today

it's beautiful.

best thing is, by buying this watch, i'm helping this great organization do what it does: free the victims of human trafficking, one by one. the makers of the watch itself are part of sak saum, an organization geared towards giving purpose and means of employment to the men and women who come out of the situations the exodus road saves them from. and this month only, when you buy one of their freedom wrap watches

which are adorable

by the way

not gonna lie

i mean

just look at them

the proceeds will go to the exodus road.

so yes. join me in the land of awesome watchiness and help an awesome organization while you're at it.

- Kyla Denae

but there's just too much

sometimes, i look at all the things that are going on in the world, and it makes me a little sick. there are so many things that are so fundamentally, horribly wrong, that there's no help for, things that go beyond anything i've ever experienced or seen first-hand.

and it's too much.

i'm just one person, one american woman who rakes in a thousand dollars a month (oh yeah, i'm living high on the hog), can barely afford a car, and is too nervous to talk on the phone. what is that, against a world where 80% of children have never heard the gospel, where 27 million people are held in slavery, where the worldwide infant mortality rate stands at 49.4%.

but the great thing is that, truly, i'm not really alone. not so long as there are people like you, who are willing to step up and join me to help, in some small way.

combating modern-day slavery is something that is greatly needed, and the exodus road is an organization working to do just that. through their search and rescue program, you and i can have a part in helping, one person at a time.

seriously

check it out

it's majorly rad

not even gonna try to exaggerate

another way you can help, if you (like me), are not quite able to give $35 a month, is through buying some of these totally amazing wrap watches. they're adorable. also, during the month of august, they're donating the profit to exodus road. so. it's totally worth it.

- Kyla Denae

bursting out of the bubble

In America, people very often get to thinking that there are certain things that are...'over'. We don't have to worry about deadly communicable diseases anymore, because we have modern medicine. We don't have to worry about getting to someplace quickly because we've got instant communication and cars. We don't have to worry about injustice, because there's ways to deal with it. We have police officers, and laws, and a military that can go enforce its will all around the world. Most of all, we most definitely dealt with slavery 160 years ago. 

we don't have to worry about that anymore. 

we're safe. 

surely that doesn't happen anymore.

this is the twenty-first century.

And, little by little, we climb back into our bubble of safety and comfort, where nothing ever goes wrong and, above all things, justice is done.

Yet that's so far from true. Statistics show that there are 27,000,000 people currently in slavery all around the world. 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. Every six seconds, a child is sold for sex somewhere in the world. This industry, this market of people, is the third-largest global industry, just behind drugs and guns.

in other news, people just generally suck.

did you know that?

they do.

Recently, I discovered an organization, The Exodus Road, that is working to do something about this problem. They're not just talking. They're not just sending money--they're funding investigators who travel to hotbeds of trafficking activity and attempt to rescue as many as they can. Collectively, this team of investigators have 622 victim rescues to look back on, and they're looking forward to many more. Within the life of the organization itself, there have been 189 supported rescues.

I'm partnering with The Exodus Road as a blogger, to help spread the word about this amazing organization, and to raise awareness about this problem that still plagues the world. To learn more about The Exodus Road, you can visit their website here, or watch the video below. Or both. Both is good.

The Exodus Road: Fighting to End Child Slavery from Justin Lukasavige on Vimeo.

- Kyla Denae