These are the final words found in the book Not For Sale. Author David Batstone takes the readers on a journey around the world as he unveils the reality of slavery on 5 continents.

Batstone successfully communicated the massive and global crisis of the modern day slave trade while at the same time, narrowing it down into the lives of individuals; both those who are slavery survivors and those who have dedicated their lives to the rescue of slaves.

Batstone tells the story of Srey Neang, a Cambodian girl who was sold into sex slavery and eventually rescued by Swiss born Pierre Tami. And then there is Maya and her husband Ajay, one of five couples who were deceived into forced bondage labor in Southeast Asia. Batstone continues with stories of children solders under the wicked power of rebel leader Joseph Kony. He also tells the stories of a World Vision refugee camp that is home to thousands of ex-child solders and sex slaves. He then moves on to South America where he unearths the problem of thousands of children who find themselves on the streets of Lima, Peru and in the most vulnerable state, making it far too easy for perpetrators to snatch them up.

And finally, Batstone hits close to home as he speaks of a simple man and resident of the state of Virginia, Louis Etongwe. At age 52, Etongwe discovered a young girl from Cameroon who was being held in captivity not far from his home. After rescuing the girl out of domestic slavery, he began his research into how this sort of thing could have happened and discovered that there were 7 others from the same village in Cameroon as the first girl he rescued also living in homes in Virginia, as well as Maryland and New Jersey. Etongwe once said, “I’ve never felt so much strength and passion in my life as I have liberating these girls. I feel like I tapped into a gold mine of meaning for my own life.”

This is a powerful book and thought provoking book. It begs the question, “what can I do?” Batstone undoubtedly knew this question would be coming. In closing of the book, he offers a long list of resources that will help provide an answer to that question, which includes a number of organization that are always accepting volunteers and service.

Having read a hand full of books on the topic of modern day slavery, Not For Sale is definitely one that comes with a high recommendation from me.

Not only is the book a great tool to learning more about human trafficking in today’s world, an entire campaign has been born as a result of it. The Not For Sale website offers an ocean of resources and helps for common abolitionists, including a page that lists which companies ensure their products are not made on the backs of slaves. Check out Free2Work for more on this.