When asked what Americans can do to help lessen the demand for slavery abroad, IJM staffer Lauren Johnson talked about Americans considering what they are purchasing. In case you missed it, you can read more of what she had to say here.  

Trade As One is an organization that works alongside churches in hopes that entire congregations of people will understand the global impact of their purchases. 

The market today truly is a global one. We buy produce, coffee, chocolate, clothing, jewelry, etc. and most of it comes from another part of the world. But how often do we consider the hands that have sewn our clothing, made our jewelry or farm the food and drink we are consuming today? We buy chocolate but aren’t told that the majority of the world’s chocolate is from Sierra Leone. There are over 800,000 children enslaved to the coca farms in Sierra Leone. I’m a sucker for chocolate but I don’t need it so bad that it would ever justify a child enslaved and deprived of his/her childhood so that I can eat a chocolate bar.

Check out this video that Trade As One released. Fair trade is not a perfect system but it is headed in the right direction. What are your thoughts on buying fair trade versus non-fair trade products? What are some other ways you know of that American consumers might help lessen the demand for slaves abroad based on what they purchase?  

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Hi everyone,
This is just a quick blog to let you know about an opportunity International Justice Mission is providing right now. They have made it possible for anyone who would like to, to write to your member of Congress and urge them to pass the Child Protection Compact Act (click the ACT NOW link on the top right of the page). Taken directly from their website,

 

"The Child Protection Compact Act (HR 2737) builds on that successful model by authorizing the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Office (G/TIP) to provide significant financial resources to develop functioning justice systems in selected countries, ensuring that the local police, courts and authorities can rescue children and bring traffickers to justice."

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Two years. Two Student Academy Awards. For aspiring filmmakers wondering how to get noticed, how about noticing the suffering of others? Friends of mine have won the gold medal at the Student Academy Awards by focusing their camera upon the plight of those on the margins of society. Their compelling films are not a calculated stunt to win prizes but a heartfelt conviction that we must care for the poor, the hungry, and the hurting.

American University student Laura Waters Hinson won best documentary in 2008 for AS WE FORGIVE, a moving portrait of reconciliation in Rwanda. It highlights both the harrowing genocide and the profound healing that has come to a fractured country. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan horrors, As We Forgive will be screening on PBS stations around the country, including PBS WORLD on July 15th. Check the PBS schedule for stations and times near you.  In the meantime, you can join the Living Bricks campaign, designed to rebuild houses for the victims’ families. Murderers and survivors live alongside each other in a stirring example of forgiveness in action.

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