Archives For Ways to Fight Trafficking

Teen Leverages Grant for The Exodus Road

Amy Garcia —  May 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

“Are you feeling Felty?” he asks a group of The Class 17 students of Valley Teen Leadership and their parents. Laughter fills the room when he follows with, “Sorry, it’s just a family inside joke.”

John Felty

John Felty, a sophomore at Perry High School in Gilbert, AZ explains to the group how he set in motion the process of The Exodus Road applying and eventually being awarded an almost $4,000 grant from The Class 17 students of Valley Teen Leadership. A grant that will go directly toward helping 8 victims recently rescued from sexual slavery  who are currently being held in government facilities, awaiting repatriation. Without the funding necessary to pay social workers, lawyers and professional advocates, these victims run the risk of ending up right back into the hands of traffickers again once they are released.

He responds humbly when I inquire about his involvement with the grant process,

“I am just a small puzzle piece in the bigger picture.”

After John heard Matt Parker, Founder and CEO of The Exodus Road, speak at a youth event, he knew he had to do something. “I knew that Valley Teen Leadership had a grant opportunity for a non-profit organization, so I waited after the event to talk to Matt personally…he was really excited so he gave me his email address and that’s when we started emailing each other.” When I ask John what made him choose to take action on behalf of The Exodus Road as opposed to another organization, he responds, “I was just so shocked that this is going on. After I heard Matt speak and I did some additional research on my own, I couldn’t believe that sex trafficking is actually a really big issue.”

But John isn’t exactly in the dark when it comes to really big issues. He has gone on two mission trips; one to Compton, CA and another most recently during his spring break to Haiti. When I ask him about his experience in Haiti, I could tell his time there still affects him immensely. “It was really shocking. One night we were driving off the main road to get lumber and wire to build pews for a church we were building and the stuff we saw…it was bad. It’s hard to even talk about,” he explains.

The more questions I ask John, the more I begin to see a pattern emerging. A pattern that tells me when John learns of a problem or sees an opportunity to help an organization or a group of people, instead of looking the other way, he makes the choice to take action; to actually do something about it. He could choose to do nothing. After all, he is a teenager, an avid mountain bike racer, a student, a member of a youth group at his church as well as a member of Class 17 of Valley Teen Leadership. One could argue that is “enough.” But not for John. When I ask him what he would say to other young people that feel like they couldn’t possibly make a difference in such a worldwide problem as sex trafficking, he pulls out a white folded piece of paper from his wallet.

“Have you heard The Starfish Story?” he asks, “I’ll read it to you.”

“One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ The youth replied, ‘Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.’ ‘Son,’ the man said, ‘don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!’ After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, ‘I made a difference for that one.’”1

All of us were born to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Our hearts will remain restless until we choose to answer the call on our lives. To give of ourselves, our time and our efforts; to rise up and fight for those who are not able to fight for themselves. Nelson Mandela once said,

“There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

John doesn’t wear a cape under his plaid Hurley shirt.

He doesn’t leap tall buildings.

He didn’t walk into the Barnes and Noble for our interview in a kilt with his face painted like Mel Gibson’s character in Braveheart shouting, “FREEEEEDOM!”

John Felty is an everyday teenager who chooses to answer the call to do extraordinary things…

And so can you.

_____________________

Article written by Amy Garcia. Amy is a Social Media Content Writer for The Exodus Road. She lives in Arizona with her husband and two children.

1. Original story, by Loren Eisley

In Blog, Ways to Fight Trafficking ,
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Sarah At Risk

Laura Parker —  April 27, 2013 — 1 Comment

officerocks

You may have heard already. We have a glass jar on the main desk here at The Exodus Road stateside office.  Twenty four rocks of different shapes and color sit at the bottom of that jar, each with a black marker name and date.  We call these rocks our Freedom Rocks, each representing a child rescued, specifically through Exodus Road coalition efforts, from brothels, slavery, and sex trade.

We love our 24 rocks and the stories and lives they represent.  Sadly, however, our ‘rescued’ rocks may not stay in the jar.

Often, victims who are rescued out of trafficking situations are deported after their court cases are complete. Women and children without advocates are sent across borders, repatriated directly back into the hands of traffickers who target vulnerable women and children. Without people and resources to fight for their futures, rescued girls will likely find themselves back in brothels.

And we’re not okay with that. As an organization, we understand that rescue efforts don’t stop on the evening of the raid. We are committed to keeping these children free from bondage. We desperately want to keep those 24 rocks in that jar.

Sarah at Risk:

Currently eight rescued girls are at risk of deportation and possible return to slavery.

If you’re a friend of Exodus Road, you know Sarah’s story.  The 15 year-old secretly wrote, “Please rescue me,” on a dollar bill given to one of our investigators.  She was later rescued from a brothel (July 2012).  Sarah is slated for deportation by the government and, without our help, will likely end up again in a brothel.

In response, The Exodus Road is moving to empower a team of representatives, including a social worker and a lawyer, to advocate for Sarah, and seven rescued victims who are designated for deportation, back to their home countries. These girls, all of whom are under the age of 18, represent different cases in two different parts of SE Asia. When our investigative team and partners found them, each were suffering in sexual slavery, many not allowed to leave the confines of their brothel. Our investigators collected the necessary evidence and worked with the local police to free them and place them in protective care. This is a huge victory, of course, but it’s a victory greatly lessened if these same eight girls eventually become sold and enslaved again upon their deportations. Rescue without restoration is not an acceptable outcome to our abolition efforts as a community.

Will you help us? We need $6,500 to cover the necessary legal and travel expenses for our team of professional advocates next month. With these funds, we’ll be able to advocate for proper care and placement of these eight girls, whether that be in a qualified after-care facility,  safely back to their families in their home countries, or enrolled in a vocational school.

Hold a freedom rock in your own hands.  

Of course, any amount you give benefits this project, but for those who are able to give $100 or more, we’ll be sending you a personalized hand-painted rock with the real name of a girl you helped protect, along with the story of both her rescue and where she is today. It will be your own freedom rock–a physical reminder that we all play a valuable role in freeing the modern day slave.  

Learn more about this project, including a personal video explaining the situation for Sarah and her friends as well as links to donate by visiting our new page,

Keep Rocks in the Jar.

In Blog, Victims & Survivors, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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We Asked. You Thanked. And It Mattered.

Laura Parker —  April 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

“Investigations is hard in part because you are isolated. You can’t tell people what you do all the time for safety reasons, and it can feel like you are very alone. And you are dealing with heavy stuff all the time.” – Undercover Investigator, supported by The Exodus Road

A few months ago, we asked you to practically join the abolition movement. Not by giving money or by traveling overseas. Not by visiting a brothel or by holding a picket sign outside of a government office.

Instead, we asked you to fight slavery by writing a letter.

A simple letter to undercover investigators who seldom, if ever get thanked. And you responded. Over sixty of you.

You wrote on google docs and you mailed letters to our home office to hand-deliver. And we did.

letters

And we can’t thank you enough for taking the time to encourage the men and women in SE Asia and India who are out of the limelight, but knee-deep in dark places. You can not underestimate the power of letting those in the field doing this kind of gritty work know that they are not alone, that there is an army of support behind them.

It matters. Thanks for stepping up.

 

 

In Blog, Missions Completed, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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Rescue Isn’t Jason Bourne. It’s You.

Laura Parker —  April 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

Have you ever felt like you needed to be Batman to fight trafficking? Ever had the sickening sense that you needed military-grade skills to make a difference?

Have you ever looked at the numbers and heard the stories and suddenly felt very, very small and insignificant?

We have, too.

Our content writer here, Kelley Leigh, recently talked about her own wrestling with the desire to be a social justice superhero. She wrote over at Burnside Writer’s Collective this week:

A sharp seed of justice embeds where you’ve interacted with deep injustice and don’t know what to do. That moment of holy unrest is a seed culture of justice, the abrasive grain in the oyster where sand begins to turn to pearl . . . where thought germinates into action. There, we stand at the mouth of the Bat Cave and ask, “What now? What next?”

Here’s the deal: I started watering those seeds. And in the process, I decided it doesn’t matter who gets to be Batman or who is Alfred. We are all in this together.  - Kelley J. Leigh, Entering the Bat Cave

And, this is our message here at The Exodus Road, and honestly, it’s the story we’ve lived. It’s a message that justice is in the hands of all of us, even the most average. Our work rests fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves, even if our offerings are at a computer or on facebook, with a checkbook or in prayer.

You don’t have to be Jason Bourne or Batman or Angelina Jolie. You just have to be you. And you have to care. And you have to commit, no matter what, to play your puzzle piece for freedom.

Because like Kelley said, we are all in this together.

***********

Field Update: Matt, our founder, is in the field now with teams in SE Asia and India. He has delivered several thousand dollars worth of covert equipment to undercover teams, has met and begun the vetting process for new teams in India, and will work to establish and strengthen partnerships in SE Asia. We’ll have stories and video for you soon.

Video Note: Though Matt mentions God in this particular video, it’s important to note that The Exodus Road is not a faith-based organization and that our partners in no way have to claim a particular religion/faith to work towards justice with us.

In Blog, Videos/Media, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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Looking for an Internship? We Might Just Be Able to Help.

Laura Parker —  April 6, 2013 — 4 Comments

street red light

Do you have a heart to fight trafficking? Do you want to actively empower rescue efforts around the world?

Do you need professional career experience or do you have skills you’d like to volunteer on behalf of the oppressed?

We need you. No, really, we do.

Our office in Colorado is looking for a few quality, committed interns or volunteers to work in our stateside office. We are looking for people over the age of 18 who can commit to 10-30 hours a week with us. And though we can’t pay you, we will gladly help you with obtaining school credit, should you need it.

Working with The Exodus Road will give you a chance to practically impact rescue efforts around the world. You’ll hear firsthand stories from the team of investigators in the field and get to brainstorm creative ways to provide what they need to be more effective in rescue efforts– all while working in a professional, collaborative nonprofit environment.

Interested in any of the following roles? We are open to summer, fall or 2014 spring internships. The schedule is flexible, but will be set during normal business hours in our home office near Colorado Springs. All applicants must submit a resume, possess a passion to fight modern day slavery, and provide their own laptop for the days they work (but if you don’t have one, you can still apply).

Graphic Design Intern

We need someone who has a background in graphic design and can work independently and creatively with our Communications and Marketing teams. Details include:

  • Designing projects and campaigns in print and web media (including banners, stickers, brochures, flyers, etc.)
  • Creatively executing fundraising campaigns for specific needs in the field
  • Creating graphics to be used in social media that powerfully communicate modern day slavery and motivate audience to action
  • Ability to work with with Adobe Photoshop and/or Illustrator and InDesign
  • Strong graphic background and typography skills (We’ll need to see samples of your work.)

Media Intern (Video Emphasis)

We need someone to tell stories of rescue from the field using innovative media. This person will need to have experience in editing and creating short videos, must be able to work independently, and must be a self-motivator. The Media Intern could work off-site, if necessary, with weekly skype calls with our team in Colorado. Details include:

  • Experience and ability to create video segments that powerfully tell stories (We’ll need samples.)
  • Willingness to edit covert footage from raids/rescues/investigations into sex slavery
  • Ability and commitment to protecting victim-rights by consistently blurring faces and producing video that is respectful of victim dignity
  • Commitment to following our media guidelines
  • Trustworthy with sensitive footage
  • Detail-oriented and responsible to meet deadlines
  • Videos will be used in online campaigns, to create awareness, to report to donors, and to fundraise for projects needed in the field
  • Most video projects will be between 30 seconds and 4 minutes in length. (No longer-length documentary work needed.)

Social Media Intern

We need someone with a passion to grow our tribe and increase our social media presence, thereby empowering awareness and rescue. This person needs to be detail-oriented, creative, social engaging, and will work closely with our Communications team. Details include:

  • Strong writing skills with a mature voice (We’ll need to see a writing sample.)
  • Working knowledge of: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Hootsuite, Pinterest
  • Creating throught-provoking content to be used online in blog posts and social media posts
  • Strategizing and executing social media campaigns to increase the influence of The Exodus Road
  • Passion for online communication and an understanding of building a web community
  • Positive, outgoing personality with strong communications skills (both written and verbal)
  • Ability to stay current with news stories and events related to modern day slavery

Research and/or Executive Assistant

(The above role can be one position or two.) The Exodus Road is looking for a person with strong administrative skills and a passion for research. We need someone who will not only handle specific administrative tasks, but who can also help us research current trends in the abolition movement, as well as make connections with new field teams around the world. This person will need to be self-motivated, to work independently and to quickly take direction.

  • Organized and efficient in task completion
  • Strong computer skills
  • Ability to do online research of the issues surrounding modern day slavery and write resulting executive summaries of findings
  • Ability to connect via email with other organizations in the field as a first step in vetting new investigative teams for The Exodus Road
  • Detail-oriented and willing to take direction
  • Willing to do practical tasks such as completing direct mailings and product fulfillment
  • Answer inquiry emails on behalf of The Exodus Road
  • Help organize local events

*******

All of our team members need to have a positive attitude, professional mindset, and a passion to free the modern day slave. Interested? Email your resume, role for which you are applying, and whether you are interested in a summer, fall or spring (2014) internship to Laura at: Laura@theExodusRoad.com.

Not interested, but know someone who might be? Feel free to help us spread the word.

In Blog, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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Connecting Your Dollar with Their Rescue

Laura Parker —  March 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

Founder and CEO Matt Parker shares briefly about how donor funds are used for specific cases or equipment at The Exodus Road, the weight he wakes up with each morning, and the value in giving donors a front-row seat to rescue.

For an example of case-based funding and sharing, check out one of our past campaigns to fund the investigations of a locked brothel and resulting rescue on a border town in SE Asia. You can follow the updates on GoFundMe. To see one of our current cases in India, which is funded (by YOU!) and currently in operation, check out the blog post HERE.

In Blog, Missions Completed, Videos/Media, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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Exodus Auctions

Laura Parker —  March 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

We understand that many nonprofits are struggling financially these days. The traditional method of operating fully on the donated dollar from individuals or corporations has taken a hit with the limping economy and the ballooning of charities that donors have the opportunity to support.

That’s why we are committed to creatively launching ideas and businesses that could help fuel our nonprofit work fighting slavery.

And the first of these concepts to officially roll out is Exodus Auctions.

Exodus Auctions

This fixed-price auction site will operate on Facebook on Tuesday nights. We’ll be selling donated and purchased items from around the world –  sports memorabilia, necklaces handcrafted by former prostitutes, high-quality jewelry, books, clothing. You’ll be able to purchase high-quality products, at a slight discount, all while fueling our efforts here at The Exodus Road.

It’s a win-win. 

Here’s our Marketing Director, explaining how the auction site will work:

So how can you help?

1. Go like the Exodus Auction facebook page and register. It takes 2 minutes, and you’ll be able to bid on products immediately when you see something you like, for the lifetime of the auction site.

2. Ask your friends to like the page and share it on facebook/twitter. You might not be interested in the signed Tim Thomas hockey jersey we’ll be selling next week, but one of your friends might be.

3. Stop by this Tuesday night, 8 pm CT, to the Exodus Auctions facebook page and see what products we’re selling. You can check out the sneak peak by visiting the website HERE.

Seth Godin says that “nonprofits have a charter to be innovators,” and we are learning here that it might just take us some of that innovation to continue to empower the brave teams in the field.

Help us launch Exodus Auctions this week, would you?

In Blog, Videos/Media, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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The Exodus Team Goes Major League

Laura Parker —  March 6, 2013 — 5 Comments

mattbaseball

Everyone has a role to play in rescue and in justice. Everyone. 

The single mom, the tire salesman, the national investigator, the student . . . and even the major league baseball player.

Last week, Kansas City Royale players Jeff Francoeur and Blaine Boyer were moved by the plight of the modern day slave. After listening to our founder Matt Parker share stories of children trapped in brothels, right fielder Francoeur (“Frenchy”) and pitcher Boyer have decided to do something about it.

They are choosing to play baseball to help fight slavery. 

Francoeur has committed to fund a mission for every homerun he hits in the upcoming 2013 baseball season, while relief pitcher Boyer is donating a mission for every hold he successfully accomplishes this next year.

These two men are leveraging their influence and their wallets to play an important role in the literal rescue of underage victims of sexual slavery. They are not moving to another country or beginning trendy nonprofits or becoming a Jason Bourne that kicks down the door. Instead, they are choosing to use the gifts and resources they already possess to bring justice to a victim of trafficking.

We’ll be keeping both Francoeur and Boyer posted of the missions their donations help fund throughout the 2013 baseball season this year, and we’ll be keeping you posted of their successes, as well.

To our new advocates, Frenchy and Blaine, thanks for joining this team. We’re grateful, honored, and inspired by you both.

Here’s to a wildly successfull Royals baseball season.

L to R: KC player , Exodus Road Founder Matt Parker, KC player Jeff Francouer, KC player Blaine Boyer

L to R: KC player George Sherrill, Exodus Road Founder Matt Parker, KC player Blaine Boyer, KC player Jeff Francoeur

In Blog, Ways to Fight Trafficking ,
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Bust 7 (Brothels). Rescue 40 (Victims). The 7/40 Project.

Laura Parker —  February 15, 2013 — 1 Comment

A personal note, from behind the scenes:

7/40 Project from The Exodus Road on Vimeo.

 ********

It’s very true that rescue operations cost different amounts in various locations on the globe. Whereas in some countries in SE Asia where we work, the raid of seven brothels and rescue of 40 victims might cost up to $20,000 USD, in India, the costs are much less expensive.

And we, as a community, have a rare opportunity this week to radically impact a rescue operation halfway around the globe.

Our partners in India, Indian Rescue Mission, have intel on seven brothels outside of major city in India. They have already done ground level surveillance and have found there to be 5-7 underage victims in each of the 7 brothels. Most of these girls are between 14 and 17 years of age, and the really motivating factor?

Most of them are currently being sold as virgins.

James and his team of three investigators, social worker, and support staff are ready to move in a week-long raid in this area. They have the basic intel and the staffing, but they lack the necessary funding for operations.

Which, hopefully, is where we as a community come in. 

WIll you consider giving $10 for our 7/40 Project?

That’s all. Simple. It’ll take less than 10 minutes. (And all gifts are tax-deductible and all funds – minus accounting/wire fees– will go directly to this budgeted raid.)

And while you won’t have a trendy bracelet to wear and you won’t be entered into a giveaway for a new car, you’ll know that YOU had a crucial role in literally saving a child’s innocence.

Here’s an official description of the case from Matt:

Bust 7 (Brothels). Rescue 40 (Victims). from The Exodus Road on Vimeo.

As with all of our cases, we want to invite you in. We want you to see the results of the cases YOU help fund– though obviously results can never be specifically guaranteed in this line of work. Thankfully, though, because there are less security restrictions in this area of India, we’ll be able to give you quicker intelligence as to the results of this week-long raid as it gets funded.

Don’t have ten bucks? Maybe your friends do. Consider passing this post along.

No gimmicks, just rescue.

The link to give is here: BUST 7 / RESCUE 40.

In Blog, Coalition Members, Victims & Survivors, Videos/Media, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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Celebrate Hope (A Partnership and Giveaway with Nightlight International)

Laura Parker —  February 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

nightlight

In the heart of one of the largest and oldest red-light districts in the world, former prostitutes bend over tables bending wires to create high quality jewelry. Women who had fallen victim to the belief that they were only worth $45 a night to the highest bidder, now work respectable jobs, attend education classes, bring home paychecks that are above minimum wage, and have opportunity for childcare, if needed.

This, this is hope– blooming and growing, literally, in the heart of one of the most sexually exploitative environments in the entire world. Sustainable jobs are transformative for impoverished women, as they are neither a short-term fix or a quick-and-easy hand-out.

And this is the kind of transformation that the Christian-based NGO, Nightlight International, has consistently fought for over their last eight years of work with exploitated women in Thailand.

In operation since 2009, NightLight Design currently employs 50 women in Bangkok. Over 160 women have been employed by NightLight since it was established. Once a week, every woman is involved in a small group session for personal development. As women develop their skills they are given the opportunity to develop new skills in other areas such as technology, accounting, purchasing, management, marketing, networking and public relations. Salaries are above minimum wage and raises are given annually based on a performance evaluation. NightLight also provides medical insurance and a savings plan. Scholarships are given to those who choose to continue their education. NightLight also has a small childcare center for the children of the women employed at NightLight.

NightLight continually carries a waiting list of 10 to 15 women who want to leave the bars.

They have also helped 25 trafficked women find freedom.

- Nightlight International Website (with updated information)

Not only is Nighlight International working to employ former prostitutes, but they are also quickly becoming a source of intel and aid for the fight against human trafficking. As eyes and ears on the ground and with a large network of government and NGO partners, Nightlight has become a critical player in the rescue of many trafficked victims- women often brought into Bangkok from foreign countries. We at The Exodus Road have the highest respect for the redemptive work of Annie Dieselberg and her team, and we are excited that Nightlight International has officially become a part of The Exodus Road coalition.

As we’ve said before, the coalition is a loose partnership (with the option of anonymous membership) of those actively working in intervention and after-care on the ground in Asia. It is a means by which organizations can collaborate and share resources for the sake of victim rescue. The Exodus Road also finds and supports those on the ground who are already in the trenches, doing deeply good work– like the team at Nightlight International in Bangkok. We are more than thrilled that we are connected to the wholistic efforts of this noble group of men and women.

nightlight necklace

nightlight 2

And to celebrate the hope that Nighlight has brought to SE Asia, we are hosting a giveaway of two of their beautiful pieces of jewelry. We’ll select two winners, and there are several ways you can enter through the giveaway below. After you enter, take a moment to check out some of their other pieces by browsing in their store and consider purchasing a piece for someone else or for yourself.

It’s a small way you can wear a piece of redemption for the women of Asia.

(Subscribers may need to enter giveaway here.)

Good luck! Giveaway will close Feb. 12, at 12 AM.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In Blog, Coalition Members, Victims & Survivors, Ways to Fight Trafficking
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