I was recently sighing to myself about how tough the week has been. Ana has mononucleosis and has been in and out of labs and doctors offices, Zac has a double ear infection and has been an unbearable grump all week (not that I can blame him), Eve was up all night the past two nights with a bronchitis type cough, Christian woke up this morning sounding like Darth Vader because he is so congested, and I am fighting a cold. I was feeling bad for my family as this week came to a close.
Then I read my friend Lorraine's blog here. Hearing her first hand stories of the things that her boys are experiencing in the orphanage and the struggles they face each and every day started to put things into perspective for me.
And then I read about this precious little girl who was transferred from the "baby house" to the mental institution when she turned four. She is now nine and is clearly suffering each and every day.
Then my heart once again turned to Jamison, a little boy in Eastern Europe who I have fallen in love with. The doctors there were not able to surgically repair his heart defect as an infant and as a result he has not been able to have the surgeries to correct his cleft lip and palate either. He desperately needs a family to love him and get him the medical care he needs, otherwise he will be destined to a short life of constant illness.
I just cannot complain about our small ailments when there are those with so much greater needs out there. There are children all over the world who are not getting basic physical care and nutrition, much less the love and attention they need to thrive. Please pray for all of these children - around the corner and across the world, and what we can do to help care for them.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Modern Day Slavery
I had never heard of "human trafficking" until we were required to do training about it for the military. And after that, I wished that I was still ignorant. Most people have no idea that slavery still exists in the world today, and even right here in the United States. Hopefully this post will change that.
So what is human trafficking?
The official definition in U.S. law says that "human trafficking has occurred if a person was induced to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud or coercion. Any person under 18 who performs a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking."
And Stop Child Trafficking Now says that "child trafficking is the recruitment, smuggling, transporting, harboring, buying or selling of a child through force, threats, fraud, deception or coercion for the purposes of exploitation, prostitution, pornography, migrant work, sweat shops, domestic servitude, forced labor, bondage, peonage, or involuntary servitude."
Does this REALLY happen??
Yes!!
It is estimated that:
2.5 million people are in forced labor as a result of trafficking (most of them in Asia and the Pacific)
161 countries are affected by human trafficking as a source, transit or destination country (this includes the U.S.)
1.2 million children are trafficked every year (or to put it more plainly - 1.2 million children are sold into slavery every year)
95% of victims experience physical or sexual violence
43% of victims are forced into the commercial sex trade (the average age of victims entering the sex trade is 12 years)
Human trafficking results in over $31.6 billion in profits for the perpetrators every year
For every 800 people trafficked, only one person is convicted
Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world (and is the world's second largest criminal enterprise after illegal drugs)
It may be easy to think that this does not happen in our own back yard, but that is just not true. About 2 1/2 million U.S. children run away from home every year. Within 48 hours of arriving on the streets 1/3 of these children are lured or forced into prostitution or pornography. Right in our own backyard. An estimated 17,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S. each year. Right in our own backyard. Child pornography is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S., with a 2,500% increase over the last 10 years. Right in our own backyard. The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children received more than 160,000 reports on its tip line in 2010. Right in our own backyard.
Orphans are at very high risk of being trafficked. Many orphans live on the streets and can easily be forced or coerced into slavery. Even the children who are fortunate enough to live in the orphanages are not safe. After they "age out" of the orphanage they are sent out onto the streets to fend for themselves, often without any job skills, money, or resources. Run aways and kids who age out of the foster system in the U.S. are at great risk as well.
So what can we do?
Pray
Join the SCTNow run/walk campaign
Volunteer for an organization dedicated to stopping human trafficking
Advocate for orphans and support adoptive families
Shop in the Nomi Store
Share this information and make more people aware of the problem
Where can I learn more or find ways to help?
Stop Child Trafficking Now!
United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
Polaris Project
Nomi Network
So what is human trafficking?
The official definition in U.S. law says that "human trafficking has occurred if a person was induced to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud or coercion. Any person under 18 who performs a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking."
And Stop Child Trafficking Now says that "child trafficking is the recruitment, smuggling, transporting, harboring, buying or selling of a child through force, threats, fraud, deception or coercion for the purposes of exploitation, prostitution, pornography, migrant work, sweat shops, domestic servitude, forced labor, bondage, peonage, or involuntary servitude."
Does this REALLY happen??
Yes!!
It is estimated that:
2.5 million people are in forced labor as a result of trafficking (most of them in Asia and the Pacific)
161 countries are affected by human trafficking as a source, transit or destination country (this includes the U.S.)
1.2 million children are trafficked every year (or to put it more plainly - 1.2 million children are sold into slavery every year)
95% of victims experience physical or sexual violence
43% of victims are forced into the commercial sex trade (the average age of victims entering the sex trade is 12 years)
Human trafficking results in over $31.6 billion in profits for the perpetrators every year
For every 800 people trafficked, only one person is convicted
Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world (and is the world's second largest criminal enterprise after illegal drugs)
It may be easy to think that this does not happen in our own back yard, but that is just not true. About 2 1/2 million U.S. children run away from home every year. Within 48 hours of arriving on the streets 1/3 of these children are lured or forced into prostitution or pornography. Right in our own backyard. An estimated 17,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S. each year. Right in our own backyard. Child pornography is one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S., with a 2,500% increase over the last 10 years. Right in our own backyard. The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children received more than 160,000 reports on its tip line in 2010. Right in our own backyard.
Orphans are at very high risk of being trafficked. Many orphans live on the streets and can easily be forced or coerced into slavery. Even the children who are fortunate enough to live in the orphanages are not safe. After they "age out" of the orphanage they are sent out onto the streets to fend for themselves, often without any job skills, money, or resources. Run aways and kids who age out of the foster system in the U.S. are at great risk as well.
So what can we do?
Pray
Join the SCTNow run/walk campaign
Volunteer for an organization dedicated to stopping human trafficking
Advocate for orphans and support adoptive families
Shop in the Nomi Store
Share this information and make more people aware of the problem
Where can I learn more or find ways to help?
Stop Child Trafficking Now!
United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
Polaris Project
Nomi Network
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Our I800A arrived!
We got our e-mail confirming that USCIS received our I-800 paperwork today!! Yah hoooo!
Now we will need to be fingerprinted and then the file will be reviewed by the case worker and either approved, denied, or flagged for more information. We are debating whether to wait for our appointments to get fingerprinted or just walk in. It may speed things up to walk in, but it may not and there is a chance that they will not do our prints as walk ins so we may be wasting our time. Pray for wisdom for us as we try to decide what to do.
Also, continue to pray that once out fingerprints are done, the file will land in the hands of exactly the right case worker and that we will receive our approval notice in record time. The USCIS website says that the current processing time for I-800A's is 80 days, and we are really hoping that it will not take that long!
Now we will need to be fingerprinted and then the file will be reviewed by the case worker and either approved, denied, or flagged for more information. We are debating whether to wait for our appointments to get fingerprinted or just walk in. It may speed things up to walk in, but it may not and there is a chance that they will not do our prints as walk ins so we may be wasting our time. Pray for wisdom for us as we try to decide what to do.
Also, continue to pray that once out fingerprints are done, the file will land in the hands of exactly the right case worker and that we will receive our approval notice in record time. The USCIS website says that the current processing time for I-800A's is 80 days, and we are really hoping that it will not take that long!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Someone Said...
"Children are one third of our population and all of our future."
Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981
A dated quote, but a very true statement. Want to make a lasting impact on the world? Give a child the love, care, guidance, education, and mentoring that they need.
Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981
A dated quote, but a very true statement. Want to make a lasting impact on the world? Give a child the love, care, guidance, education, and mentoring that they need.
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