I used to walk through a busy airport or crowded hotel lobby
with haste and wishing everyone would just get out of my way. In the past year or so, my walk through the
airport or hotel lobby has changed. Heck,
my walk through the local grocery store has changed. Why, because I am aware of a sad and
sickening problem we are all living with, human trafficking.
People are being moved in cars, trains, hotels and
stores. People are being bought and sold
for enslavement, sex and exploitation.
Children, teens and young adults are being taken from their families
under the guise of a better life only to become a statistic. These victims are directed what to say and to
whom they can engage in conversation. Their
actions and words are controlled.
Have you seen them?
Maybe it was the teenage girl on the plane last week who couldn’t look
anyone in the eye and was blindly following the young man in front of her. Maybe it was the 20 year old male who wasn’t
allowed to go into the bathroom in the hotel lobby by himself. Maybe it was the 8 year old boy who was in
the car, by himself, at the grocery store who looked deep in your eyes and that
made your stomach turn.
How would you know?
You can never REALLY know because its more than a gut feeling. But without paying attention, you will
certainly never know.
What should you do?
Report it! Talk to airport
security, talk to hotel manager on duty, stop and ask the boy if he is okay or
call the police so they can make sure he is okay. Even if in the end, its not an issue, if it
was your child, your niece, your friend, wouldn’t you want someone to at least
try?
My call to action today is to everyone, whether you live in Olga ND or Shanghai China, pay attention.
Look at what’s happening around you.
As a traveler or even broader, as a citizen of this universe, we are
called to take action to protect each other.
Don’t be in such a hurry to live your own life that you don’t help to
save the one next to you. Be diligent
and keep going!
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