Saturday, August 8, 2009
Get Involved
Day in and day out, we're constantly thinking about ourselves and our own lives, we are so wrapped up in our lives that we forget the lives of others around us. We forget that there are others out there with much much less than we have been blessed with. For the past year I've been trying to find a good cause to support, something that I feel strongly about, something that I would fight against, or fight for. Along my search, I have come back with a few that I would like to dedicate my efforts to.
One of them is the fight against human trafficking and slavery. This happens all around the world, from Eastern Europe, to the Philippines to even our own backyard here in the US. Women and girls as young as twelve, are forced to walk the streets, selling their bodies to anyone who comes their way. Innocence is lost, as they enter a warped sense of maturity in a world of sexual perversion, alcohol, drugs, and human degradation.
GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) is the only shelter in New York City that provides aid for girls who have been victims of sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Places like these need to stay open, and need to keep helping these girls who want to get out of "the life" as they call it. I feel very passionate about this cause, and I will stand up for the rights and lives of these women.
There is a website called http://madebysurvivors.com/ It is created by an organization called TEN who helps women who have been victims of trafficking and helps them get back on their feet, and remake their lives. The website sells handcrafted jewelry made by the slavery survivors from all over the world. The jewelry is mostly sterling silver and semi-precious stones, and they also carry leather bags, and trendy recyclable backpacks and other misc. items. All the proceeds are donated to the survivors and their families.
I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of only thinking of myself. If we thought a little more about other people, maybe the world would be a better place.
For more information on GEMS go to :http://www.gems-girls.org/
