Last week I visited Kyiv to help coach a church in our youth ministry strategy. While I was in town I met with two different leaders of Anti-Trafficking organizations. Both were productive meetings. I really appreciate what both ministries are doing although it appears to me that there's still not a lot of cooperation between ministries or even awareness that other ministries exist and what they are doing. I know some people have tried to bridge that gap but it seems that working together here is harder than it is back in the States.
In any case, after the 2nd meeting last Wednesday, I was traveling across town on the Metro (Subway) to meet another friend. The train was crowded as usual and I was standing...trying to maintain my balance and make sure I was aware of my wallet at all times! Across from me were seated three young people. Probably late teens, early 20's. From left to right- a guy, a girl, another girl. I couldn't hear their conversation and even if I could have, I probably wouldn't have understood all of it. But here's how my imagination filled in missing parts:
The guy and the other girl were trying hard to talk the girl in the middle into something. He was constantly leaning into her and...almost, consoling her? You know how when you're gently pushing on someone physically and saying, "come on!" The other girl was doing the same thing. The girl in the middle looked a little distraught the whole time, like she was having a hard time making a decision. I never did see her sit back and relax. She was leaning forward the whole time. She didn't look scared, just confused. At one point, the guy pulled out his Passport. I didn't think it unusual for a Ukrainian to carry a Passport since most people carry their "papers" with them at all times. The other girl took the Passport and started showing it to the girl in the middle. I could see that he had several pages of stamps. That, I thought, was a little bit unusual. With the exception of traveling to CIS countries (former Soviet countries- Commonwealth of Independent States), it's fairly difficult for Ukrainians to travel abroad. Anyway, the other girl was showing the girl in the middle all the stamps in the guys Passport and she appeared to be interested. She perked up.
Maybe this is where my imagination/paranoia really gets going. But in both of my meetings with Anti-Trafficking leaders we talked the two biggest ploys for trafficking women. 1) Promise of high paying jobs in other countries and 2) Being "charmed/seduced" by a boyfriend. In fact, it's pretty common for formerly trafficked women to be used as recruiters for new girls.
In my imagination that's what was happening on the train in front of me. The guy and the other girl were trying to talk the girl into something she was unsure about that involved traveling out of the country. I could be wrong of course. It was the day before International Women's Day...maybe they were encouraging her to go to a party with them; maybe they were trying to set-up a blind date with a friend. I don't know.
But in that moment, when they were looking at the Passport, a thought, no, an idea, entered my mind. At that moment, I wish I'd had a brochure to give the girl in the middle. On the front cover: DO YOU LIKE TO TRAVEL? with cool pictures of exciting places in the world in the background. On the inside: BE CAREFUL! and then several paragraphs explaining the problem of trafficking followed by descriptions of those two big ploys that traffickers use. On the back panel: Contact Information for several ministries- who to call to check out the legitimacy of a job offer, who to call if you suspect trafficking, etc.
And in keeping with my policy of not reinventing a wheel...maybe someone already has published a pamphlet like that. If not, then I'd like to see it happen and made available to any ministry that wants to use it- just customize the back panel, print and use as needed.
Ministry Friends in Ukraine. Has anyone published a pamphlet like that? If not, do you think it's a good idea?
In any case, after the 2nd meeting last Wednesday, I was traveling across town on the Metro (Subway) to meet another friend. The train was crowded as usual and I was standing...trying to maintain my balance and make sure I was aware of my wallet at all times! Across from me were seated three young people. Probably late teens, early 20's. From left to right- a guy, a girl, another girl. I couldn't hear their conversation and even if I could have, I probably wouldn't have understood all of it. But here's how my imagination filled in missing parts:The guy and the other girl were trying hard to talk the girl in the middle into something. He was constantly leaning into her and...almost, consoling her? You know how when you're gently pushing on someone physically and saying, "come on!" The other girl was doing the same thing. The girl in the middle looked a little distraught the whole time, like she was having a hard time making a decision. I never did see her sit back and relax. She was leaning forward the whole time. She didn't look scared, just confused. At one point, the guy pulled out his Passport. I didn't think it unusual for a Ukrainian to carry a Passport since most people carry their "papers" with them at all times. The other girl took the Passport and started showing it to the girl in the middle. I could see that he had several pages of stamps. That, I thought, was a little bit unusual. With the exception of traveling to CIS countries (former Soviet countries- Commonwealth of Independent States), it's fairly difficult for Ukrainians to travel abroad. Anyway, the other girl was showing the girl in the middle all the stamps in the guys Passport and she appeared to be interested. She perked up.
Maybe this is where my imagination/paranoia really gets going. But in both of my meetings with Anti-Trafficking leaders we talked the two biggest ploys for trafficking women. 1) Promise of high paying jobs in other countries and 2) Being "charmed/seduced" by a boyfriend. In fact, it's pretty common for formerly trafficked women to be used as recruiters for new girls.
In my imagination that's what was happening on the train in front of me. The guy and the other girl were trying to talk the girl into something she was unsure about that involved traveling out of the country. I could be wrong of course. It was the day before International Women's Day...maybe they were encouraging her to go to a party with them; maybe they were trying to set-up a blind date with a friend. I don't know.
But in that moment, when they were looking at the Passport, a thought, no, an idea, entered my mind. At that moment, I wish I'd had a brochure to give the girl in the middle. On the front cover: DO YOU LIKE TO TRAVEL? with cool pictures of exciting places in the world in the background. On the inside: BE CAREFUL! and then several paragraphs explaining the problem of trafficking followed by descriptions of those two big ploys that traffickers use. On the back panel: Contact Information for several ministries- who to call to check out the legitimacy of a job offer, who to call if you suspect trafficking, etc.
And in keeping with my policy of not reinventing a wheel...maybe someone already has published a pamphlet like that. If not, then I'd like to see it happen and made available to any ministry that wants to use it- just customize the back panel, print and use as needed.
Ministry Friends in Ukraine. Has anyone published a pamphlet like that? If not, do you think it's a good idea?
2 comments:
Oh,my... I pray it wasn't what it looked like...
My university just did an event to help spread awareness and I'm taking that idea back to my hometown in MS, I think it would be an amazing idea to make something like that.
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