Hello!
It's been a while since this has been updated, but we don't want you to forget about human trafficking and the steps you can take to do something now.

I was watching a video today from Passion 2012 and was really encouraged/inspired by it. Compassion isn't compassion unless you let yourself get involved and be interrupted. You can't truly be compassionate if you just let yourself feel sorry about the injustices going on. You must stop, cross the street, get involved and do something.

I highly encourage you to watch the video. It's about 25 mintues long, but its very worth it!

Enjoy your last day of May!

WEAR YOUR TSHIRTS TODAY

Well, good morning :)

Today is the day. Wear your t-shirts. Be ready to answer questions. Be a voice for those who don't have one.

Fight trafficking.

What's Been Happening So Far

Hey everyone!


If you haven't seen us on the quad the last two days, check out this article! 
If this looks really sweet to you and gets you excited, we're going to be doing the same thing tomorrow in front of the Henry Admin building from 11-2! The more people we have, the more powerful it looks to those walking by. We've been having a lot of fun with it, so come help us out tomorrow!


If that isn't enticing enough, here's some pictures that will hopefully sway your decision :)

We are also still selling t-shirts for only $8! They support fair trade and proceeds go to an initiative in Bangladesh to help victims of human trafficking!

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Week of Awareness

The t-shirts are in! We will begin contacting you to deliver your shirts as soon as possible. Feel free to wear them this week if you want to try to sell some to raise even more awareness :) However, make sure it is clean and ready to wear on Friday, April 27. On Friday, everyone who has bought one will wear it, so that people all around campus will see it :)

Get readyyyyyyy!

And of course, if you haven't bought one yet... do it :)

A young woman boldly shares her story....may hearing it straight from the survivor's mouth have an impact on you and move you to do something now.


http://love146.org/sites/default/files/large_downloads/European_Survivor_Story.mp3


(it's just the audio and takes about 1 minute to load)

Be Her Freedom

Learn the facts. Tell others. Act now. Be Her Freedom.

One way you can be her freedom is by purchasing a t-shirt! T-shirts are only $8 and are a great way to spread the word about this issue.

Donate

Hello, hello!


So, we decided to make a way to donate money online without ordering a shirt. If you would like to donate (any amount) you can use the button below to make a donation. All money will be given to an organization fighting human trafficking.

Get Off the Bus

There is an organization called Love146, and its focus is to end child sex slavery and exploitation. I was looking through some of their resources today and came across a video called 'Get Off the Bus.' The president of Love146, Rob Morris, is the one speaking in the video and what he had to say reminded me of the previous blogpost about facebook and how we need to be doing more.
I was really challenged by this video, and I hope it challenges you too. So watch it now!


http://love146.org/videos/get-bus


May we become more than just observers who are "looking out the window" at the atrocious crime of human trafficking. And may we all go 'running off the bus' and start 'swinging our bats' to stop this human wrong!

How can you 'swing your bat' against human trafficking as a student here at the U of I? Get involved. LEARN the facts about human trafficking. TELL your friends, family, and even classmates about this issue. BUY a Tshirt. RAISE money. Don't just know about human trafficking, DO something about it!

Facebook Activists?

Here's a little blurb from one of my professors...

Yeah, the Facebook conundrum! Clicking like (or forwarding a message) feels like doing something, so the brain sends a signal of satisfaction and 'mission accomplished' and nothing more is done. Far too many people allow that lizard part of their brain to overrule their common sense and just walk away at that point.
The conundrum is that raising awareness of issues is necessary but woefully insufficient as an end product. Outreach is critical, and it has to take place in a space where people actually pay attention like Facebook, but the social media structure offers no means of producing anything consequential from this awareness. (not to mention the constant stream of new info that displaces attention to the old --- Wooo! New shiny thing posted by my BFF! omg! etc.)
Moving people to step away from the old Facebooking-machine and actually DO something about this awareness is incredibly difficult, and things generally break down there. If anyone has a better way to do this, sign me up!

Isn't that the truth? It's so easy to simply click "like" and think we've become activists. We shared a video on Facebook, so we're raising awareness.


It's easy to believe this. But simply posting something on Facebook isn't enough. Get involved. Educate yourself; be ready to talk about human trafficking. Get out, print fliers, post them. Buy shirts. Raise money.


DO something.

Order your shirt NOW :)

Hi all you activists!


The t-shirt links are now live. Go on over to the t-shrit tab and pick which shirt you'd like to sport :) Spread the word. Tell your friends. Make a difference!

Natalia's story, told by the A21 Campaign

How can you act now? Change your profile picture on facebook to SOLD (see this post) as a way to raise awareness about human trafficking and to tell your friends about the 27 million slaves in the world today.

T-shirts! T-shirts!

Hey all! If you haven't noticed, there is a tab on the blog for t-shirts. We don't have the link up yet to order, but if you want one (they will be black with a white word on them), then just go ahead and comment under that tab or shoot me an email at gessica.peri@gmail.com :)


The t-shirts will be used to raise awareness the week before the coffee house (April 23-27). We will hopefully be sending in an order by the end of this week so let us know before then!

Hey all!
Here's the first thing you can do this month... We're changing our profile pictures on Facebook to the picture below.

Too many people are sold into slavery every day. Give up your "identity" on Facebook this month to raise awareness for those who have been robbed of there's. Obviously, the blog link is on the picture, so hopefully it will directe people here where they can buy t-shirts, read articles and watch videos.


If you change your profile picture, we encourage you to find two friends who will do the same. Hoepfully we'll raise awareness through social networking and start seeing dozens and dozens of friends with a "sold" profile picture.


Here we go... :)

Well hello friends!

Here's an update from the A21 Campaign website...

Have your heard the news? We’ve successfully prosecuted three traffickers! Three court victories in the past three weeks have caused joyous celebrations in our A21 offices around the globe.
The last case was our largest conviction to date with two traffickers sentenced each to over 15 years in prison and a collective penalty fine of 200,000 euros. We are grateful for our legal team who relentlessly fights for justice and freedom.

Our partners, staff, legal team, and founders continue to fight for girls like Ira.* Ira was a beautiful young girl who moved from her village into the city to work in a restaurant as a dish washer. At 17 years old she was left to create her new life and survive on the meager income she made.
One night while having coffee with some friends, three charming men approached their table and began bantering back and forth and offered to buy them drinks. The last thing Ira remembers was the café, her friends, and laughter.

When she awoke, she was in the backseat of a car crossing the border into Poland with the men from the pub. Except no one was laughing. In fact, no one spoke to her even though she begged for an explanation, begged for her wallet, begged for her passport. Silence.

Ira’s nightmare would repeat as her trafficker rented her out to various men for hours at a time. Over and over and over her nightmare repeated. After being pummeled and beaten enough times, she would succumb to resignation, or worse, pass out from pain.

But then something happened. Something she hoped for yet didn’t believe would occur. She was rescued by local police and taken to our A21 shelter in Kiev, Ukraine where she received medical aid, psychological care, and now is smiling, laughing, and believing she has the ability to rebuild her life…a life of freedom.

We recognize that redemption comes from all sides and everyone plays a part in bringing freedom to girls like Ira. With your continued support and care, we are able to stand in courtrooms and bring freedom, open shelter doors and welcome strangers, and sit around tables to laugh and dream of new futures.

If would love like to get more involved with the fight for freedom, visit our  [A21's] newly designed Get Involved page or check out our new blog to read updates, hear about our heroes, or learn about new initiatives.

*Ira’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

Hey everyone. This is a short video that presents some basic facts about human trafficking. It was produced by Not For Sale, which is an organization that addresses the issue of slavery in the world today.

Hello everyone! This blog is for a semester-long initiative to end human trafficking by World Vision ACT:S UIUC Chapter.

The Human Wrong Initiative (check out their website here) is a campaign started by World Vision to help end human trafficking. There are millions of children around the world who are trafficked and enslaved through forced labor, sexual exploitation, and child soldiering.

It is a campaign for students to use their voices and raise awareness about this injustice, and we want to bring that to U of I. This month, we're going to be having different, small events usually on the quad, all leading up to a coffee house in at the end of April, and we would all love for you to be involved!

If you want more information, you can email me at gessica.peri@gmail.com on how to be involved.

One of the first things we will be doing is ordering t-shirts, followed by different awareness things on the quad.


Let us know if you want to order a t-shirt!