Human Rights- will you sit back and let this happen?

I still think about this little girl in Haiti all the time, and how her life could have been so different with real health care. While Americans are whining we don't have free birth control pills, or free health care at all, this little girl died from a curable disease because of poverty and NO access to the real health care.

I'm a self-confessed news junkie. While I work from home writing on all matter of subjects my TV is on in the background, usually on CNN, and a little bit of CNBC (what? I write about the stock market!). This week I've had to turn off the TV altogether out of complete frustration. While I am sad that Whitney Houston died (albeit as a result of her own bad choices in life, a victim of her own free agency), I cannot stomach another "news" story about her funeral, autopsy, or legacy. Her legacy is this- she had free agency. She had talent. She chose to squander both on drugs and alcohol, and eventually died from her poor choices. What we should be doing is holding her up as an example of what not to do, and how to ruin a life, and traumatically hurt your own family by making selfish choices. But that isn't what is happening, is it? I refuse to say, "we're" making a memorial to her and buying her albums. I can't say "we're," because I refuse to be one of the people doing that. Sure, I listened to her music on Pandora on Saturday night, but I won't make her a legacy because she died from bad choices.
Meanwhile, around the world there are real people suffering from real problems that they did not bring upon themselves. They are suffering from a lack of human rights. Many of them do not have the ability to rise to middle-class wages, let alone skyrocket to stardom. Families starve, men, women, and children are trafficked, and innocent people are used as human shields against evil armies every single day.
I encourage you to stop and pay attention to those uncomfortable news stories that rarely make the headlines, but can often be found buried under "world news." Read the stories about the atrocities happening in less developed countries. You may think there is nothing you can do about it- but you are wrong. Just clicking on the story of the children living in dumps in Vietnam (many of which are Cambodian children that have been trafficked into Vietnam), instead of clicking on the story about Whitney Houston's pastor's memories, sends a message to the media about what WE care to read about. And the more we click, the more the media will cover the stories that matter, which will bring attention and spread light on the people who deserve the attention the most.

Flooding in Cambodia

A few stories for you to consider today-
Babies trafficked in Cambodia (personal letter written by the woman I worked for in Phnom Penh)
Help my friend Joel, a human rights lawyer and advocate in Cambodia, get justice for families that were kicked out of their homes by the government. Join the "event," and follow the instructions on how to send an email to people that matter.
Do you know about "fair trade chocolate" and the child slaves harvesting cocoa? Take a look at which companies you shouldn't be buying chocolate from!
And something very incredible and yet terrifying is happening in Syria. I know many Americans aren't big fans of following stories on the conflicts within Middle Eastern countries. They can be confusing and misleading. But a government has turned on its own people, shooting and fighting their own unarmed citizens. This is a HUGE deal. Other countries (Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia for starters) have already gotten involved. Should and will the US?

Understanding Child Trafficking and Sex Slave Trafficking

While I am off traveling to Cambodia for the next few days, and unable to reach the internet for a while, I have left you with a few posts on the history of Cambodia, orphans, and child trafficking. You will also notice on the right sidebar I have linked to a few books on the subject if you would like to learn more.

The Kingdom of Cambodia, called Kampuchea in Khmer, is a small state in South East Asia. Cambodia borders Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. The capital is Phnom Penh with about 4 million people

Most of the 13 million population is ethnic Khmer, followed by ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Muslim Cham and some hill tribes. Most people are Buddhist, with animists and Christian minorities. Most people are young and poorly-educated. There is a dramatic lack of professionals and expertise, as the Khmer Rouge specifically targeted educated people. Rumors include that during the regime of Pol Pot he had all of the educated people killed, including anyone who were glasses, because they appeared educated. The country has been forced to rebuild for the last 30 years without its more educated, leading class. 

In the 1960s-1980s, one of the worst genocidal civil wars began. After political coups and with the Vietnam War next door, the Khmer Rouge took power and began systematically dismantling culture, infrastructure and families. Up to 3 million Cambodians are estimated to have died during the war and subsequent starvation.

Cambodia’s economy was once largely agriculture, then relied on foreign aid. However, it is improving and diversifying with tourism and the garment industry growing rapidly. Rice, fish, timber, garments (lots of international brands made in Cambodian factories) and rubber are major exports.

Cambodia has major problems with landmines, child prostitution, rural poverty and corruption. The Riverkids Orphanage (where I will be working) specializes in victims of extreme poverty and in child trafficking/prostitution. Many of the children may have one or two existing parents. But their definition of "orphan" is different from the US version. To them it means they do not have parents who are able to provide for them. 

Stats on child trafficking- (borrowed from Stop Child Trafficking Now)

• Child/Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Child/ human trafficking is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, after drugs. U.S. State Department
• The global market of child trafficking at over $12 billion a year with over 1.2 million child victims. UNICEF
• As many as 2.8 million children run away each year in the US. Within 48 hours of hitting the streets, one-third of these children are lured or recruited into the underground world of prostitution and pornography.The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• The average age of entry for children victimized by the sex trade industry is 12 years. U.S. Department of Justice
• Approximately 80% of human trafficking victims are women and girls and up to 50% are minors.  U.S. State Department
• The average number of victims for non-incestuous pedophiles who molest girls is 20, for pedophiles who prefer boys 100! The Association For the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA)
• 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk every year for commercial sexual exploitation. U.S. Department of Justice
• 600,000 – 800,000 people are bought and sold across international borders each year; 50% are children, most are female. The majority of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade.  U.S. Department of State, 2004, Trafficking in Persons Report, Washington, D.C.
• An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. U.S. Department of Justice Report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons
• Investigators and researchers estimate the average predator in the U.S. can make more than $200,000 a year off one young girl.  NBC Report by Teri Williams

The children who arrive at Riverkids have most likely at some point attempted to be sold by their parents. Why would parents do this? Generally because they were destitute and could not provide for their children. In some cases the parents were told their child was going to work in Vietnam and would taken care of. In those cases the parents thought they were doing a good thing. The "river kids" also get their names for being the orphaned children who were found going through the slums on the side of the river, looking for trash to sell or eat (think Slumdog Millionaire). Many of these orphans were truly kidnapped right off the river and sold down stream to someone else. 

It is because of the difficulties identifying how a child ended up in an orphanage, and identifying who the parents were, that has halted the progression of adoptions out of the country. This all involves the Hague Treaty, and that is a post for another day. 

If you would like to make donations to help out these sweet children, Riverkids has provided some simple ways to see how your money makes a difference-

For instance-
$15 for coal for cooking
$10.60 for groceries
At the site I believe I will be at (Railway 2) they say a donation of just $17.10 will provide lights and wiring for the school rooms.

If you want to help these children you can visit the Riverkids What to Give page and make a donation there.

And I will also offer this to you, if there is something special you would like me to do on your behalf while I am there (that is not listed on their website), whether it be buy them new toys, get them a special treat, send them letters (email them to me, or scan a child's drawing to me, and I can print them up), I would be happy to make that happen for you. If you would like to send me a few dollars via paypal , you can reach me at erinannie at yahoo for my account there. Just add a note telling me how you want your money spent. I promise to spend it your way, document it, take pictures of it being done, and get it back to you. For instance, sending just $10 via paypal, could take over a dozen children to see a play, or to go swimming.

I would love to act in your proxy to make things happen for these wonderful children!