Dressember 2020
It’s been a rollercoaster 🎢 year, it’s also December, with a fair amount of uncertainty still. As we have arrived to the last month of the year 2020, what are you feeling? What emotions are coming up for you?
For many of us, we have lost folks along the way. We have learned things about ourselves and others. We have connected in ways that likely may not have been possible but for this global pandemic. We have wept. We have laughed. We have peddled a bike that goes nowhere (I’m looking at my Peloton fam!). We have run. We have danced. We have sung. We have journaled. We have healed. We have shouted. We have swore. I love the F word if I’m honest 💁🏾♀️). We have prayed. We have meditated. We have taken it to our yoga mats. We have basked in the ☀️. We have returned you ourselves.
I will not say everything happens for a reason. I will not minimize whatever it is you are feeling. I will continue to hold space for you. I will also continue to hold space for those that are entangled or enmeshed in human trafficking. Did you know that children as young as 10 are forced into the cruel cotton trade across the world, since smaller hands are less likely to damage plants? (Source: UNICEF). This leads me to call out the fashion industry as it has been identified as one of the five key industries contributing to the prevalence of human trafficking (Source: Global Slavery Index). In the US, human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states and globally, people are reported to be trafficked in 127 different countries and exploited from 137 different countries, impacting every continent and economy (Sources: Human Rights First and UNODC). This is insidious and as Audre Lorde says, “When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” She has also said this powerful statement, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
I get it, it’s been a wild year, and also there are still ways to contribute meaningfully, helpfully, and appropriately to the plights of others. Others that are really us.
Examples of how your donation will be used...
$45 - Trauma Therapy: Provide one hour of trauma-focused therapy for a survivor of cybersex trafficking.
$105 - Trial Fees: Cover trial fees for one court case to defend a child who experienced sexual abuse.
$300 - Awareness Training: Provide foster youth at risk of trafficking with CSEC (Commercial Exploitation of Children) awareness training.
$520 - Case Management: Provide a month of home visits for over 90 at-risk children in Thailand.
$1,800 - Ongoing Therapy: Send one youth at risk of trafficking to group therapy for 6 months.
$3,400 - Aftercare: Create a path to healing and independence for two survivors of sex trafficking through long-term economic empowerment services.
$6,300 - Rescue Operation: Fund an entire sex trafficking rescue operation from initial investigation to immediate aftercare.
I know that you are reading this because you, too, love the Divine and love humanity. I thank you in advance for your kind and generous donation.
joyfully yours,
Chidimma