Skip to main content

Tread on Trafficking

Friends, Romans (ok, maybe not Romans but you get the idea), Countrymen, lend me your ears (read: eyes and minds). It's springtime which means it's time to get outside and run, bike, hike, walk, climb, squeeze in a little more skiing, swim, dive, pogo stick, or pick your poison. Love146 has a unique way of focusing our post-cabin fever energy called Tread on Trafficking. You've heard me raving for about a month now about Love146. I'm Love146's brand new VP of Communications. It's been fun, it's been tough, I've shed tears over commercial sexual exploitation and even a few tears over the challenges of my role itself. But at the end of the day, what Love146 does well is awaken the inner abolitionist in each of us.
For me, the inner abolitionist woke up when I realized some of the Nepali street kids with whom I worked so many years ago were victims of sexual exploitation. I pray that dear Minu avoided that fate and survived the hardship of the streets to create a story of hope. Minu was the original owner of the six silver bangles I've worn on my left wrist for nearly eight years. On my last day in Kathmandu, Minu pulled half of her bangles set off her arm and gave them to me. She gave all she had to give; wearing Minu's bangles is an honor, each clink reminds me there are vulnerable ones on whose behalf we are called to stand and fight.
Part of that fight for me involves my journey here at Love146. Does hearing about commercial sexual exploitation make you really mad? Good! It should! Want to do something about it? Become a Treader yourself and commit to a financial or exercise goal for the months of May and June. If exercise isn't your thing, support me as I tread. I'll be ramping up fundraising efforts over this month but I wanted to get this out there ASAP because it just seems like we need to start doing something, anything to abolish child sex slavery and exploitation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rare Disease Day 2024

Today's Rare Disease Day. There's sometimes a particular weightiness to life with a rare disease. All the appointments, emergencies, traumas, doctors, therapists, medicines, opinions, schedules and upset schedules. My touchpoint is being mom to my precious girl with Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome  (WSS). You'd have to spend a day or week shadowing me to know what it's really like. Doesn't that sound alienating? As though you couldn't possibly imagine if you're not living it? Well, maybe. But think about a time of immense grief you've lived through, or a time when your world seemed to be falling apart around you and it felt like everyone else was completely unaffected. I suppose it's a bit like that. You might have thought that those around you couldn't possibly know how that experience felt to you. A couple weeks ago, I started keeping a list of all the extraordinary things that happened in my life due to my daughter's rare disease. I learned a c...

Startup Day 875: piloting in New Haven

Iteration is emblematic of startups. For example: From last year's pilot , we learned that parents and adults with disabilities were looking for recommended resources.  We built the Empowered Together app and tried crowd-sourcing those recommendations.  In our New Haven pilot, we're bringing database building in-house by listing accessible food, arts, and recreational businesses in greater New Haven.  Thankfully, we have thought partners in this endeavor at the City of New Haven and at community disability orgs. We are working with a Quinnipiac student and awaiting word on additional grant funding. We're taking the right next step in changing the social system to be accessible and inclusive of People with Disabilities.

How I Got a Blister from a Cowbell

The bullhorn sounded and he was off, swimming his heart out, across a 50m stretch of lake as deep as his arm is long. My youngest, William, competed in his third year of the  Race4Chase  triathlon in August. When we first applied, I reflected on how I hoped this triathlon camp would allow Will to do something that was entirely his. It would be an opportunity to spread his wings apart from his sister's influence. For siblings of kids living with disabilities, this kind of autonomy is life giving. Back at the lakeside, I was watching Will from a distance and ringing a cowbell like no ones business. Will ran up from the waterfront and we cheered him on. He transitioned to the bike portion and we cheered him on. When he came into view at the end of the bike and transitioned to the run, the final segment of the race, we cheered him on. All the while, that cowbell was clanging. When Will sprinted across the finish line, there was no stopping him (or the cowbell). Thinking about...