The A21 Campaign.

The A21 Campaign is something I feel very passionate about supporting. It stands for 'Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century' (which I probably should've found out before now!) and is a campaign raising awareness for the 27million people who are trapped in modern day slavery. This subject is something that we all know happens, but may not have classed it as 'slavery' before. It is a problem that affects every nation, though we may not realise it. 

Myself and my friend Elly (who loves it when I mention her) got chatting about this cause one day and decided we should do something to help, indeed this is how the campaign began in the first place. So, we set about planning and decided to start small by running a fundraiser/awareness evening. This week, the event finally came around so I thought I would share a bit about how it went and what I have learnt from it. 

We decided to run it in the format of a meal, so we charged people for the price of a ticket and provided a meal for free. Thanks to the extremely generous people in our Church who provided main courses and desserts, we were able to feed everybody and in most cases they got 2nd's! Without those people giving up their time and ingredients, this part of the evening wouldn't have happened! We decided in the end to keep it simple and served everything with jacket potatoes, as the brits love their tatties. 

My favourite find for the evening!

I love tablecloths   

Our yummy cupcakes

Discussion points for the tables

We also had musicians who played for us throughout the evening that were wonderful and worked out as a great part of the evening and all of the musicians ended up being very eager to help us continue to raise awareness in the future. The music helped to keep the evening relaxed even though the subject matter was very tough!

Throughout the evening, we discussed the facts of Human Trafficking and watched the A21 Campaign's video, which was a great way to educate everyone in a way that was better than anything I could've done! Of course, it was a lot of information to take in, especially for those who had very little knowledge before the evening, as I did when I first looked into it! The point of this campaign is to help people realise that anyone can make a difference. 

Facts about Human Trafficking (taken from A21 website):

- It is the 2nd largest Global Organised crime and generates nearly $31.6 BILLION a year, Specifically sexual trafficking $27.8 billion a year.

- There are 1.39 million victims of commercial sexual servitude worldwide.

- Only 1-2 % of victims are rescued whilst 1 in 100,000 Europeans involved in trafficking are convicted.

- Greece is known as 'the centre of trafficking in Europe.'

- Ukraine is a source country for trafficked women and is currently one of the largest exporters of women, not just in the EU but also to the Middle East and to South East Asia. 

- Bulgaria - It is estimated that that 10,000 Bulgarian women alone are trafficked yearly, both within the country and to destination countries.

- Roma - Ethnic Roma men, women and children are particularly vulnerable to becoming trafficking victims, due to ethnic discrimination, poverty, high levels of unemployment, usury, growing up in state care, homelessness, domestic violence, substance abuse and complicity of family members trafficking their own.

- The United States - Human Trafficking is currently on the rise. Over 17,500 victims are trafficked in the US annually and  it is estimated that 33% are US Citizens. The full scope of the problem is yet to be determined but it is intertwined with drugs and prostitution. Trafficking here takes the form of; prostitution, massage parlours and brothels. Generally, those who are US citizens will end up in the sex trade whereas foreign victims will be found in labour trafficking. 

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It also happens in the UK. Take a look at this story which has recently hit the news. There are more stories like this, though it is not widely talked about.   

A few weeks ago, some of us watched the Nefarious documentary, as I have mentioned previously.  The quote below that cropped up in this film will never leave me because of its truth. Now that we have passed the baton onto everyone who attended our fundraiser, or those of you reading this cannot say you didn't know about Human Trafficking - because I've just told you about it! 

This quote has been the key for me to do something about it!

Below are the A21 Campaign flyers, which  suggest ways in which YOU and I can begin to make a difference. You can start by talking about what you have heard. The more it is talked about, the more people know and the more likely it is that we can work together to see an end to this. It isn't just something 'nice' to do, it is our responsibility.

 What did I learn?

On the night of our fundraiser, I got a real picture of what, especially as Christians - we should stand for. Without all the people who helped myself and Elly i.e. those who cooked, washed the dishes, served the food, brewed the tea, wiped the tables, put away chairs, folded tablecloths etc, then that night would never have happened. It was team at its best. It was us, working together for others - for a cause greater than ourselves which is what it is all about. 

We also need to be moved into action. It's all well and good looking into these things and then walking away and carrying on our lives as normal. But we have a duty to carry the burden of others. We need to have our heart broken for those who need us. It is a conscious decision - to not let these people continue to suffer when we have the ability to 'be the change' in this situation. Though it is easy to be overwhelmed by massive statistics, if each one of us does something then of course things will change!   We have managed to raise about £180/$290 just through 30 of us gathering together. More than this, we educated 30 people who may then go on to tell 30 people etc etc. That is the real point! 

I did not write this to brag about what we have done - for this is just the beginning. We started small, and simple, running a relaxed evening based around sharing food and facts. Maybe you could do something similar or on an even smaller scale! You could have a tea party or a coffee morning or get a few friends together to chat about it. Make a few crafts or sell some cupcakes. Everything will make a difference!

What will YOU do?

At our event x thank you to everyone who came x

Much Love xxx

p.s. let's all be abolitionists