According to Mark Little, founder of the Rotary Action Group Against Slavery, the Rotary Foundation has just approved a global grant for the biggest anti-trafficking project to date.  Two District 5180 Rotarians from California masterminded the project.  They partnered with districts in the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and Argentina.  The project addressed the need for education both for those who were most vulnerable and also for the general community population. 

 

The grant will consist of a sex trafficking education program rolled out to selected teachers, administrators and students in 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th grades within their district as well as a 30 month human trafficking public awareness campaign aimed to make their communities aware of these atrocities. 

 

Raising awareness of the existence and extent of human trafficking and slavery is the raison d’etre of the California project.  As Matt Friedman (CEO of the Mekong Club and author of his book “Where Are You?”) states,  “ If we don’t know about a problem, we can’t care about it.  If we don’t care about it, we will never act!  If we don’t act, it is inevitable that the problem will continue to exist or more likely get worse.  So we need to raise awareness on this issue of modern slavery to increase the number of those people who care …”

 

With the help of The Rotary Foundation, and your contributions, Rotarians - People of Action- have taken on the responsibility of opening the eyes of as many people as possible to the unseen world where millions languish in slavery everywhere because of poverty, corruption and greed.  As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. “ Thank you.