new record: 2 days

I may have caught up with my reading plan! Just finished The Road of Lost Innocence in two days. So it's a quick read, but I am feeling good about myself. :)

That said, much of it was difficult to read. Somaly Mam has an organization in Cambodia (and now in surrounding countries) rescuing and restoring women and children in the sex industry. This was her own story of being sold into a brothel as a child, the abuse and violence she suffered, and how she used her experiences to help other women and girls with her same plight.

It was good to learn more about the beginnings of her foundation and what they are doing in this region of the world, and though I'm familiar with the industry and the violence and exploitation, it's still hard to read the terrible and unbelievable stories of little girls being sold by their parents into prostitution, their virginity being sold, and even some situations where parents fight to get their kids back from the shelter so they can sell them again. In this culture, a woman's value is nothing except what profit she can bring to her family. It's still really sad for me to think about how whole cultures can hold such wrong views. As a Cambodian, Somaly can speak to this fairly and in an unbiased way. (Our own cultures have wrong views too, of course.)

It is an engrossing, quick read if you want to learn more about this situation.

February reading

Today, on March 26, I finished my book for February. Woohoo! Only 26 days late. I am considering revising my goal to one "need to read" book every two months, rather than one. I believe in setting myself up for success. ;)

"Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Day Slavery" by Siddharth Kara is what I just finished. It's been a long time since I have learned new information about human trafficking - being in my circles and having articles, etc. sent to me all the time there is never really any new information. So I appreciated this book and would actually really recommend it. It did cover the business side, focusing on the product (victims), wholesalers (slave traders/traffickers), retailers (slave/brothel owners), and consumers and his recommendations for decreasing the high numbers of sex trafficking that is taking place across the globe. But the author also took several extensive research trips and examined trafficking trends and patterns in many regions of the world. I gleaned a few pieces of information from some of his research.

Anyway, if you want to read more about trafficking and learn about what it looks like around the world, I'd recommend this one. Some parts are understandably difficult to read, and he shares his own personal reactions, feelings, and reflections throughout. But as we know it's a very important humanitarian and justice issue, and this book will give lots of good info.

I guess if I am revising my goal I have until the end of April to finish the next one...I wonder what it shall be??

finding rest

I think this is just about enough winter to last me for awhile. Thank you very much. There are bad winter storms at the moment, lots of flooding, and trees down from wind. I walk over this rad suspension footbridge to get to Andrew's shop, and the river underneath is overrunning its banks and quite torrential at the moment! A little wooden bridge that I jogged across in another place over the river last week is completely engulfed in raging water.

Still, I do not miss Athens. Is this a sign? I miss my friends, but not the city. And not work, either (eek). I have been away for a month, and only this week have I gotten to the point where I feel relaxed and able to process things. I realize how the work affects me, and how much more it must affect me in ways that I don't realize. I am tired and probably a little messed up from hanging out in brothels and on the streets with prostitutes, from talking and reading and hearing about sex trafficking and exploitation and horrible things. Before this week, the thought of starting with another trafficking ministry sent horror and dread coursing through my veins. This week, with the beginning of my decompression, I see that with a bit more rest and getting my head recentered, I will be ok.

It's scary to see what this stuff can do to your soul, to your view of God, and to your view of the world, in subtle but powerful ways. I have learned a few tools to take care of myself, but still feel like I fail miserably sometimes. I know there are many who have no idea what it's doing to them. This is something that's becoming increasingly interesting to me - self/soul care for missionaries or those working in fields like this one. It's something I might like to explore more in the future. After I work on it more for myself.

They came! (And we made it!!)

Wow - girls actually came to the party last night! (I mean, of course they came, it was a totally rockin' party.) We had six girls show up, which is more than have set foot in the office in over a year. There used to be parties often, with ten or twelve girls, but the faces have changed and the overall attitude on the street has changed since then. We wanted to try again - and it was a positive first shot!

The interns shopped, decorated, and cooked some traditional Nigerian dishes (supplemented with Kentucky Fried Chicken - the only food proven to be liked by Nigerians and westerners to date!)
Waiting...So, the girls did show, but we don't post photos of them (their faces), so I won't post the pictures from when they were actually there. :) Just believe me.Chris and Stefanos offer their interpretation of some girls on the street... All in all, I'm so pleased with how these three weeks went! I felt all warm and fuzzy saying goodbye today. Here's a shot of the group from Wednesday:We had a big lunch today as a final hurrah, a last chance to enjoy each other's company before parting ways. Most head out tomorrow and Sunday. I said my goodbyes and felt a little fondness in my heart for each one. :)
Ah, the kids.

Ummmm..... vacation? Hello!!!!!

last night

Nigerian girls visiting our outreach table ...
and our friendly neighborhood security guard taking a load off in one of our chairs!

Tonight is the last of our late night street outreaches with this intern team. Before we start, we're putting on a party in the office for the Nigerian girls. The interns have spent the last week planning, talking with the girls on the street, inviting them, passing out invites and maps, and praying that a few will show up! If none come, we'll take the party (and the food!) out on the street to meet them when they come to work. So it will be a party kind of night, regardless.

I've been really blessed the past few days by this team! Yesterday they did presentations of the projects they've been working on. I'll write more about them on my ministry blog, but I was so excited to hear of all the work they've been doing! We learned about trafficking and sport (like the Olympics & the World Cup), dance therapy for trafficking victims, more on Romania as a source country, and had a few photo journals.

Today, at our last official "class" time, I wanted to spend some time in prayer for each person as they leave here and take this all home. It turned into two hours of prayer, with each one getting specific attention. They even prayed for each of us staff members. I was so encouraged!

After tonight's outreach, we'll have a debrief tomorrow and a final team lunch, and our first official anti-trafficking summer internship program will come to an end! I am really looking forward to a month of rest (& travel), but it has been a great great time with these guys here. I'm encouraged, and I've learned a lot from them and how we can improve things for next time.

Off to the party!

interns, outreach, indifference, expectation

The summer interns have arrived! (I will put a photo in when I get one ... brought my camera with me today but left the memory card in my computer. A lot of good it does me there!) Nine people of all ages from all over the States, here to learn about trafficking and participate in a special outreach program to the Nigerian women on the streets.

I've been doing the programming/training side of things, while some of the other girls have been in charge of the social and cultural aspects of the program. I do like teamwork.

The special outreaches start officially on Thursday night, but one of the guys joined Nea Zoi for a regular outreach last night. He came back with the report for the rest of the group today, and shared with excitement the great connections they made with some of the women in the brothels (he didn't go in; the men stay outside while the girls go in and chat). One girl taking down the phone number and promising to call today. Another girl encouraging the team to keep doing what they're doing and they'll save many girls on this street.

His report was glowing and his excitement was clear. I found myself listening unaffected, unfazed. While the others in the group had tears in their eyes and gave joyful and amazed exclamations, I sat thinking, "we've heard that before."

When does this happen?! When do you become so jaded that you aren't affected by good contacts or conversations - instead seeing them as empty promises, words to fill a silence, a line to go in the database? When do you begin to lose hope that you're making any kind of difference to the innumerable girls in this world, let alone this city? When do you start noting others' excitement as that of a "newbie" and one that will surely fade to a more realistic perspective in time?

Gosh, was I ever like that??

I was, and I still have my moments. I still have the glimpses, the good conversations, the connections with the ones who have gotten out. I still pray the occasional passionate prayer. I still believe I'm making a difference for the one girl. But I also see how hard it is to keep up that fresh hope and passion, how difficult it is to keep yourself going day in and day out, when after awhile it all looks the same, sounds the same, turns out the same.

This is why I'm thankful for "fresh blood," for "newbies," for those who remind us of the significance and importance of what we do. Their passion and expectation is contagious, their eyes fresh and able to see the miraculous in our everyday occurrences.

Welcome to the interns. :)

the "other" office

A colleague found these videos on You Tube the other day. They're of the street where we work with the Nigerian girls, shot by some little excited tourists from the roof their hotel next door. As it gets later, more girls come - around midnight they'll be arriving in taxis together from their apartments. The "house" the girls mention in the video is a hotel that many of them work out of, and those guys are not their pimps; probably just some dudes hanging out.

Give it a couple more hours after these clips are shot and the numbers could get up to 50, 60, 70 girls at times... Or, like last night, when there were zero because of the police driving through over and over to scare them. In one of these clips the girls all ran up some stairs onto a higher level - to run from either the police or some people who sometimes come through, also just to scare them.

time for my soapbox

I never really told you what I think of that Stop the Traffik PSA I shared below. (I wrote a bit in the comments but not here.) After I got over my traumatization, I thought about it a bit more, and I think it misses the point.

I think it's really well done, gets the point across, and is in-your-face in a way that gets your attention and makes you think about the issue. (Although, unfortunately, without getting it in actual television spots, the majority of the people who will view it are those who are, at the least, already aware, and at the most, active in the issue.) And my opinion has nothing to do with Stop the Traffik - I worked with them in LA (Oasis, as they are called in the States).

Here's my experience: Anyone would agree, after viewing this PSA, that trafficking is horrible, violent, and should be stopped. Including the man who will go pay for sex in a brothel with this girl. That's because he doesn't make the connection between the girl in the ad - how she got there, whether it was by force/violence or not - and the girl he is having sex with. He assumes and tells himself that the particular girl he is seeing is different - she wants to be there, or at least has made a choice to be there.

We have gotten a lot of attention on human trafficking, and people think it's terrible and evil. But it's not slowing down. Ads like this - and the anti-trafficking campaign in general - would be more effective if they tied this violent event to the girl that is in the brothel or giving services on the street. If we connected the crime, injustice and violence of trafficking directly to prostitution, or even pornography, perhaps that would have a greater effect on the demand - since that is what is fueling the human trafficking industry in the first place.

spanakopita

I got an email today that said "We have been reading a lot in the newspaper about Grease."

:)

Well, I have returned from a whirlwind trip to Cyprus. We had a really great turnout, and I enjoyed doing the training. I was reminded how much "ministry" is involved in these things, when during breaks, after the conference ends for the day, and much of your otherwise "free" time is taken by meals and other meetings and chats and questions and you always have to be "on"! At one point I was so brain dead I just stared into my pizza blankly while the others talked around me. So much polite smiling and nodding and making conversation. :) THAT is what exhausts me; the teaching part I love!It was great having a traveling companion ... Holly is from Seattle and interning with Nea Zoi for a year. I was glad she could come along. We had a bit of free time on Friday morning to wander around along the sea and in the old part of Limassol.
Back in Athens, it's rainy and freezing again! I thought we were surely coming into some nice spring-y weather; last week I was ready to break out the sandals. Not yet! Today we also have our African dust back in the air, so the dark storm clouds mean that it literally rains mud. All the cars parked along the streets look like they have been off-roading.

Stop the Traffik PSA

A friend at home sent me this PSA and a couple others. I think I am traumatized...

Stop the Traffik - Classroom - (2010) :30

eeps!

My hopes from last August for doing a training in Cyprus are coming true! Next week I will go there to do a three day seminar on anti-trafficking and after care, and I just found out there are 43 people signed up!! (wow!!!!)

and, the shelter.

Well, obviously I survived the weekend away, and, more importantly, so did the girls! I had no idea how my stay at the shelter would go, for me or for them. I was afraid I might be a pushover, or an emotional wreck by the end of it. I hear "strong personalities" and I want to run in the other direction. I guess I have quite a bit more experience than most in this field (trafficking) and ideally I am a good fit for something like this - which is why they asked me to come (and offered me a job, but never mind about that) - but come on, I was a little nervous. :)

And we had our bumps, like the two girls who hate each other (they worked together before coming to the house and the feud goes back quite some time), the meddling and worrying Greek house mom who actually agitated the girls more than she helped, manipulative girls and clashes over housework and cell phone usage. It was hard to see a 5 year old in an environment like this and the sad effects it has on her. It was frustrating having to calm down and mediate between a 65 year old woman and younger girls who you would expect that from. It was uncomfortable knowing that they were being nice to me because they were hoping I would let them use the phone to call their boyfriend. And to try and manage all this when 10 of the 12 girls speak Russian and none of the staff do! Tough.

But - what a good weekend! Kalli, the amazing shelter manager, got a bit of a break to have a date with her husband and time with her kids. I was able to be firm when necessary, and I was able to earn their respect, while at the same time being able to sit and watch movies, cook, go on walks, and hang out and chat. A couple times I needed to step out on the balcony for fresh air, or go hide in the stairwell to use the internet (they aren't allowed). But it seemed like everyone (even Crazy Nagging House Mom) benefited from stability, calmness, and boundaries. And thank God I was able to have those things!

Alissa, a 22 year old from Russia (the one who pierced her lip), a child herself with a 2 year old son back home, was a bit scary at first (big girl with narrow eyes, a hard face and lots of piercings, whose only English is the word "striptease"). She didn't speak English or Greek, but we managed to communicate. I made her mad one night when they were supposed to be watching a DVD but she wouldn't stop flipping through her Russian music video channels. I finally raised my voice a bit and said either put the DVD on now, or turn the TV off. She shoved the remote control into my hand, and stormed out, yelling in Russian, while everyone else watched. The next morning though she was her cheerful giggly self again. She found out later in the day that her son was being abused back home, and we went for a walk together, trying to communicate while window shopping and enjoying being out of the house. She linked her arm through mine as we walked. My last morning she asked me to help her make crepes for breakfast (the girl is an amazing cook! She cooked almost all the meals and they were all delicious), teaching me how to do it and letting me try. She was the only one who hugged me goodbye. (Not anything I was expecting from this crew...)

Lots of them had kids; most came from abusive or split or low-income families; most are smart and assertive, selfish and manipulative, and trying to get what they can out of the shelter and the services they can provide. Most of them are waiting to get legal papers so they can stay in Greece and work. Odds are a few of them will return to the situation they were rescued from when they leave the house, and I'm sure a few of them don't even understand the gravity of what they were rescued from. One day you love them, the next you don't care if they carry out their murder threats on each other (and almost hope they do).

By the end of the four days, I felt pretty bad for them as they are stuck inside all day every day; I was quite ready to get back to my own life and freedom. All there is to do is watch TV and eat (and eat they do - I was amazed at every meal how much food was consumed!!!). But surprisingly, it was a peaceful time for me. Even with the clashes and contentions, I could handle it, and it didn't feel out of control or really stressful to me. It was actually a good escape from life for me - even good for my Greek - and I felt rested as I was coming home. (Obviously that didn't last very long.)

So, I will not be taking a job with this organization anytime soon, nor moving up north as they have also requested multiple times, but I will undoubtedly be returning to help them more. Even if I can give Kalli a weekend off here and there, I think it's worth it. And dare I say, I even enjoyed myself a little. :)

"long weekend" has a whole new meaning.

I'm hiding at the top of the stairwell by the door to the roof again; internet is not allowed and I would be pounced instantly if discovered! Let's see...just a few things the last two days have held:

1. Have diffused a few major fights (between the same two people) which include death threats...slept with all the knives and scissors in my room last night. Threatened to sleep on the floor of one of their rooms tonight.
2. I took a girl to the pharmacy because she pierced her own lip with who knows what.
3. The same girl found out that her 2 year old son in her home country is being abused by her alcoholic mother. We went for a walk today for cigarettes and fresh air, and an appropriate lip ring (she was using the one from her tongue!)
4. Monitored phone calls to eight different countries, and confiscated hidden mobile phones and sim cards.
5. One of the girls is pregnant, and finally decided yesterday to keep the baby. It's been fun to watch her embrace the idea.
6. Being slowly driven crazy by the Greek house mom who is as crazy or crazier than some of the residents here.
7. The 5 year old wears more makeup than I do.
8. One of the African girls has a younger sister who has been trafficked to Libya and her family hasn't heard from her in 2 months.
9. Watched countless movies and music videos in Russian! I can almost speak it by now.
10. Given impromptu English and Greek lessons, and talked about life, respecting rules and others and ourselves, boyfriends, babies, movie stars, cars, and our home countries.

I'm a little tired! Things are generally going well, if not a bit crazy. I feel like a mom to 12 kids who need constant monitoring and mediating. My hat goes off to the people who run this place (and others like it), and I am joining in prayers for them for help - specifically trained staff. The shelter manager is here every single day, many days for 10-12 hours. It's been my goal to give her her first weekend off in a very long time so she can be home with her family, and I think we're going to make it!

One more full day for me; I will be the only staff person for most of the day tomorrow (Greek house mom is taking the day off), so hopefully we can avoid any murder attempts or escapees. Crossing my fingers.

ah, the stories we'll tell...

I am grabbing a moment on my computer before all the girls wake up! I arrived at this shelter yesterday afternoon and was thrown right in. The police did another raid yesterday and rescued 11 more girls, 3 of whom gave information right away and came to this shelter a few hours before me. So there are 12 right now in this house - 4 Russians, 3 Uzbeks (the newcomers), 2 Nigerians, 1 Bulgarian, and 1 Ukrainian who has her 5 year old daughter here with her. Would be nice to speak Russian, but I guess if you look at it that way, in my work it would be nice to speak Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian, etc. etc. etc. plus Greek. What can you do. :)

I was talking with the Danish kid who oversees everything here and we were saying what great stories we'll have someday - just yesterday he took these Uzbek girls from the police station to the apartment they were living in to get their belongings out, and had to kick in the door! (He loved it.) The police were pretty sure the trafficker wouldn't come back anytime soon so they sent him without any "back up." "That's the second door I've kicked in in two months!" he said excitedly. Ha.

A couple days ago these Muslim Uzbek girls were sitting in that apartment, locked in and unable to leave, feeling desperate and depressed. They said to each other, ok, if there is a Jesus, let him free us. Not two days later the police raided and now here they are in this shelter. Those are the stories that we like to share!!

Thanks for praying!

processing

Kristin and fake snow at The Grove shopping center, Hollywood, CA

I've been back a week now. Seen lots of people, driven on 8 freeways (most of those in one day), gotten used to throwing my toilet paper in the toilet instead of the garbage, eaten more than my share of all that food I've missed out on this past year.

And, through talking with people and answering their questions, I think I have processed more about the last year in this week than in the whole year itself. It's really quite different being removed from it - when it's your daily life, you often don't think twice about things that I am now realizing are horrendous and not part of other people's daily lives!!! I often need the reminder "this is not normal," and I get that when people respond in shock to things that I just breeze right over. Oh yeah...they aren't used to these things. Really, I shouldn't be either.

But I have realized things like when I don't really feel much emotion when I find out about the death of one of the Nigerian girls, but then I weep for days at the plight of women in the DRC that I will never meet, I really am processing things. It just comes out in other areas that are not my daily reality that I must cope with. I detach from the streets of Athens so I can work every day, so the emotion comes out in other areas that I don't have to deal with personally.

It's really fun to be concerned with what restaurant to eat at and shopping for makeup for a change. Ha.

yes, yes...

I'm in Amsterdam. Today we are heading to a top secret location outside the city (I only say this because some of my friends in Greece are convinced I am in the CIA or other secret agency!) :) for a prayer summit on human trafficking. This will be an important few days for the organization I will be there with as they seek to figure out where they are going as a global organization in the field of anti-trafficking, but also for me as I figure out my future in Greece and what that might look like. SOOOO - prayers please!! And I'll keep you posted. :)

new wave

Last night during outreach on the streets, we saw a couple of Asian girls who were clearly in prostitution. These are the first we've seen. We've heard that they are in Italy, and will not be surprised when they start showing up here too. The Nigerian girls came to Greece in 2003, and had been in Italy before that. I know there are Chinese and Japanese trafficking rings in Italy, but have not heard of any here in Greece, yet. Now we are moving to our next wave of "exotic" girls to meet the demand. I'm sad to see it. I'm curious to see where they will start to appear - on the streets? In the brothels? What are their stories?

thoughts on sharing my (uncommon) opinion

I've been in several discussions the past few weeks about legalizing prostitution. First of all, at parties, barbecues, meeting new people with friends at cafes, whatever - the question "What are you doing in Greece?" (an international derivative of "What do you do?") comes up inevitably. This always leads to a brief or longer (if they are interested, which some are) description or discussion on human trafficking. Many ask a few polite questions, show some shock, and move on to lighter topics, but many press it farther and want to talk about it more. Either is fine. But several times lately this has led into someone's soliloquy on why prostitution should be legalized. Hate to say it, but it's been a male every time.

And I usually say with some nonchalance that I disagree, and if they are listening, give them my reasons, to which they listen thoughtfully, don't usually have much of a response, and then we move on. I was just thinking about how in some cases I feel almost embarrassed to give my opinion. I know in most circles men (it's mostly men, although there are many women who believe in the woman's right to choose what she does with her own body) believe in legalization, and they think that it will curb problems like sexual violence and trafficking. (It's quite the opposite, in fact.) Often I feel like the little Christian girl with the conservative viewpoint talking to someone who probably has visited one of these women in their lifetime in some country or another.

But, it's ok, I've realized...I can articulate it in an intelligent way, and my reasons are not based on my faith (fundamentally they are, but there are many reasons that don't even need to get into that). So they usually do listen thoughtfully and I know they are thinking about it. And, they still like me afterward. :) Usually if someone is talking to me about trafficking, etc. in the first place, they will be open-minded enough to hear my thoughts. It's just funny how we can be shy to share our thoughts, our faith, our whatever, if we know it is not the popular belief. I like having these discussions with men, and being able to make them think about things beyond their own opinions or "needs," in a way that doesn't make them write me off or feel condemned or end the conversation.

I even got invited to come over and smoke weed after one of these conversations last week, so I guess I am still "in." Ha! (I didn't. Thank you.)

viva Greece!

I met a friend for coffee yesterday in one of my neighborhood's trendy cafe/coffee shops around 6pm. When she left an hour and a half later, I moved over and joined a group of friends from the neighborhood a few tables away. As more people came we added chairs and crammed around our tiny table full of glasses and chips. At 10:30 (in the midst of a downpour - glorious!) we made our way to the neighborhood lamb taverna and shared the traditional Greek spread. I got home around 2am. That is Greece! :)

Tonight I met some different friends around 7 or 8pm. We weren't in our own neighborhood, but one where you can walk for blocks without hearing Greek, a neighborhood full of refugees and people shooting up and women in prostitution. I went into six brothels tonight, met a girl from Romania who looked 15 and has been here just one month, a Nigerian girl who claims that she's been here two years but has never met us before, a Bulgarian girl who lounged her stiletto-heeled feet on the arms of her chair and nervously answered our greetings. Men come and go and she does her business and that's just how it works. This is also Greece.

What can I say, I get the full experience.

trafficking in Cyprus

Guess I'd better update while I have a faint internet signal...!

So, read about this guy, Father Savvas, who has been working with trafficked women in Cyprus for the past three years. Prostitution in Cyprus largely takes place through Cabaret Bars, where women dance and usually are forced to prostitute as well. The girl I got in contact with who took us around one of the red light districts showed us the cabaret bars, where we saw hoards of girls arriving for work - many from just next door! They live very close to these bars in buildings with such names as "Chiquita Apartments," where purchasers know that they live and frequently seek them out in their own homes at all hours.

This Russian orthodox priest heard about all this through confessionals at his church and began to do something about it - going to talk to the girls as they work, and opening a shelter for those who got out. There are other groups who I met this past week who are also working and/or praying for the issue - Cyprus is a major destination country for sex trafficking. One of the girls working there told me that some of the rescued girls they have worked with are unable to talk about what happened to them in one of these particular cities in Cyprus - they can talk about their experiences everywhere else, but what is happening to them here is apparently unspeakable. They think there are close to 10,000 women in prostitution on this island.

I have several contacts now, in the churches and others, who I'll be talking with. I'd love to see some kind of networking happening there, and many expressed interest in (and have even asked in the past for) training in working with trafficking victims. Hey - I can do that! ;)