Girl Alert
by Miranda Tollenaar with Belinda ChaplinA few weeks ago, in the Dutch town of Zwolle, I attended the high profile trial of a gang of eleven alleged human traffickers, most of them Nigerians. The case had resulted from a Nigerian pastor (living in The Netherlands) breaking the voodoo curses that had caused the trafficked girls to remain silent. The girls had allegedly been smuggled from several Dutch asylum seeker centers and been forced by their traffickers into the sex industry. After pastor Moses Alagbe prayed with them, these young women opened up to him about what had happened; something the police had not been able to accomplish thus far.
As I sat listening to the witnesses, I reflected on another trial that
took place in 2008 in Brazil which had originally inspired my interest
for human rights. In the tribal areas, the children who were born
mentally or physically handicapped were simple left to die. The
Christians in Brazil (some of them YWAMers) were fighting on behalf of
a group that didn't have the means to speak up for themselves - those
indigenous children. At the time, I was able to use my social studies
background and job as an assistant TV producer to help present the case
in the Dutch media. It was then that I realized that my background had
uniquely placed me to help people who do not have their own voice to be
heard.
It has been quite a journey since. And, now, almost two years later, we are launching of 'Girl Alert' at the YWAM Heidebeek base in the Netherlands on November 20th, 2009 - the 50th anniversary of World's Children Day. Together with a growing team, we want to empower the voice of girls around the world. The first topic we will be promoting is equal access for boys and girls to primary schools. To accomplish this, we are working closely with eight primary schools facilitated by YWAM in Tanzania, Zambia, Mali and India, all located in areas monitored by the UN due to a literacy gender inequality of 10 % or more. As you can imagine, providing education is considered a crucial part in preventing girls from being trafficked.
Will you pray with us as we pioneer this new project and will you join us by signing up on our site - www.girlalert.org? Together we can be the change!
It has been quite a journey since. And, now, almost two years later, we are launching of 'Girl Alert' at the YWAM Heidebeek base in the Netherlands on November 20th, 2009 - the 50th anniversary of World's Children Day. Together with a growing team, we want to empower the voice of girls around the world. The first topic we will be promoting is equal access for boys and girls to primary schools. To accomplish this, we are working closely with eight primary schools facilitated by YWAM in Tanzania, Zambia, Mali and India, all located in areas monitored by the UN due to a literacy gender inequality of 10 % or more. As you can imagine, providing education is considered a crucial part in preventing girls from being trafficked.
Will you pray with us as we pioneer this new project and will you join us by signing up on our site - www.girlalert.org? Together we can be the change!
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Waoh! I enjoyed reading your post. I work with children and I've seen what illiteracy and lack of exposure to proper education can do to children. I pray God gives you more wisdom, opportunities and resources to do more. I'm also glad God used a fellow Nigerian to expose the traffickers...:)