Nea Zoi: Refreshing and Resources for those in prostitution

Learn from trafficking victims?

2010-09-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

I really liked this article from Evangelicals for Social Action... thinking about how we in the church have embraced anti-trafficking work. Stuff to reflect on.

Learning from the Least of These
by Christine Jeske

Isaiah 61, the passage Jesus read in the temple at the start of his ministry, is often sited as motivation for action among the poor and disempowered. “The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor,” the powerful passage reads, “to bind up the brokenhearted… comfort all who mourn…” and so on. Just beyond those famous words, though, Isaiah continues: “They will called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of God’s splendor… Their descendents will be known among the nations… all who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

Here it is not the person going to “preach good news to the poor” who is called blessed; rather it is the poor themselves. These are people like Thembi of South Africa who cares for her nine orphaned relatives, Carla who serves on her own children’s school leadership committee in Nicaragua, or Burmese refugees in America caring for their urban poor neighbors out of Christ’s love. These people are the oaks of righteousness, and they are everywhere in the world, from the slums of Guatemala City to the prisons of North Korea to the streets of San Francisco. The stories of these “people the Lord has blessed” could fill a thousand books.

For years the main motivation behind Western Christians learning about other cultures has been to be problem-fixers. We want to fix other people spiritually, and in many protestant churches there has been a growing push to fix people’s physical needs also. We want to build the kingdom of God, get it done right, and sit back and feel good about ourselves. “Why shouldn’t we?” we ask proudly. “We have done well economically, have more education than most people in the world, and we have been saved from our sins!”

To this end, we tell stories about the poor with a certain slant. Either we describe people in misery, desperate for an NGO to come help, or we describe the miracle cases of the compassionate organization that changed so-and-so’s life.

This mentality strays toward playing God, and it damages our relationship with both God and God’s people. When people addicted to fixing things interact with people who have been chronically poor or disempowered, they make a bad equation: wealthy people wanting to be needed plus poor people feeling needy. This combination resembles the kind of dating relationship that strays toward abuse, the kind you would advise any friend to get out of in a hurry.

Instead we need to stop and learn from people in traditionally marginalized cultures. Rather than lumping the poor together as objects of pity, we need to notice “oaks of righteousness” among them, let them lead, and ask how to join them. Among the poor are luminaries in faith, perseverance, love, worship, hospitality, godliness, surrender, and of course, on loving the poor.

Jesus loved to teach through unlikely heroes. He never said, “Look at this leader in economic growth, this political giant, or this religious leader known throughout the world.” Instead he said look at a child and learn humility. Look at a widow giving her last coin and learn generosity. Look at a woman of questionable repute washing his feet with her tears and learn worship. Look at a sinful tax collector and learn repentance. He said “Blessed are you who are poor,” not because the poor will receive gifts from the wealthy, but because theirs is, already in their poverty, the kingdom of heaven.

Certainly whatever culture or economic level we come from, we need to ask God how we can pour ourselves out generously as servants for God’s glory. May it not be said of us, though, that we’ve studied, sacrificed, and visited the poor just to fix them. Instead, we need to hang out with the poor knowing that we also are being fixed and that God in his funny way of working loves to teach us and shape us through heroes among “the least of these.”

Thoughts from Summer Outreach

2010-08-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

Here is an update from the summer program Nea Zoi did in the month of July from intern Shelbi W.

"My Grace is Sufficient"

"It is getting harder to leave at the end of the night when we go out to the streets. Can I just stay with them? I promise I will be safe. I know that I am not allowed to be alone out there, but who is going to keep them safe? I find myself wishing that we could go out every night. I have the overwhelming question of "why" screaming in my head all the time. Why. Why her? Why not me? Why is this allowed? Why do you not save them right now God? You walked on water, you healed the sick, you made blind men see... Why are these girls here? Do you know that the girls regularly stand on the streets singing praise songs? Often the conversations go like this: "What fun music! What is it called?" "It is praise music from my country. From Nigeria. Praise to the One who made it all." Then the girl runs off chasing a potential customer. The girls know that what they are doing is sin, but they are trapped by their circumstances and their traffickers. "just as soon as I pay off my debt, then I will find a new job."

"The girls have started to remember me. I do not really blend in here you could say. I remembered their names, thankfully, and was greeted with warm smiles and hugs. I loved seeing them. Its hard not to just grab them, throw them in a car, and go far away. At different times, the girls asked me to sit with them. We would sit there. Just two young women having a conversation. One girl told me of how she missed home. She said she had a lot of family there, but she was here in Athens alone. She told me that if she could, she would go back home right now. She would just fly away and be gone. I am going to find out why she has not done so and offer her the opportunity to go home through Nea Zoi next time I see her.

"Another girl offered for me to sit down on the cardboard box she had set out so the dirty sidewalk would not stain her dress. We laughed at our attempt to both sit on this little pieece of cardboard. We laughed at the size of my butt in comparison to her small frame. We laughed at my recent sunburn and awful tan lines from the merciless Greek sun. We laughed. We talked of how she loved to sing gospel music. I asked her if she would want to sing in front of a crowd ever. She said it did not matter. She loved to sing everywhere. We shared smiles and stories. But we shared an unspoken pain. We could joke and laugh, but we did it amongst the darkness of a street filled with men walking by and gawking at us. She sat safe with me, but I could not keep her safe. Everytime I looked at her I could see a yearning to be as far away from here as she could be. I watched her fiddle with her phone and hands, never really looking up. I wanted to throw away any normal conversation, and just grab her and hold her close to me. I wanted to let her cry. Cry for the injustice of it all. Cry for where her life had taken her. Cry for what had been stolen from her. I could see so much pain that could not come out.

"You see this girl who I sat on the box with. She has not been making enough money, thus her family has been threatened. They have reduced the amount she has to pay off, but she still has another two years [of this work] ahead of her. She is dying inside. You can see it all over her face. Her family has been threatened so she receives pressure from them. She receives pressure from her traffickers. She is ravaged by her customers. She must go out night after night allowing others to take advantage of her. No one seems to care for her. All is hopeless. I look at her and I want to scream at every man that walks by with that disgusting look. I want to fight for her. tell her she is loved. Oh, she is adored. That is when the question "why" begins to scream in my head. I hear "My grace is sufficient." What does that mean? Every time I cry out to the Lord, this is what I hear. Grace. Grace. My Grace. I am not going to pretend to understand. I am not going to play all knowing holy Christian.

"Was I blaming God for all of this? Paul is talking about nothing being out of his own good, but rather from God. I see all this injustice and it is hard to comprehend and understand my God in this context. But why this verse? Is the Lord reminding me that this pain I feel He feels even more than I do? All the filth, this is what sin does. This is what sin is. Have I not been walking in the grace of God? Yes. But what about these girls? I am not questioning that God's grace is not enough, but am I questioning his heart in comparison to mine? When I understand this verse in the context of my life right now I shall let you know.

"Pray For L. Pray for hope. Pray for every girl on this street. Every girl I meet. I have no idea how I will ever be able to leave them. Pray. Pray. Pray. For I know His Grace is sufficient.

"2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." "

~Shelbi W.

Shocking video on trafficking in US minors

2010-05-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

next chapter in Ana's story

2010-05-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

We just heard that Ana's back in Athens - there was nothing to keep her at home. All her family demanded money, and all those things that made her leave home in the first place are still there! Please pray for encouragement for our volunteers D and V who are still in touch with her, and for wisdom in how to support and encourage her for change! It can be a long journey!

Ana's story

2010-04-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

"Ana*'s back home!" our volunteer D excitedly reported as we met last week. "She actually called from a international phone number!"

Anna is from a small village in Eastern Europe, but we met her here in an ugly brothel. Over the last couple of months, she's opened up to our volunteer about how she got here. A boyfriend that she believed loved her after a year together, a need for a job, lack of job options in her village, and friends who had already migrated to Spain, Italy and Greece.

The problem is that we were never sure if, when and where we would see Anna again. Once she entrusted us with her phone number, we were able to contact her more regularly. Our volunteer D kept contacting her to see if we could help her get out.

But then she called when the police had arrested her. She had to stay overnight in jail, and we couldn't visit her, especially since our volunteer D traveled out of Athens. So another volunteer V who spoke her language offered to go to the courts to support her, even though she hadn't any idea what Ana looked like.

At the courts where women are tried for prostitution, it is so chaotic. All the crowds that we see in Omonoia - drug users, dealers, petty criminals, and the poor are all tried together for petty misdemeanors. After an hour futilely waiting around in hopes of seeing someone that matched Ana's description, our volunteer almost gave up. She decided to wait a few more minutes, looking for a chair to sit down at least. Right behind her, a seat opened up - the only free seat in the courtroom. As she gratefully sank into the chair, she noticed that the girl seated next to her carried an identity card from the same country as Ana. As she curiously looked closer at the i.d. card, it WAS ANA! Wow! She quickly asked her if she was Ana, and knew our other volunteer D. The look on Ana's face was priceless - to realize that someone was waiting for her in the most unpleasant, miserable place! And not just her boyfriend-pimp.

Despite her conviction that her boyfriend would take her home the next day, we saw her again in the brothel. Once again, he didn't keep his word.

But last week, Ana was finally free to go home! I don't know what happened that changed her boyfriend's heart, but Ana got to go home. I'm sure that her emotional bond with this guy is still there, and there are so many woundings and traumas from this whole story. But we rejoice together with Ana on one step forward in her journey towards healing!

*all names are changed to protect identities

Back at it

2010-04-13T03:56:00.000-07:00

After a restful Easter holiday, we started back with our streetwork. I appreciate hearing from many volunteers how much they missed the outreaches - it really becomes part of our lives and hearts! It was also good to see women who remembered us as the ones who brought them Easter presents- either yummy tsoureki or English Bibles.

I am encouraged as well by several of our volunteers who are in regular contact with young women who are considering escape from prostitution. Even when we aren't sure where and how to get in contact with them, God keeps leading our teams to where they are. Please pray for safety and wisdom for these volunteers, and for courage and divine protection for three young women *Gina, *Julie and *Amy to take steps towards life change.

*not their real names!

Happy Easter

2010-03-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Meditations on the Political Meaning of Easter
Passion Week is at once an intensely personal experience and a politicaleven cosmicevent. Here are four reminders of the political layers of the story of Jesus death and resurrection.
by Heidi Unruh
(http://www.esa-online.org/Article.asp?RecordKey=FA9D37AB-8D11-4294-903C-F5888DD4D7A7)

Passion Week is at once an intensely personal experience and a political—even cosmic—event. Here are four reminders of the political layers of the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

1. In “An Evangelical Vision for Public Policy,” Ron Sider describes how the resurrection is central to our ongoing work for justice:

“It was the resurrection that convinced the early Christians that Jesus’ Messianic claim was valid and that the long expected Messianic kingdom had genuinely broken into history. As a result, the early church imitated Jesus’ sweeping challenge to the status quo by offering the world a new society incarnating Jesus’ kingdom values on economic sharing, nonviolence, and the equality of all people. Women and slaves became persons. The rich engaged in economic sharing as there was need. Even as they burned at the stake they loved their enemies. The very character of the early Christian community was itself tangible evidence that the Messianic age of peace and justice, so long expected by the prophets, had already begun.

“However, it was also painfully clear that the old age of evil, injustice, and violence still persisted, even in the church to a certain degree. Jesus himself had taught that the Kingdom of God had begun with his life and work. He also said that the Messianic kingdom of justice and peace would come to its fullness only at his Second Coming. Christians therefore look forward to a coming day, known only to God, when the risen Christ will return to complete his victory over all evil and injustice, when God’s people will live forever in the presence of the risen Lord.”

2. In “The Political Implications of Resurrection Hope,” John Drury asserts that “we who believe in the resurrection of the dead will challenge the adequacy of even the most progressive sociopolitical agendas, for our hope is found in nothing less than the living Jesus Christ.” Drury offers three ways in which the resurrection should guide “our political thinking, deciding and acting,” excerpted here:

“a) The hope of resurrections points us toward a critical appropriation of the politics of life. By raising his son Jesus from the dead, God has shown himself to be the God of the living, not of the dead. Too much public policy treats death as just a part of life. The resurrection of the dead teaches us that death is the last and greatest enemy of God. Those who hope for resurrection take sides with those who fight against the forces of death in their myriad of forms as a parabolic witness to the resurrection.

“b) The hope of resurrection points us toward a critical appropriation of the economics of generosity. Resurrection is not merely the affirmation of the goodness of the created order but the gift of eternal life beyond any inherent potential. The resurrection of the dead is the ultimate act of generosity, giving what is undeserved and unattainable and unimaginable without the gracious initiative of the living God. So God falls on the side of generosity against scarcity.

“c) The hope of resurrection points us toward a critical appropriation of the rhetoric of hope. In the living Jesus, God speaks a word of promise to the whole creation that by his Spirit he will make all things new. Resurrection hope is not a vague desire for progress or a path of escape from this world, but a sure and certain promise that God is for us and not against us and that he will triumph in the end. God falls on the side of hope against fear.”

3. As one specific example of how the resurrection points us toward the “politics of life,” see a piece by Melanie Weldon-Soiset, “The Death Penalty Denies the Gospel”:

“He was taken before the authorities and subjected to abuse and beatings. No one arose to defend his case with the integrity it deserved. Others will later criticize the prosecution for its thinly-veiled biases. Finally, after a farce of a trial, this afflicted and trampled man was sentenced to die.

“Jesus Christ is not the only one in history who has suffered at the hands of such horrifying injustice. Reggie Clemons, a 37-year-old African-American man from Missouri, is now on death row for a 1991 double murder sentence that is full of errors and scandals. …”

4. As you meditate on how Jesus’ resurrection triumphs over death, scarcity, and fear—and how we are called to be living witnesses to this miracle—join with MCC Haiti staff in Port-au-Prince in singing the anthem of hope, “Because He Lives.”

May the hope, joy and courage of the resurrection be yours in all its fullness!

…

Needing some prayer

2010-02-26T06:50:00.001-08:00

We had a scary night last night. Okay nothing ended up happening, but we had about 8 different guys who were drunk, high, or something like that that kept pushing into our conversations, interupting, walking into us, and harassing us. Often lately, we have one or two guys who just won't go away, but last night it just kept going. Last week, a volunteer's car window was smashed and purse stolen while we were on outreach.
Nothing valuable was taken, and insurance covered the window, but it makes us feel more vulnerable.

I forget after so many years that what we do in Nea Zoi involves taking risks. Yes, nothing terrible has happened, because of God's grace and protection. But there still is risk involved.

I also think of the hundreds of women that we meet that live daily in this danger, and begin to think that violence and fear are normal.

I am also reminded that we need divine protection, and those that would
commit to specifically pray for us while we are out on the streets. It makes a discernible difference. If you'd like to be a part, please let me know so I can give you more details.

Talking about health

2010-02-23T01:21:00.000-08:00

This month we had our training about health matters - HIV and STD's to be precise. Thanks to Chrysa Botsi from the KEELPNO (Greek Center for Disease Control), we were well informed about how to prevent HIV, and the importance of early detection of these diseases.

With this info under our belts, we headed out to do the survey of HIV high risk behavior among the women we see on the streets. We asked questions like, "Can you get HIV from a mosquito bite?" or "Can using a condom every time prevent HIV?" It was a great experience, contrary to our expectations that it would be a little awkward. With the young Romanian and Nigerian women in particular, it was great hear their many questions and concerns about their health that arose after we asked the questionairre. Also, we distributed condoms to many who have limited access to them - they told us it was much better than cookies! Many learned for the first time of their right to a free HIV test in any Greek hospital, but more than that, they experienced our concern (and our Heavenly Father's) about their wellbeing.

Outraged!

2010-02-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Angry, pissed, outraged, furious... a few words to try to explain how I'm starting to feel about prostitution. A couple weeks ago I came across this brothel. It's new, in the last couple months, but new to me. It's one of dozens of new brothels that have opened in the last year or so, all in the center of Athens. They buy old regal family homes that are marked to be preserved, and turn them into 4 brothels - one on each floor and each side of the floor. This time however, a brothel owner cut a door into the outside wall of an apartment building, and then rigged up a rickety stairway, that isn't even properly anchored. Scary! Why is it that no one enforces the laws about legalized brothels? It's not just the brothels - in broad daylight, in many central areas of the city, desparate men and women are trying to sell themselves.

Why does no one care that Athens is turning into one huge brothel? I care, both for my son who will grow up in this ugly environment, and for all the women that are entrapped in this lifestyle. When I ask who is responsible, the answer is... well, the vice squad should but the laws are unclear so... what to do? My question is... who is paying off whom so a blind eye is turned?

sad article on trafficking from Nigeria

2010-01-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/jan/05/national-05-01-2010-31.htm
Europe by desert
Tears of African migrants
For 37 days, Investigative Reporter, EMMANUEL MAYAH, travelled a total of 4,318 kilometres across seven countries and the Sahara desert in the company of illegal African migrants on their way to Europe. From Nigeria to Benin Republic, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and finally Libya, he survived to tell the story of human traffickers, sex slavery in transit camps, starvation, desert bandits, arduous toil in a salt mine, cruel thirst and deaths in the hot desert.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

•Migrants heading for the desert
Photo: Sun Publishing
More Stories on This Section
It is a long-distance suicide, yet most travelers realize it only when it is too late. Just as they say in eastern Nigeria, the road to hell is hardly narrow. It was difficult to say how many times a day this proverb rang in the head of the old woman as she emerged with uncertain steps out of her house. For a minute she hesitated; not just to measure the visitor but to squint at the midday sun as though imploring it not to be too harsh on her.

Looking grief-stricken, though with a gait that betrayed genteel elegance, she muttered a few apologies to no one in particular and said something about malaria. But everyone knew the problem was much more. Indeed, life had never been the same since news reached Madam Emeagwu that her daughter was on death row in Libya.

Since July 2009, Nigerians were still reeling from the aftershock of the news that twenty Nigerians, including one Juliet Okoro, were awaiting the hangman in Libyan prisons. Three women, including Glory Paul-Amanze and Juliet Okoro were among the twenty Nigerians sentenced to death in the North Africa country for offences ranging from murder, drug, armed robbery and immigration offences. Every year, thousands of sub-Saharan migrants, mostly Nigerians, set out on an often perilous journey across the desert to Libya from where they hope to slip into Europe for greener pasture.

But if Nigerians were not unfamiliar with reports of migrants drowning in makeshift boats in the Mediterranean or of ugly footages of human cargoes deposited at airports in yet another mass deportation, tales of execution in transit countries were a totally new dimension to the horrifying migrant story. Juliet Okoro was reported to have been convicted of murder.

“Tell me, who did my daughter kill? What is the name of the man?” Madam Emeagwu asked, again to no one in particular. She took a seat under a guava tree outside her house. Someone had gone in to announce the presence of the visitor. At first the woman had relayed her disposition not to see any guest. Told that the visitor had come all the way from Lagos to the village, Isieke in Anambra State, she had no doubt what had brought him. Almost immediately, she wanted to know if the visitor was a government official and if there was anything he could do to help her daughter.

It was heartbreaking having no words to comfort her. For years she had believed her daughter was in Europe, possibly in America. She had never heard of a country called Libya. Her teenage nephew, who by now had abandoned the cassava chips he was preparing for lunch, had explained she had been in bed sick ever since the family received the bad news. The last time anyone heard from Juliet was in 2000.

Choosing his words carefully, this reporter announced that he was a journalist travelling to the country where Juliet was being held in prison. The journalist also told Madam Emegwu that the Libyan government had suspended the executions of more Nigerians on death row pending the final determination of a case against Libya by a Non-Governmental Organisation, Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), before the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in Banjul, The Gambia.

The woman appeared to digest this piece of information. Her eyes blurred, yet tears failed her. “They said there was no murder…” Her voice trailed off. The encounter was coming to an emotional end, unexpectedly infecting the reporter’s companion and interpreter. By this time, two other women had joined the gathering. They come almost every evening to join Madam Emegwu in prayers. A Nigerian deportee from Libya, Angus Emenike, who spent eleven months in Jawazat detention centre in Tripoli in 2007, had told this reporter about Juliet Okoro and where he could find her family. Finally pulling herself together, the old woman pleaded to write a letter to a daughter she had not seen in ten years and whose Ibo name was Obianuju. The interpreter did the writing, a family photograph was attached and the envelope handed over to the reporter.

Computer fraud academy
On November 16, about 10.30 A.M, an Opel salon car eased out of the Mile-2 Motor park on its way to the Seme border. From this dusty motor park infested with touts and money doublers, thousands of Nigerians had commenced their long and uncertain journey to Europe with a lucky few returning home to show off their success. Among the passengers were this reporter and two other male travelers on the first stretch of their journey to Libya. Ugoh I had already met; the other I would find out was 24-year-old Irabor Monday.

Five months ago, Ugoh and I had been introduced to each other at a meeting with a human trafficker who paraded himself as a travel agent. For some reasons everyone called him Rajah, his name it was gathered was Lawrence Eyohomi. The first meeting between reporter and trafficker was inside the Mr. Biggs fast-food outlet on Ago Palace Way, in Okota, Lagos. Subsequent meetings were at Matenby Hotel close to Akpata Memorial Secondary School; however the session with Ugoh was held inside the premises of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, in Isolo, Lagos. Inside the fast food, Rajah had assured this prospective migrant that he could procure a visa to any part of Europe, America, Asia, Canada and South Africa. Wasting little time in marketing the reputation of his amorphous agency, the man in his early forties insisted that as a rule he would not accept any money until every travel papers had been delivered. He would provide the running cost.

For the client to assure him of prompt and full payment, he said the way out was to open a joint account, using the agreed visa fee at a bank of the reporter’s choice, with the two parties as signatories. Once the embassy had issued the visa, the transaction is ended in the banking hall with the two signatories pulling the money out of the account. Should the procurement suffer a hitch, the transaction would still end in the banking hall with the client going home with his money. Most often however, such transactions were known to have ended in hide and seek. It was either a wrong and cheap visa was procured to such places as Ukraine and Syria or that the money disappeared with the second consenting signature forged. For further effect, Rajah threw in that for difficult visas, to the US and UK, he could equip a determined traveler with Botswana passport or resort to what is known in the industry parlance as transplant.

The reporter pleaded unemployment and inability to pay N450,000 visa fee, to say nothing yet of air ticket. It met with a frown. For the next ten minutes or so, Rajah poked here and there, but having finally exhausted all hopes of getting a fat fee out of this reporter, he had proceeded to sell another travel package. It was the cheapest his agency could contrive; it was called the desert option. Not for once did he mention the risk factor.
Having settled on this plan, the trafficker subjected the reporter to what was a routine interrogation: “Have you ever travelled out of the country? Were you ever deported? Do you have any brother in Europe? Any friends? Can you use your hands? What work can you do? Can you work as a barber? Electrician? Do you know anything about welding? Carpentry? But you need such skills to survive and make it fast in Libya so you can quickly cross into Europe. What is your level of education?”

For the second time, the reporter declared he was an unemployed graduate. The trafficker paused a few seconds, and then spoke in utter reproach. “With your education, I expect your level of education to be high. How do you hope to make it big in Europe when you are not a woman? Brother, you have to use your brains…”
The trafficker revealed with pride that some of the migrants he had helped in the past were now “big boys” in Spain, Germany, Holland and other places. Then he revealed something else: he runs a class where registered prospective migrants are coached on credit card fraud, internet fraud, ATM fraud, Red Mecury Scam, Identity Theft, Share Certificate fraud and the notorious Advance Fee Fraud, better known as 419.

At first it appeared like a petty crook struggling to make an impression but after this reporter had met in Rajah’s hotel room, a Germany returnee who had successfully switched from stealing and exporting exotic cars to Nigeria to stealing and exporting generators, it did not take further goading to sign up for the computer class, paying N70,000 for three months. The training was mostly at night, at an innocuous-looking cybercafé inside an uncompleted three-storey building directly opposite the Isolo Public Library along Holy Saviour College Road. The first two floors are coated in green while the top remains unpainted and without windows. Ugoh was also a student of the computer fraud academy. Looking at him in faded jean trouser and a cotton shirt, it was difficult to imagine Europe was his destination.

We arrived the Seme border. Border formalities were expectedly easy and lasted as long as it took a commercial motorbike to meander through one of the illegal bush paths between Nigeria and Benin Republic. Any truncheon-wielding Immigration official encountered along the way received N100 for the trouble. That was for non-passport-carrying travelers going into Benin to buy anything from tomatoe puree to second-hand textiles, frozen chicken to fairly-used automobiles. Because our passports needed to be stamped, there was no escaping one of the most brazen display of red tape along the West Coast. On the Nigerian side, officials at the first Immigration desk demanded and received N1000 for Yellow Fever Immunization certificate.

At the next desk, another N1000 was demanded because the reporter was carrying a “virgin” passport. Travellers who had crossed that border at least once were surprisingly asked to pay half of the illegal fee. At the third and final desk, N500 was paid to squint at the stamped page. The story was more or less the same on the benin side; just that instead of three desks, there were two.

I, Ugoh and Monday converged at Krake, the Benin side of the border. Here we changed our Naira into CFA, haggling for a good rate with the predominantly women black market dealers.
We boarded a Peugeot Station Wagon from an adjacent motor park and in a little less than an hour we were in Cotonou, precisely at the Dan Tokpa market. Ugoh put a call through and after about twenty-five minutes Rajah met us under a pedestrian bridge near the market. I had not seen him since three weeks ago when he handed me my passport. Because my original passport showed that I was a journalist and had travelled to Italy, France, South Africa and a few other overseas countries, it had become necessary to procure another passport not to blow my cover.

We were taken to a building in the Jonquet area of Cotonou. Seven of us, including four young women that had arrived before us, were kept in a back room, adjacent to another crammed with empty crates of alcoholic beverages. Rajah left and returned hours later with three more travelers, all females. Two more young women, oddly chaperoned by a scrawny-looking male character, were ushered in at dusk, swelling the ranks to thirteen.
About 7.20 p.m, a large woman waddled in; behind her Rajah. Some of the travelers appeared to have met her. She called them by names, greeted everyone warmly and requested to know what we would like for dinner. Her eyes swept the room as she conducted possibly a mental headcount. Rajah said he was still expecting one more person. In the interest of all newcomers, the large woman proceeded to give a pep talk. She reminded everyone they were in a foreign land where the people spoke no English and warned that the Beninese gendarmes were unpredictable.

She emphasized that if she were any of us, she would rather not wander around. Any request should be channeled to her or Rajah or indeed the scrawny character whose name was given as Esan. From conversations among the girls and from noises, particularly loudspeakers blaring ragga music, it finally registered we were in some back rooms in a red light neighbourhood. The little building itself was without a number but this reporter noted it was the fourth house from Hotel Gold & Base, located at C|115-116 Jonquet. Some hundred metres opposite this building was a Sonacop Filling Station and in-between them was a mini motor park with an open-air sleeping floor.

That last person Rajah had been expecting did not arrive until much after midday the following day. By this time there was already a problem in the house. One of the first four girls we had met in the room had been sobbing. No one seemed to understand what the problem was or rather everyone was too careful to be inquisitive. But if the reporter was puzzled by the tears of the young woman whose age was about 17, he would be completely bewildered when it was revealed that the guest who had just arrived was a spiritualist imported from Edo State in Nigeria. His identity did not just tumble out. The large woman, with a suspicious identity herself, though addressed as Aunty Queen, had introduced the guest as a prophet. True, the man perfectly played the role of a prophet, leading us in marathon prayer sessions, designed to commit the travelers and the long journey ahead into the hands of the Almighty. However, the rituals that followed afterwards were nothing else but voodoo.

One after the other, save for the weeping girl, all the travelers were taken inside the crate-stacked room for a fetish oath. When this reporter was called in, the spiritualist, under the watchful eyes of Rajah and Aunty Queen, explained almost apologetic, that the exercise was a spiritual help to forestall possible arrest and repatriation from Europe and to administer an oath od secrecy and loyalty.

For a moment, the spectacle was disarming. On the floor was a magical circle outlined with native chalk. Inside it were patches of animal skin, a small three-pronged spear, a gourd and other fetish articles. The spiritualist had shed his well-embroidered white Kaftan. Over his trouser brocade and across his waist, he had tied a red-coloured skirt with a set of beads stitched to it in the shape of the human eye. Basically, the witchdoctor recited some incantations in Bini language, and then requested the traveler to repeat some lines after him. Next, the traveller was made to pick a gourd, hit it three times on his forehead and another three times on his chest saying that he is a beneficiary of the traffickers’ kindness and that with his own mouth and soul he hereby invites the deity Osunene to visit him with its most potent venom, sickness, misfortune and death should he under any circumstances divulge secret information or snitch on the traffickers before the police, Immigration or some other authorities.

Also, that the traveler invites Osunene to visit him with its wrath should he fails to remit to the last dollar, the amount specified in the contract paper as soon as he begins to earn money along the way and or at the final destination. Before Rajah, this reporter had been introduced to another trafficker by name Ikechukwu but fondly called ThankGod. At the first and only meeting in Lagos, this handsome, light-completioned man wasted no time in saying he only took women to Libya and Europe. No amount of money offered by this reporter to take him along made any sense to ThankGod. He pointed out that before he took them along, each of his girls were made to take an oath in agreement to pay him $25,000 for taking them to a land of opportunities before they can start working for themselves. He emphasized that no man would be able to pay him such an amount whatever the ambition of doing two or three jobs. This trafficker’s international telephone number, obtained by this reporter, is +218928523513.

Something happened that the reporter never bargained for. Picking a razor blade, the spiritualist ordered the reporter to stretch out his hands. The reporter retreated, clinging on the excuse that a used blade cannot be permitted on account of HIV/AIDS. From some junks in a corner, Rajah produced a new blade. The witchdoctor proceeded to make three incisions on each of the reporter’s knuckles. He wiped the blood with his own fingers and dipped same into the gourd with a liquid content. With the same blade, he scrapped some strands off the nape of the reporter’s neck, throwing the hairs into the gourd. He shook the content and ordered the reporter to drink from it. The nature of the ritual concoction was hard to say; however, encouraged by the unmistakable whiff of local gin, this reporter did as he was told.

For the rest of the evening everyone was moody; the 17-year-old was hysterical. She was the only one that refused to take the oath. From snatches of conversations, it was gathered that the girls had been subjected to more abusive rituals. In addition to the incisions, the witchdoctor had, at Anty Queen’s insistence, collected cuttings of their fingernails, pubic hairs and panties; the very ones worn to the ritual.

Beginning to get paranoid, one of the girls complained she couldn’t stop feeling a part of her soul had left her. An older girl, Uhreva, dismissed the feeling with a laugh. About 24-year-old, Uhreva said it was her second blood oath. With the assistance of a human trafficker, known in the business as sponsor, she had made it to Italy in 2005 only to be deported 18 months later. Ever since, she had felt like a fish out of water. Insisting that she left Torino without a pin, Uhreva catalogued some of the possessions and nice male friends she left behind. For her, it made sense to find a way back even though her first trip had been by air and far more dignifying. With her stay in Torino not long enough to pay off her sponsor, she still had some debt hanging over her head. Yet, she was optimistic she could use the second chance she was getting to pay off both her first and second Madame and still have enough to build a house in her village, own cars, a fat bank account, a boutique or beauty salon.

Like cows, we were herded by scrawny Esan to a nearby canteen where we could eat Nigerian foods. The 17-year-old Omosan refused to go anywhere. It was not clear if she had eaten anything all day. By the time we all returned, Aunty Queen had exploded, pouring expletives on Omosan:

“I’ve had enough of your rubbish. I treat you like my own daughter but you want to use your “ogbanje” to mess with my business. Your parents begged me to take you along. There were other girls to pick from. All the girls you came here with have since moved on and you are here acting like a child.”
Rajah barged in. He too was spitting fire. He held out a cell phone towards Omosan: “Your father wants to speak with you. Take the phone…”

Omosan was not crying, but she was not saying anything either. Rajah barked again and pulled out a designer belt from his jean trouser. He stepped forward, threatening to hit Omosan with it. “Take the phone. I say take it, because your father has said we should make you do what every other girl is doing…”

Herded to Togo
Like a full moon that started out a crescent, Rajah’s lawless mind was getting more robust by the day. Like cows again, we were herded to a park to begin our journey to Togo. Eight new girls had appeared from nowhere with their bags in the morning. There was no prize for guessing where they had come from after eight girls in the room were moved out to start a new life in Jonquet brothels. These traffickers, besides freighting human cargoes to Libya and Europe, also feed the trans-Saharan sex market, guaranteeing a steady supply of fresh young women to brothels.

Uhreva was left to stay in our group. Omosan told uhreva that she would love to go to Europe but added that she would die first before submitting to a blood oath. She gave no indication that she understood the nature of the jobs lined up for girls in Europe. Reports had it that in Europe, some of the trafficked women are subjected by male clients to sexual abuses, forced into pornography and perversions like sleeping with dogs.
Rajah was yet to decide what to do with Omosan when Aunty Queen herded 13 of us, nine girls and four men, to Togo. Disguised as a devout Muslim, she was dressed in an orange boubou, her head and shoulders covered with a flowing headscarf. We journey through Quidah, Dohi, Agatogbo, Gadome, Come, Grand Popo and finally Lome.

At the Benin-Togo border popularly called Hilla Condji was a replay of what was witnessed at Seme. Again, the extortion by border officials was a mockery of the spirit and letters of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Protocol which proclaims free movement of people and goods across member states. At this border, this reporter encountered a Beninoise by name Dossou Gilles-Carlos Yaovi. Son of a UN diplomat whose father is currently servinh in Haiti, he was on his way to Ghana. Dossou, whose father once worked in Immigration, said that most of the officials he knew had built big houses just a few years serving at Hilla Condji.
At Lome, we were quartered in a compound of two small houses and a courtyard in a dusty street off an even more dusty Boulevard du Haho. This compound was clearly a family home occupied by poor and courteous Togolese whose young children happily dedicated themselves to the service of Aunty Queen – a trafficker who it turned out could speak fluent English, French, Bini, Yoruba and a smattering of Arabic. The children, three girls and a boy of about nine, ran errands fetching water and going to the stores throughout the three days their parents hosted the visitors. It was difficult to say how Queen had made the acquaintance of this poor family in the first place. Most of the houses in this poor neighbourhood were without numbers; however some of the unforgettable landmarks included the Africa Bar and the Englise Neo-Apostolique church.

The following morning Queen took the eight girls away and returned late afternoon with another set of girls. Everyone was to depart Togo the next day but that plan was thwarted after Queen bitterly discovered there would be no transport to our next stop, Burkina Faso until two days later. Out of boredom or perhaps genuinely seeking the face of God, Queen suggested we attend a church service. Not one person saw it as a bad idea. We all walked to a pentecoastal church headed by a Nigerian pastor. Written on the wall were “House of Excellence Church” and the same name in French: Eglise Maison D’Excellence. This church, with service conducted in English, is one of about a dozen that cater to the spiritual needs of Nigerians living in Lome. Half way through the service, thinking for the umpteenth time about Omosan and what may have happened to her, this reporter left the church, found a telephone service and put a call to Godefroy Nacaire Chabi, a Beninoise journalist based in Cotonou.

Transport to Burkina Faso from Lome was pretty irregular and depended largely on traders from landlocked Burkina returning home from Lome markets. We journeyed from Lome to Sogode to Kara to the Togolese border town Bitou and on to Burkina’s frontier town Sekanze to Koupella to Ougadougou and to Bobo-Dioulasso. Against all expectations, the journey took three days. Several times the bus broke down on the way, traveling day and night; and at one point in the middle of nowhere, hungry passengers resorted to buying fruits, boiled potatoes and sundry farm produce off a long line of peasants trekking to a distant market. At a town called Koupella, the bus with registration number 10 KK 8533 BF, completely broke down. We camped outside a tea seller til the following morning. This reporter was directed to a facility within a mosque complex where for CFA100, he brushed his teeth, had a bath and washed his shirt, all inside a cubicle housing a pit latrine.

By the time we arrived Ouagadougou, Rajah was waiting. Queen got out with the girls. The men were told to continue to Bobo-Dioulasso. On arrival, without any arrangements for a sleeping place, everyone loitered at the motor park and waited. There were an appreciable number of migrants in Burkina Faso; some having arrived from Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire and all waiting to connect to Niger Republic, specifically Niamey. Here, this reporter met a Nigerian by name Kenneth Akwekwe. He said he was on his way to Bangkok but he must first get to Senegal where his travel documents awaited him. We slept at the motor park, smudged with red earth. Almost all night, a loudspeaker blared the music of Alpha Blondie, Jerusalem.

When Queen turned up the following day, she had eleven girls behind her. It was gathered that most of the émigrés in Burkina Faso were Nigerians, predominantly of the Yoruba and Ibo tribes. A Burkina youth, trying to sell satchet water to this reporter insisted that the English word for water was nmiri. From Urheva, it was gathered that the new girls had been fetched from a part of the capital called Ouaga Due Mil, better known as Ouaga 2000. This place is said to be one of the transit camps for female victims of human trafficking. Ouaga is said to be the Jonquet of Cotonou with its fair share of brothels. It is estimated that about 250 young women, mostly Nigerians and Ghanaians, are involved in Ouaga’s sex industry.

Condemned to the same transport company, Fasowcar, we departed for Mali. Something happened that almost blew this reporter’s cover. It happened at the Burkina-Mali border. The reporter’s passport had been stamped and CFA3000 demanded when one of the officials spotted a camera in the inner pocket of the reporter’s jacket. A search of his bag revealed the reporter’s notebook. Questions after questions about identity, destination and mission. The reporter was dragged before one Urbain Gnoumou, a Police Nationale who had a pistol in his waist and a portrait of President Blaise Campore glowering over his desk. In a mixture of English and French, this reporter explained he was a schoolteacher on his way to Mali to visit a sick Nigerian. Gnoumou barked that any journalist visiting or passing through his country must have first obtained a written permission stating his mission. The reporter tried his best to stick to his story which nobody seemed to be buying. Exhausted, Gnoumou decided to transfer the puzzle to officials at the Malian side of the border. Fortunately, at Hedamakonu, the Malians did not even bat an eyelid. From Hedamakonu, we journeyed to Sikazou, Boogoni and finally Bamako.

Dreams die first
We arrived Bamako about 4A.M. The spectacle at Sediankoro motorpark spoke volumes of the fate of African migrants along that route. There were over forty homeless young men sleeping in awkward positions inside the park. It was gathered that every one of them was a migrant that has come to a dead end in Mali. Again, the majority was Nigerians. Out of cash and unable to move on, they had resorted to touting, while waiting for new arrivals to fleece. Later, this reporter found more of them at Gekoroni, Zebenikoro and Dabanani Merche. Meanwhile, their female counterparts could be found as sex workers at Yamakoro, Hotel Kokoti, Amadina, Domino, Kaye and Mani Bar; all with a high concentration of young Nigerian girls. It is estimated that about 1400 Nigerian girls live in Mali. Everyone of them had left home with Europe as dream destination. One Camara Kaba, a Guinean with Rastafarian hairstyle took this reporter around town. A resident of Bamako, his telephone number is +223-76139168.

It was gathered that it is often in Mali that the scale begins to fall off the eyes of many migrants. A 27-year old Nigerian, Azeez Abiola , told this reporter that when he left home in 2007, the human trafficker had told him they would board a plane to Spain once they arrive Bamako. He had paid N600,000 for the journey only for the trafficker to do a disappearing act as soon as they had arrived Mali, abandoning him and four others to their fate. Azeez said most of the girls found in Mali were fed the same story before they set out. A furniture maker by profession, Azeez regretted throwing away a stable life in Ifo, Ogun State, only to come to Bamako to live as a motorpark tout. His daily bread depended on the number of passengers he was able to attract to a transport company.

Like Azeez, this reporter appeared abandoned. He spent three days at the motor park together with Ugoh and Irabor Monday. Aunty Queen was again gone with the girls. After the incident with the Burkina border police she had become wary. Not once did she ask any questions. Since Ouagadougou, no one had seen Rajah to whom this reporter had paid N200,000 to cover expenses.

Each new day brought new arrivals to Sediankoro. One of them was Diawara Boh from Guinea who was once captured and conscripted by rebels to fight in the Liberian war, In the past ten years, this 29-year-old had sojourned all over West Africa in search of a better life. He had been to Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Sierre Leone. In Nigeria he worked as a truck driver, hauling giant generators for a Lebanese company called Mikano. Hard as he worked, he could barely feed himself on a monthly salary of N22,000 after spending half of the money on transportation.

Narrating his life experience, Diawara told this reporter: “ I have been going up and down and have not seen my parents in 10 years. I worked as a slave for the Lebanese. If you cough you get a surcharge,; if you are sick and cannot work, they will not pay you and if you sustain any injury the hospital bill is from your salary. Life in Nigeria was bad, but not as bad as Liberia where they gave me a gun. The rebel captured me. When they saw I could speak their language, they said come and join us. I am from Gegedou in Guinea and we share border with Liberia and Sierre Leone, I carried gun for two months but one day I escaped, following a river that leads to Guinea.”
Among the hordes of young Africans this reporter met on the way were the duo of Petros Massageloi and Sesay Koni. Both were Sierre Leoneans refugees trying to pick up the pieces of their life after so many years at the Oru Camp in Nigeria.

During the war, he witnessed the killing of women and the amputating of children. He would never forget how ropes were put round the necks of Nigerians only for the other end to be tied to a moving car; yet he risked his own life to save one Emmanuel Chinedu Eke, a Nigerian married to his sister. After some rebels launched a Rocket Propelled Grenade at his aunt, he escaped to Nigeria where he was able to finish school. But the certificate has not been of much use to him. Unable to get a job he had resorted to selling dye. The last straw was when the much-awaited UNHCR resettlement package came and officials in Lagos handed refugees N70,000 to start a new life instead of the anticipated N350,000.

Our next destination was Agadez in northern Niger. When Queen finally showed up, she announced we would depart the following day. Then she added the group would split in two for easier coordination. Sticking to the ritual of going to a church before going on the road, we followed her to the Chapelle des Vainqueurs International even without taking our bath. On our last night at the motor park, this reporter found out about the activities of a document syndicate who for a fee provide forged travel papers to migrants. Patterned after the infamous Oluwole in Lagos, the forgery networks provide services to migrants and human traffickers alike, selling anything from fake passport to fake immunisation certificate.

There was no way of knowing how many new girls Queen picked up in Bamako. They were traveling on a different bus. Esan made our travel arrangements for four men and two girls. This reporter paid CFA80,000 as fare to Agadez. We were to go first to Gao from where we would be transferred onto another vehicle. It sounded simple enough, besides someone would be waiting in Gao to facilitate the transfer. His name was on the back of the ticket. Just as well, the agent in Bamako called him to speak with us. About 10 A.M we were conveyed on motorbikes from the park to the bus terminal of Sonef Transport Voyageurs. The agent had paid for the Sonef ticket which turned out to be CFA15,000 to Gao. However, the agent whose name was Aoaily with telephone 00223-75113609 encouraged the traveller to pay additional CFA10,000 to the Sonef bus conductor to smoothen passages at checkpoints. We journeyed from Bamako to Fana to Segou to Bla to Mopti to Sevare to Douanza to Gossi and finally Gao. It took two days and by the time we arrived, every passenger was covered in dust.

The man on the telephone had been waiting for the bus to arrive. His men and motorbikes were also waiting to convey us; six Nigerians, a Guinean and a Sierre Leonean; to their park to board the vehicle to Agadez. Excited at the reality of stepping foot on Gao, the historic city of Askia The Great, this reporter was unwary as the motorbike snaked through the ancient city. By the time he realized it; it was too late. There was no motor park, instead a hideout in a sandy neighbourhood with mud brick houses, all looking identical. He was surrounded by rogue elements headed by an Algerian who gave his name as Mohammed. Without any prompting, the reporter went on his knees. The Algerian took one look and said: “You Nigerian? You Ibo?”

He announced regrettably that the reporter had fallen into wrong hands but added that he would help because he made his fortunes transporting Nigerians across the desert and that many Ibos are his friends. After about ten minutes of deliberations with his men, he advised the reporter to pay off his captors. His men would not accept CFA40,000; not even CFA70,000. The man from the motor park gave the reporter a slap; then punched him on the face and stomach. He wanted dollars and Euros as well. An argument ensued between Mohammed and the man who had ensnared the reporter from the Sonef Park. Fearing more violence, the reporter surrendered all the CFAs and dollars on him. The only thing left was the Nigerian Naira from which they selected about nine N1000 notes perhaps to keep as mementos. As the argument continued, Mohammed moved the reporter to an inner room where two nubile young women were lying on a blanket spread on the floor. There was little point trying to make sense of anything anymore. The women appeared unaware of the commotion going on outside or perhaps they were used to it. Meanwhile, there was no sign of the reporter’s traveling companions who apparently had been separated and taken to some other buildings. About half an hour later, Mohammed emerged. A different motorbike was waiting outside. He hurried the reporter onto it and simply said: “Follow this man.” The reporter was taken to a Customs post outskirt of Gao. The bike man had a message for an officer there. The name on his uniform was Moulaye Ould. It was easy to memorize, as it reminded the reporter of actress Patti Boulaye. This Arab-looking officer would put the reporter on a mini bus out of town.

A good Samarithan
The reporter was relieved to see the end of the ordeal but the bus ride was not much a help. It terminated at a village some 60 kilometers from Gao. Not one of the natives spoke English. The only place the reporter knew was Gao. With a few coins still left in his back pocket, he made up CFA300 for the fare back to the ancient city. For the next two days, there was neither food nor water. There was no money to buy any. Though the reporter still had loads of naira notes, they were of no use to anyone in this part of the world. By the end of the second day, it was stark destitution as the reporter took the bold step to beg for water. Apparently the good citizens of Mali had grown tired of the pathetic tales and spectacle of migrants on their way to Algeria or Libya. However, when the odd seemed highest, a good Samarithan came along. Aliou Maiga, a 62-year-old Malian said he lived in Nigeria for many years in Lagos, Benin-City and Abuja. He offered water, food and shelter. He exchanged some of the naira notes to CFA. It was like turning water to wine. He arranged and put the reporter on a cargo van to Agadez. Like a lifeline, the reporter clung to Aliou’s telephone number: 00223-76187347. The journey took four days through military checkpoints and desert towns like Kidalli and Kallili.

Agadez
The reputation of Agadez precedes it any day. Right from Lagos, this reporter was warned that due to the protracted Tuareg rebellion in northern Niger, Agadez is an unpredictable place to travel. The Tuareg people are the original Canaanites from the Bible. Officially, a permit is required for anyone to go to northern Niger but it is rarely granted even to rich tourists. The only way to Agadez is by taking the illegal option of traveling without a permit. Paranoid that a traveler might be providing support to rebels, police have the authority to detain anyone without a cause. It is not uncommon for soldiers to force travelers to deboard a bus and wait at a checkpoint in the middle of the desert until another bus comes to take him in the opposite direction. However, Agadez is an inevitable transit point for migrants on their way to Europe. It is also a home to drug peddlers and sex workers.
When this reporter arrived on December 2, he found hundreds of migrants from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroun, Mali, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Togo and Gabon.

While some had been in the city for a few days or weeks, others have been trapped there for several months plotting unsuccessfully to cross the desert. Then there are the categories of migrants who have been in the city for over three years. They are easily identified by their dreadlocks and are said to have been intercepted in the desert by Libyan or Algerian security forces only to be deported 1000 kilometers back to Niger. Though most of the migrants were thoroughly in a bad shape, it took only a few hours of arrival for this reporter to begin to encounter Nigerians suffering from mental problems.

A 21-year-old Nigerian, Olu (surname withheld) told this reporter that he had been in Agadez for 16 months. An amateur footballer, Olu and fourteen other young men were lured by a football agent who promised to take them to Europe to play professional soccer. In April 2008 the agent, having collected between N120,000 and N200,000 from each of the players, took them to Katsina, crossed them into Niger and deposited them in Maradi. He had not been seen afterwards. In the spirit of ‘forward ever – backward never’, Olu, another footballer Moruf and six others sojourned to Agadez to get closer to their dreams. He said he would die in shame at the prospect of going back home empty handed, not after his family and friends had held a lavish party to send him forth to Europe.

For a token, Olu and Moruf provided shelter for the reporter in their rented hut in Agadez. They practically feed from hand to mouth. Job opportunity is a mirage with businesses controlled by Arab, Mauritanian and Hausa merchants. Agriculture, shepherding and gardening are other economic prospects by those are greatly hampered by the harsh environment of the Agadez region. The few opportunities for migrants are backbreaking labour in construction, prostitution, peddling cocaine and heroine, theft and begging. Migrants do all sorts to pay for the next stage of their journey. A Ghanaian in the opposite hut, Franklin Onwusu, earns about CFA400 a day working with a bricklayer in Agadez. Franklin told this reporter he almost made it to Libya early this year with 12 other migrants but Libyan security forces caught and returned them to a military post in northern Niger from where Nigerien soldiers picked up the baton and transported them back to Agadez. He had been in a limbo. To move forward he would need CFA150,000 for a direct transport to Libya. To return to Accra, it would cost him CFA80,000. His CFA400-a-day job was not even regular.

It was on the fifth day that this reporter found out that Urheva was in Agadez. She disclosed that Rajah was in the city too. For some reasons that she did not say, Aunty Queen was staying back in Bamako. Everyone had heard what happened in Mali. Esan was with Rajah and Ugoh and Irabor were somewhere in the city preparing to go to Arlit. Through Urheva, this reporter met another Nigerian lady in the same brothel in Agadez. A graduate of microbiology, Linda (surname withheld) narrated how she had entered into a fake marriage after her National Youths Service Programme (NYSC) in Akwa Ibom State. In her desperation to go to Europe, she had accepted to be one of the wives of a traditional ruler in Ekiti State so she could make the list of his entourage on his visit to London. Marriage certificates were provided and wedding photographs arranged. The Monarch insisted on consummating the fake union but during preparations for his next oversea trip, she was denied visa.

Yet another migrant who had taken to prostitution was a housewife from Nigeria (names withheld) who said she was a victim of a bizarre marital consensus. A woman in her mid thirties, she claimed that after her husband was retired from the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), both of them had agreed that she used a part of his gratuity, which she said was nothing to write home about, to finance her trip to Europe. The mother of four said she had not abandoned her marriage, insisting that she had made it a point of duty to regularly speak with her husband and children on phone. However, she was full of regrets that she had been abandoned in Agadez for almost three months. The Madame whom she had paid to take her to Europe had turned her back at her just, as the trafficker never disclosed the life-threatening challenges on the way.

As the days rolled by and the reporter went about town seeking a safe travel plan, Olu warned about the activities of rouge drivers and fake travel agencies who arrange to have their vehicles impounded and the migrants arrested in the desert. That way they pocket the fares but do not have to make the long and arduous journey to Libya. This reporter found out that there are registered transport companies like Sonef, Rainbow and Billet Voyageur that travel under military escort to as far as Arlit, the last town from where migrants can proceed to Tamanraseth in Algeria. Because few migrants can afford to pay as much as CFA150,000, they go for cheaper and more dangerous options. Rebel activities also means that some of the routes are mined. Some months back, a truck carrying illegal migrants was reportedly blown apart by landmine.

One evening, outside a busy drinking parlour called Oasis, this reporter ran into Ugo and Irabor Monday. Both appeared to have aged in so short a time. Their experience in Gao was as bad as the reporter’s. With them was another Nigerian called Cosmas. A father of two, Cosmas was known to weep most of the time thinking of his wife and children. He told this reporter that he left Nigeria because he was running away from a debt.
“I convinced my wife that traveling abroad was the only solution but my brother, look at me. I have been here since April. I made it to Algeria in March but one day I was walking when the gendarmes arrested me and brought me back to Arlit. My plan is to make money and return to my family. I have worked in Dukuru digging salt just to survive.

There are lots of Nigerians in Dukuru living like animals. The sub-human conditions in Dukuru are such that if you stay there for only four days your mother will not be able to recognize you. I have also worked in Bilma salt mine because that appears to be one of the easiest jobs to find. But how much do I make? I am running away from debt but I have left behind those that I love most. I am here suffering because of them. I’ll die for their sake.”
As more people gathered at the parlour, voices inevitably rose in a passionate discussion of African politics. In what appeared to be a Parliament, opinions flew like darts in different directions: “It is better to be a prisoner in Europe than be a free citizen in Nigeria; at least I’ll be sure of three square meals a day… Nigeria is the largest importer of rice and toothpick in the whole world, yet we say we are the giant of Africa… Abacha’s son was found with 350 million dollars in his Swiss account. What work did he do to get such money…The money is enough to revive the nation’s railway… But what difference does it make recovering any money when the ones recovered before has been stolen by new people. It will still get back to the same Swiss Bank in another secret account…My father once said that life was better under Colonial rule…We need people like Jerry Rawlings and Thomas Sankara to rescue Africans from their leaders…

Across the desert
On December 12, this reporter was able to secure a place in an overloaded truck going to Dirkou. The driver was a Mauritanian. Through the help of Uhreva, the remaining Naira had been changed to CFA. The Ghanaian Franklin had strongly suggested we visit a marabout to find out what the future held for us. We did. For CFA800, the marabout said he could see no obstacle in our way. While waiting for departure, news reached the reporter that the trafficker Ikechukwu was in Agadez on his way to Libya with eight girls. This reporter met one of the trafficker’s foot soldiers, a Nigerian by name Marcel Uka who had just arrived from Arlit. Marcel who had lived in Libya for two years said that Nigerian human traffickers operate secret brothels popularly called “bunkers”.
“These traffickers have the money; so they are able to rent houses in Libya.

They bring in these girls and keep them there as their wives. Women don’t come out in Libya so the girls remain indoors all the time. It is the man that goes out to get clients; they pay to him and he leads them into his house. The girls are kept there like slaves but the man provides food and everything. After the girls have fully paid back the amount stated in the oath, they are free to work for themselves, but they must also pay the man for using his bunker and for bringing men to them since they cannot step outside.”

It was also gathered that Bini women now take girls through Agadez to Algeria and Morocco. But instead of taking them to Italy like before, they sell off the girls to members of organized crime groups who come from Italy for the illicit trade. They also sell to older Nigerian women, mostly retired sex workers, who collude with criminal gangs to smuggle the girls into Europe. Ikechukwu it was learnt operates his sex house in Libya as a joint business with his wife. Desperate to increase the number of his girls to ten, he was said to have given money to Marcel to trick two girls to detour and follow him to Libya instead of following someone else to Morocco, When this reporter, back in Lagos, called him on phone, the trafficker grunted ‘wrong number’ and switched off.
Two years ago, one Chinedu Okoro had died in the desert on his way to Libya after he and eight others had each paid N130,000 to a human trafficker Rowland Chide Nlewedum. Rowland had buried the deceased in the desert claiming the migrant had died of swollen feet. Unconvinced, the victim’s family had got the trafficker arrested when he turned up in Nigeria to marry a wife.

We were about forty passengers, including seven women, crammed onto a truck. Following a travel advice, this reporter was armed with garri, sugar, bread, small honey and five-litre jerrycan of water. He also was carrying a sheepskin bag of water inside which was hidden his camera. It was a miracle that Mohammed and his men did not notice the camera during the robbery in Gao. We journeyed from Agadez to Bilma where we saw a salt caravan of over 200 camels; to Achegour and Dirkou. The desert has no roads, no trees, no houses, no signpost, no milestone and no friends. We traveled for four days swinging like a pendulum between extremely hot and extremely cold weather as days turned to night.

There was an unbearable stench as adults urinated inside the moving truck. At least once in a day, we came across carcasses of dead animals, human skeletons and personal items like passports and Bible. Migrants are known to have fallen off the moving truck to their death; some are known to have been attacked by desert snakes and other uncanny creatures and many are known to have died of thirst when the truck breaks down or the driver misses his way. Thankfully none of these happened. But something else did and like most tragedies it happened without a warning. It was a little before Dirkou, after Achigour when the truck was intercepted by desert bandits. After everyone had hurried down, passengers began to bring out their money.

This reporter wasted no time in stripping naked after a few men had done so. The bandits separated the men from the women. Because of the influx of travellers, Tuaregs in the Dirkou region blame migrants for the high cost of food which come from Agadez. They also jealously guard their water wells with guns. For what seemed an eternity, they searched every human openings including anus where some migrants had learnt to hide money. They have been cases of migrants being disemboweled either because the bandit was impatient or simply did not want to suffer the indignities of digging their fingers into that part of the body.

One Nigerian who was found carrying pharmaceutical products, which he had calculated would give him a headstart in Libya after he had sold them, was forced by the bandits to swallow two tablets of each of the drugs. The reporter had kept his head bowed and could not say how long the bestiality had been going on. But right before everybody, one of the Tuaregs was raping a Nigerian girl later identified as Rose. She did not cry but lay there in the sand taking it.

We were allowed to continue on our journey but things were no longer the same. Nobody was talking as we continued to Dirkou to Dao Timni to a military post at Madama; across the border into the Libyan town of Tajarhi and finally Al Gatrun. It had taken five more days and the reporter had become very sick. From here, the rest will make their way to Tripoli.

The man who had drank medicines did not make it to Al Gatrun. He had become so sick he beg to be brought down from the truck at Dao Timni. There was no waiting, no time for words of sympathy or encouragement as any more minute spent in the desert is more water, more food and more risk.

Rose looked broken and distraught. Her ordeal was too much a prize to pay for any paradise. The reporter disboarded and handed Juliet Okoro’s letter to Ugoh. He was in Libya saw little point in hitch-hiking with others to Sebha and to Tripoli or Benghazi. Every step forward was a further risk. Before the trip, the reporter had visited the Libyan Embassy in Abuja in an effort to make legal his entry into the country. But the Libyan Embassy had been shut for months. The Libyan Ministry of Interior and the Departments of Anti-Infiltration and Illegal Immigration operate over 27 detention centres. The reporter waited till the following day to follow the same transport back to Agadez.

ενδιαφέρον άρθρο για τις ιστιοσελίδες τηνςπορνεία στην Αθήνα

2010-01-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

www. kokkina-fanaria.gr
ΑΧ. ΧΕΚΙΜΟΓΛΟΥ | Κυριακή 10 Ιανουαρίου 2010

ΞΕΚΙΝΗΣΕ για πλάκα, ως ερασιτεχνική ιστοσελίδαόπου οι επισκέπτες έγραφαν κριτικές για τις υπηρεσίες πορνείων και «συνοδών». Στη συνέχεια, όταν έγινε ιδιαίτερα διαδεδομένο, η Δικαιοσύνη το «κατέβασε», για να επανέλθει στον
κυβερνοχώρο αργότεραμέσα από σέρβερ του εξωτερικούκαι να ηγηθεί ως η επικοινωνιακή «ομπρέλα» ενός νεότευκτου «business unit», αποτελουμένου από στούντιοδιάσπαρτα σε Αθήνα και Θεσσαλονίκη. Η επιτυχία της ιστοσελίδας bourdela.tv πυροδότησε τη δημιουργία και άλλων τέτοιων sites, τα οποία λειτουργούν κατά
τον ίδιο τρόπο- παραπέμποντας σχεδόν σε franchise- και τροφοδοτούν με «πελατεία» αναρίθμητα στούντιο, πορνεία και πρακτορεία. Ετσι χιλιάδες συμπολίτες μας ξενυχτούν σε σχετικές ιστοσελίδεςπροκειμένου να ενημερωθούναλλά και να αποτυπώσουν τις εντυπώσεις τους από τις προσωπικές τους εμπειρίες.

Πίσω από την επιτυχία των ιστοσελίδων των σχετικών με την πορνεία δεν κρύβεται τίποτε άλλο πέρα από κάποιες κλασικές παραδοχές. Η πρώτη είναι ότι οι κοινότητες με συναφή ενδιαφέροντα αργά ή γρήγορα θα βρουν κάποια πλατφόρμα επικοινωνίας. Το δεύτερο είναι ότι για μία ακόμη φορά το κράτος αγνοεί τι συμβαίνει, με αποτέλεσμα να υπάρχει βαθύ κενό γύρω από τις συνθήκες υπό τις οποίες εκδίδονται δεκάδες άνθρωποι στη χώρα μας. Αυτό το καθεστώς βρίσκεται μεν προφανώς σε ημιπαρανομία, τουλάχιστον όμως η συγκρότηση μιας κοινότητας που επιβλέπει και παρακολουθεί διασφαλίζει ένα μίνιμουμ προστασίας η οποία δεν υπάρχει στον «δρόμο».

▅ Η επιτυχία

Η πλέον διαδεδομένη ιστοσελίδα αυτής της κατηγορίας είναι το bourdela.tv (βρίσκεται στην 158η θέση του ελληνικού Διαδικτύου), η οποία έπειτα από τις περιπέτειές της με τη Δικαιοσύνη άλλαξε και επανήλθε στο Διαδίκτυο υπό νέο administrator και με σέρβερ που εδρεύει στην Μπρατισλάβα. Από την πρωτεύουσα της Σλοβακίας (και από την ίδια επιχείρηση) εκπέμπουν και οι ιστοσελίδες δεκάδων στούντιο που λειτουργούν στην Αθήνα.

Η ιστοσελίδα κάθε στούντιο είναι φτιαγμένη με τρόπο-«φασόν», δηλαδή με ίδιο στήσιμο και με παρόμοια τεχνικά χαρακτηριστικά. Στα sites παρέχονται εικονική περιήγηση στους χώρους, αναλυτική παρουσίαση των εκδιδομένων γυναικών (με καλυμμένα τα πρόσωπά τους), πλήρης τιμοκατάλογος υπηρεσιών, οι βάρδιες εργασίας και τα στοιχεία επικοινωνίας. Από μια περιήγηση στις ιστοσελίδες των στούντιο προκύπτει ότι πολλές γυναίκες εργάζονται σε περισσότερα από ένα, ενώ περίπου το ίδιο συμβαίνει και με τα πρακτορεία συνοδών, όπου μάλιστα τα πρόσωπα των γυναικών είναι εμφανή.

Και στις υπόλοιπες όμως ιστοσελίδες του «κλάδου», όπως τα δημοφιλή ierodoules.com και athensladies.com, διαφημίζονται δεκάδες στούντιο, πρακτορεία συνοδών και μεμονωμένες εκδιδόμενες γυναίκες, ενώ δημοσιεύονται παρόμοιες κριτικές των πολυάριθμων επισκεπτών. Οι περισσότεροι σέρβερ που φιλοξενούν τόσο τις εν λόγω ιστοσελίδες όσο και τα sites των στούντιο βρίσκονται εκτός Ελλάδας, σε χώρες όπως η Γαλλία, η Γερμανία και οι ΗΠΑ.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια εκατοντάδες γυναίκες επιλέγουν τη συγκεκριμένη επαγγελματική οδό, με ό,τι αυτό συνεπάγεται. Ενας μεγάλος αριθμός από αυτές προέρχεται από το εξωτερικό. Οι περισσότερες είναι άγνωστο το πώς έφθασαν εδώ, τι ήρθαν αρχικά να κάνουν και το σε τι κατάσταση θα φύγουν. Και αυτό διότι σε πολλές περιπτώσεις το μεγαλύτερο μερίδιο από το μεροκάματό τους παρακρατείται και υποτίθεται ότι θα αποδοθεί άμα τη ολοκληρώσει των «επαγγελματικών υποχρεώσεών» τους στο κύκλωμα που τις έβαλε στη χώρα. Συχνά όμως αυτό δεν συμβαίνει καθώς το τελευταίο «ραντεβού» κλείνεται με κάποιον αστυνομικό, με αποτέλεσμα ουκ ολίγες γυναίκες να απελαύνονται κακήν κακώς, έχοντας μάλιστα απολέσει τα δεδουλευμένα τους. Τέτοια περιστατικά είναι κλασικό αντικείμενο συζήτησης στους κόλπους των μεταναστών από την Ανατολική Ευρώπη.

ΤΟ ΟΡΓΑΝΩΜΕΝΟ ΕΓΚΛΗΜΑ

Κατακλυσμός από ροζ spams

Η ΙΝΤΕΡΝΕΤΙΚΗ «πολιορκία» με επίδοξες νύφες από τη Ρωσία ή άλλες ενδιαφερόμενες για γνωριμία και φλερτ δεν αποτελεί κάποιο καινούργιο κεφάλαιο στον κυβερνοχώρο αλλά αντίθετα θεωρείται πάγια τακτική εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια στους δεκάδες ιστοτόπους γνωριμιών, όπου παρέχεται και ιδιωτικότητα αλλά και προκάλυψη. Καθημερινά εκατομμύρια άνθρωποι δέχονται στο inbox τους παρόμοιες προσκλήσεις γυναικών. Τι μπορεί όμως να κρύβεται πίσω από αυτές;

Ο κ. Χρ. Βεντούρης είναι Τechnology Specialist της Symantec Ηellas και γνωρίζει τις «μαύρες τρύπες» ασφαλείας του Διαδικτύου όσο λίγοι στη χώρα μας. Οπως λέει, το spam δεν μας το στέλνει πια κάποιο μεμονωμένο άτομο αλλά το οργανωμένο έγκλημα, το οποίο θεωρείται υπεύθυνο για το 90% της παγκόσμιας αποστολής spam. «Το οργανωμένο έγκλημα ελέγχει bot networks (δίκτυα “μολυσμένων” συστημάτων) τα οποία εκμεταλλεύεται κατά το δοκούν.Μπορούν αν θέλουν να καταγράψουν όλες τις κινήσεις του πληκτρολογίου μας ή ακόμη να δουν τις διαδικτυακές συναλλαγές μας. Απαξ και εισέλθουν, δηλαδή, στο σύστημαμπορούν να κάνουν τα πάντα» σημειώνει. Ολοι οι επαγγελματίες ασφαλείας του Διαδικτύου μιλούν για τα «κλέη» του Russian Βusiness Νetwork, το οποίο διαχειρίζεται περίπου 10.000

τέτοια συστήματα και μάλιστα διαθέτει πλέον ακόμη και δικούς του παροχείς συνδέσεων Ιnternet (ΙΡ).

«Ο σκοπός του spam είναι είτε να σε προτρέψει να αγοράσεις κάποιο προϊόν ή υπηρεσία ή να σε “μολύνει” μέσω κάποιου site. Παρατηρούμεμάλισταότι το 2010 θα είναι ακόμη πιο δύσκολο να τα προλάβουμεδιότι πλέον χρησιμοποιούν τις πλέον σύγχρονες μεθόδους.Ο κίνδυνος για τους χρήστες είναι αρκετά μεγάλος» συμπληρώνει. Ακόμη, όπως λέει, η «μόλυνση» μπορεί να προέλθει και μέσω τρίτων, όπως π.χ. από ένα διαφημιστικό μπάνερ σε κάποια φυσιολογική ιστοσελίδα, ενώ παρατηρείται και εκμετάλλευση των σύγχρονων μεθόδων προώθησης, όπως η αγορά λέξεων-κλειδιών σε μηχανές αναζήτησης από μολυσμένες ιστοσελίδες.

Σε ό,τι αφορά την... Αννιούσκα που θέλει να μας γνωρίσει ο κ. Βεντούρης σημειώνει ότι αποτελεί ζήτημα παιδείας αν ανοίγουμε όποιο site φαίνεται εντυπωσιακό και εφιστά την προσοχή των χρηστών καθώς τα spam καθίστανται όλο και πιο στοχευμένα, γεγονός που πρέπει να μας κάνει ακόμη πιο υποψιασμένους. Επίσης τονίζει ότι είναι απαραίτητη η χρήση ενός σύγχρονου συστήματος ασφαλείας προκειμένου να «αναχαιτίζει» τέτοιες επιθέσεις. «Το οργανωμένο έγκλημα έχει παρακλάδια παντού και δεν θεωρώ απίθανο η Αννιούσκα να συνδέεται με αυτό. Και αυτό διότι παλιά θα την έβγαζε στον “δρόμο”ενώ σήμερα έχει έναν πιο ασφαλή τρόπομε λιγότερο κόστος και μεγαλύτερο κέρδος. Το σίγουρο είναι ότι η Αννιούσκα δεν βρίσκεται μόνη της εκεί. Κάποιος την έχει “βγάλει” στο Διαδίκτυο. Σίγουρατο πιθανότερο είναι τέτοιες δραστηριότητες να συνδέονται με το οργανωμένο έγκλημα» καταλήγει.

ΣΩΜΑΤΕΙΟ ΕΚΔΙΔΟΜΕΝΩΝ ΠΡΟΣΩΠΩΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΟΣ

Ζητούν αλλαγή νομοθετικού πλαισίου

ΤΟ ΣΩΜΑΤΕΙΟ Εκδιδομένων Προσώπων Ελλάδoς δημοσιοποίησε υπόμνημα με το οποίο ζητείται η αλλαγή του νομοθετικού πλαισίου που διέπει την επαγγελματική τους δραστηριότητα, επικαλούμενο σχετική γνωμοδότηση του Συνηγόρου του Πολίτη, ο οποίος διαπίστωσε ότι ο νόμος είναι παντελώς αδύνατον «να εφαρμοστεί σε μια μεγάλη και πυκνοκατοικημένη πόλη όπως είναι η Αθήνα καθώς σχεδόν κανένα οίκημα δεν πληροί αυτή την προϋπόθεση». Το ΣΕΠΕ ζητεί νέο νόμο με τον οποίο θα καταστεί η άσκηση του επαγγέλματός τους ευκολότερη καθώς «θα μπορέσουν οι περισσότεροι από τους οίκους ανοχής που λειτουργούν σήμερα στο Λεκανοπέδιο Αττικής υπό καθεστώς παρανομίας να νομιμοποιηθούν πλήρως και να αδειοδοτηθούν».

Οπως υποστηρίζει, «η ανάπτυξη του αναγκαίου νομικού πλαισίου μέσα στο οποίο θα μπορεί να αναπτυχθεί αλλά ταυτόχρονα και να οριοθετηθεί η δραστηριότητα της πορνείαςθα οδηγήσει σταδιακά στην οριστική πάταξη των δικτύων της παραπορνείας» και αυτό διότι «τα άτομα που εκδίδονται σε οίκους ανοχής επιδιώκουν να καταστεί σαφής ο διαχωρισμός τους από τα άτομα εκείνα που εκπορνεύονται ελεύθερα (κάνοντας “πεζοδρόμιο”) και τα οποία δεν υπόκεινται σε κανενός είδους έλεγχο, δηλαδή δεν διαθέτουν ούτε άδειες ασκήσεως επαγγέλματος ούτε έχουν υποβληθεί στις απαραίτητες ιατρικές εξετάσεις, με αποτέλεσμα να αποτελούν σοβαρό κίνδυνο για τη δημόσια υγεία». Ακόμη, όπως σημειώνεται, «η ύπαρξη νομίμως λειτουργούντων οίκων ανοχής θα υποχρεώνει και τους εργαζομένους εντός τους να τηρούν κάποιους κανόνες υγιεινής και να διαθέτουν απαραιτήτως τα χορηγούμενα από το κράτος πιστοποιητικά», καθώς «το γεγονός ότι θα μπορούν να εργάζονται σε νόμιμα οικήματα... εξασφαλίζει τη βεβαιότητα ότι το επάγγελμα αυτό θα ασκείται μόνο από άτομα που το έχουν επιλέξει ελεύθερα και συνειδητά και δεν αποτελούν θύματα και αντικείμενα εκμετάλλευσης κανενός τρίτου που θα προσπαθήσει να κερδίσει χρήματα εξωθώντας τα πρόσωπα αυτά στην πορνεία χρησιμοποιώντας βία, απειλές, ξυλοδαρμούς και παράνομη ομηρεία τους». «Παντός είδους τρίτοι, μεσάζοντες και λοιποί παρασιτικώς ζώντες εις βάρος άλλων, εκμεταλλευόμενοι ιερόδουλες, οι οποίοι τις εξαναγκάζουν να εκδίδονται παρά τη θέλησή τους, δεν θα έχουν θέσησυνεπώςστον χώρο» καταλήγει η ανακοίνωση.

Some photos from the streets

2009-12-08T05:43:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Kelsey and her friend Andrea Rip, we have some nice photos of the area we work in downtown Athens.

Going global without really trying

2009-12-04T02:23:00.000-08:00

This week in Nea Zoi I am reminded again that even though I work in Athens, Greece the work we do is international in nature. Joining us on our outreaches are women from a local Romanian congregation, responding in greater numbers as the percentage of Romanian women we meet increases. Daniela from Romania shared with us on Monday that a church from near her hometown has started reaching out to increasing numbers of Romanian women working there. And they are wondering if Nea Zoi could help them by sharing our training materials.

Then yesterday I spent the day in a conference hosted by the ministry of foreign affairs here together with unicri, a united nations body fighting trafficking specifically from Nigeria. We discussed all the unique challenges of working with women from Nigeria, and possible ways it could improve.

These discussion occur just after our meeting with other International Teams people who want to see growth of our work against trafficking globally. I believe that God cares more than we ever can about those trapped by trafficking and prostitution, and has resources and people all over. Let's see where this all ends up!

Thoughts on pornography & faith

2009-11-24T23:46:00.000-08:00

The plague of pornography

-- 11/19/2009

By Cardinal Justin Rigali

A particular scourge of our time is that of pornography. Since it has such devastating effects, we address this topic, once again, this week.

Temptations in every age of history
We can say that there are many “defining experiences” in the history of God’s relationship with the human race. A number of them involve a great temptation at a given moment, which God allows in order to show forth virtue on the part of the one tempted or to bring about a greater good. We think of the temptation of our first parents in the Garden; the envy of Cain that led him to kill his brother, Abel; the doubting of Moses, which led to his not being allowed to enter the Promised Land; the lost opportunity of Saint Peter to proclaim his faith in Jesus and the weakness shown by Pilate in condemning our Lord, although he knew Jesus was innocent. These, obviously, are just a few examples of temptations that have been permitted at different times in salvation history.

I mention this concept because it is important to remember that every age, and every individual, has his or her particular temptation. In fact, in the spiritual life, we speak of what is called the “dominant fault” of a person. This is that particular area of weakness in a person which can result in great holiness if it is overcome with the help of God’s grace and the good intention of the individual. Likewise, different times in history have had their great moments of temptation for a people or a country.

The ancient phrase used among the Romans: “O tempora, o mores,” which means: “Oh, the times. Oh, the customs (of people),” reminds us that societies have lamented the unfortunate aspects of their own times for centuries. However, this never means accepting, as individuals with our dominant faults or as societies, with the particular challenges of our times, what is evil just because “that’s how things are.”

This week, I would like to address a topic which I have written about before but which bears repeating because it is one of the principal evils of our own times: the terrible scourge of pornography.

What makes pornography particularly deadly in our own time?
We know that the unfortunate reality of pornographic images is nothing new. They have been found among the graffiti of ancient civilizations and have been known up to the present. What makes pornography the particular scourge of our own time is its availability. In the past, we can say that there was a natural, built-in control in obtaining this form of images. The necessity of going to a particular, somewhat public, place; purchasing an item; bringing it home; viewing it and then secreting it somewhere, made for a healthy complication that often allowed the person tempted to overcome the temptation. With the advent of the computer, all this has changed. The public act of purchase has been replaced by the privacy of one’s own home; what had to be purchased is often free or can be purchased somewhat anonymously and a physical book or magazine is no longer necessary. The temptation has not changed but its availability has changed drastically.

We may ask the question: Who is harmed by pornography? First, we think of the men and women who are often made use of in order to produce pornographic images. While it is true that they may do so with their consent and even be paid well for what they are doing, are they not being exploited for the gain or illicit pleasure of others? What will the ultimate result be on their own sense of dignity and self-worth? Most unspeakable is the actual use of children for these horrible purposes.

There is also a devastating effect upon those who view pornography on a regular basis and often become addicted to it. It can be devastating to the possibility of true, fulfilling human relationships because a “virtual” experience takes the place of genuine human interaction. It is also destructive to a person’s view of the dignity and worth of the members of the opposite sex. In many ways, it is the ultimate “using” of a person while giving nothing of oneself in return.

In a society where relationships in general are said to be in crisis, pornography is another means of destroying the possibility of healthy, fulfilling, genuine interpersonal relationships. Studies show that pornography also has a very harmful effect upon marriages. Many women feel that their husbands are being unfaithful to them in some way by constantly viewing pornography, even if they are honest about doing so.

Pornography and its effect on children
During his visit to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI said this about the responsibility of adults to protect children from pornography: “Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. They should be spared the degrading mani-festations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today. Children have a right to be educated in authentic moral values that are based on the dignity of the human person. What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?” (Address to the Bishops of the United States, 18 April 2008).

Caring about our children is a challenge with many levels. The values that society puts forth and encourages; the removal of morality from schools and public settings; the desire of those who profit from the multi-billion dollar pornography industry to make money; and the collapse of the traditional family with its security and support system all combine to leave children in a very vulnerable state when it comes to pornography. The statistics of the numbers of children and young people who view pornography and the ease with which they do so is truly shocking.

What to do?
There are many groups and organizations which have banded together to fight pornography and its devastating effects. “Morality in Media” (www.moralityinmedia.org) is one organization which has recently published a thorough study of the pornography industry and its effects. An organization called “The King’s Men” (www.thekingsmen.org) has recently asked me to endorse a national initiative of theirs to raise awareness of this terrible scourge. Their effort is being sponsored by a number of community and religious organizations to enlist the help of all people of good will in combating this spreading in our communities.

Recognizing the damage that has been done to marriages, families and individuals as a result of the widespread dissemination of pornography in recent times, I have recently written to all of our priests enlisting their support of these efforts. A very helpful pamphlet has also been written for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops entitled: “Pornography: What’s the problem?”

Do not become discouraged!
I would like to conclude with a very important message to those who may be addicted to pornography or who find themselves having recourse to it. My message is: Do not become discouraged! Do not think that you are a horrible person or that God will not forgive you.

The ease with which these materials are available have taken a weakness that has always been present and has always needed to be fought and has made it into an almost superhuman battle. However, we have supernatural means at our disposal! This is what prayer and the sacraments are. They bring us help from heaven for our human weaknesses. Say your prayers. Go to Confession. Go to Mass and receive holy Communion. These are all the means that God has given us for our battles.

As Jesus told Saint Paul when Paul asked that a weakness of his be taken away: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9), so Jesus says the same thing to us. Remember that, in this battle the devil uses one of his oldest tricks. When we are being tempted, he tries to convince us that “it’s not so bad.” Once we have fallen, he tempts us into thinking that it’s so bad that God will not ever forgive us. Neither is true. Pornography is very bad, but forgiveness is always available.

The ease with which pornography is available is the great temptation of our time but we have not been left defenseless because God’s grace is sufficient for us as well.

Good job antitrafficking police

2009-11-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Police in Athens say they have broken up a sex-trafficking ring that lured more than 40 Nigerian women to Greece with promises of legitimate jobs.

Instead of jobs, the women were held for ransom or forced to work as prostitutes, Kathimerini reported Friday.

Police broke up the ring with the rescue of five young Nigerian women who were being held captive until each of their families paid a ransom of $119,000.

They arrested a 20-year-old Nigerian woman believed to be part of the ring and are seeking her husband, a Nigerian with Greek citizenship in the scheme.

Police say members of the ring blackmailed some of their victims to work as prostitutes by threatening to place voodoo curses on their relatives.

A surprising night...

2009-11-11T05:24:00.000-08:00

It was my first night back on outreach after being away for the IT Antitrafficking Prayer Summit. I was a little out of it. But now I'm thinking that maybe I should go away more often because we had so many great encounters - here are a few...

We met Ana from Romania - tall, dark-haired and a little out of it. Like so many that we see from Romania, she too is from a small town near the Black Sea coast. It reminded me of our discussions last week on equipping International Teams workers in Romania to do prevention work - how great it would have been had Ana met people who affirmed her value, helped her in practical ways, so that prostitution in Athens wasn't her best option!!!

Further along the route we met a big group of Nigerian women, who often are quite rude, at least indifferent to our teams. This time however, one of our new Greek volunteers really connected with two young women who confided in her that they really want to get off the streets. We are praying for them, and waiting for them to have the courage to make this huge change.

Also, please pray for protection for *Cindy* a young woman who was trafficked and now finds herself in danger as her case progresses.

If you would like to join Nea Zoi in assisting with legal fees for Cindy or the other two women, please contact us for details.

October encounters

2009-10-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

These past weeks have been very exciting in Nea Zoi as we have quite a few new volunteers, both from the Greek Bible Institute and others from the local community. It means we have been able to be out and meet many new women like Jennie, from Nigeria. She is young, sweet and totally surprised to meet someone offering her tea and help in the middle of the night. It was great to see our new Greek volunteers chatting with them and teaching them Greek phrases.

We met Vera from Bulgaria on Monday night. She was young, thin, pale and trembling after a bad customer. While we introduced ourselves (through our card, gestures and a few words), the madame and customer were arguing in the front room. Because Vera seemed so scared, I had her showed our phone number and she copied it into her phone. Meanwhile, the argument escalated into a fight, that ended up with with the madame being injured. We told Vera she could call any time, and that we'd see her in a week.

I don't know what will happen with Jennie and Vera, but I was reminded of the constant violence that these women live in. We cannot take for granted the peace and security we enjoy.

Interesting article about trafficking in the US

2009-10-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

http://www.independentcollegian.com/news/professor-inducted-into-hall-of-fame-1.1993495

Professor inducted into hall of fame

By Joe Griffith

Published: Monday, October 12, 2009
Updated: Monday, October 12, 2009

The city of Toledo is currently fourth in the nation for the volume of
investigations and rescue of children from underground human trafficking
networks; however, Celia Williamson, a professor in the department of
social work at UT, said Toledo is “just at the tip of the iceberg.”

After 15 years of working to solve issues surrounding human trafficking,
Williamson was inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame on Aug. 26.
Williamson said the induction ceremony was just another chance to bring up
the issue and urge people to take responsibility in their own communities
to solve the problem.

“Toledo, I think, is further along than the other cities, but Toledo is
nowhere [near] where it needs to be in terms of responding to trafficking,
so I’m excited to get the awards because I get another avenue to talk
about what needs to be done and the more I talk about it, the more people
do, and the better I could sleep, and that would be the award,” Williamson
said.

Williamson said she first got involved in the issue of human trafficking
in 1993 while working as a social worker in the North End of Toledo.
“I would drive into work every day and I would see these women out on the
streets and I really didn’t like them myself. I thought it was terrible
because I was trying to work with kids and families and here are these
women,” she said.

Williamson eventually decided to engage prostitutes in Toledo,
interviewing them and conducting research into their situations over a six
month period. Many of the prostitutes Williamson spoke with explained that
they were recruited and manipulated into prostitution when they were
children, and had lived horrible lives filled with violence and drug
abuse.

“Once I heard those stories, it changed my life,” she said. “I could no
longer ignore the issue, I couldn’t sleep at night, I couldn’t go in and
pretend I was doing good work.”

That same year Williamson and other community members started Second
Chance, a program that works with women involved in prostitution and
children that have been trafficked into the sex trade. Today, Second
Chance works with the local FBI task force and consults with programs
throughout Ohio and across the nation that are beginning to respond to
human trafficking, Williamson said.

“In the beginning, I did struggle by myself for a long time trying to get
people to listen that this was going on,” she said.

According to Williamson, it took about 10 years before people really
started listening about the issue of human trafficking.

“I don’t think its people’s fault. I think it’s my fault in that it took
me a decade to learn how to approach people,” she said. “I was naively
thinking that people were going to reach out to these people because they
were dying and drug addicted and taken against their will most times, and
that’s not the case.”

Williamson said she finally realized how to utilize the media to spread
the message about human trafficking and change the public’s perspective on
prostitution, which is that prostitutes make a personal choice to sell
their bodies.

“What you need to do is change the perspective to say that these women who
are out on the streets are not there by choice, they’re prostituted by
other people or by drug addiction or by poverty and those are things
people can understand,” she said. “I didn’t understand that the first
thing I needed to do was re-educate people and once that happened then
there was more support than we were ready to handle.”

The adult prostitutes that are out on the streets are actually the
children who slipped through unnoticed into the underground human
trafficking network, Williamson said. While the actual number of human
trafficking victims is unknown, Williamson said researchers estimate there
are 100,000 to 300,000 teenage runaways each year, and in Toledo, runaways
are approached by traffickers within two weeks.

“In Toledo it has been difficult for people to wrap their head around
because this is a recruitment city, it’s not a destination city, so we
will have kids recruited here and then shipped off,” she said.
According to Williamson, 85 percent of Toledo children who are recruited
into the sex trade are shipped off to large cities like Chicago or Las
Vegas where the demand is higher.

“When you turn on the news or you see these HBO specials or whatever, and
you see these young girls walking in high heels in Chicago or Las Vegas,
some of those are our kids,” she said. “We don’t get them back until
they’re adults and they’re crack addicted and now they’re on the street
and now we say we don’t want to work with them because they chose to go
out there.”

Williamson said many people in society don’t fully understand the issue of
human trafficking as a domestic problem, and instead, they see it as an
issue abroad. According to Williamson, 14,000 to 17,000 victims are
shipped from other countries and forced into labor trafficking or sex
trafficking within the U.S.

“In Toledo they might be in buffets, they might be in massage parlors,
they might be in migrant camps, those types of things, but most people
think that’s the majority of the victims of trafficking, if they even have
a concept that victims are here, but overwhelmingly, the majoring are
domestic victims, victims born here, raised here, and trafficked here,”
she said.

Human trafficking is the second largest illegal enterprise in the world,
preceded by drugs and followed by weapons, Williamson said.
While drugs and weapons are sold and then used, Williamson said many
researchers predict that human trafficking will soon become the largest
illegal enterprise in the world because bodies can be sold countless times
for sex or labor. Large-scale organized crime, “mom and pop” businesses
and legitimate businesses are all involved in the human trafficking
“chain,” Williamson said.

“There is a whole chain that is economically benefiting off the backs of
kids, so it’s not just the trafficker and the victim,” Williamson said.
According to Williamson, a 2005 human trafficking FBI sting in
Pennsylvania rescued a large group of children from traffickers, and 20 of
the children were from Toledo. About one year later the news reported that
a Pennsylvania state trooper was helping the trafficking network, she
said.

“It can’t succeed underground alone. Some legitimate people are involved
to help it through,” Williamson said. “It’s the same economic principles,
it’s the same supply and demand and distribution; the supply are the
victims, the demand are the customers, the distribution people are the
traffickers, so the economic principles are the same and legitimate
business has to be involved for it to stay successful and continue.”
Examples of legitimate businesses involved in the “chain” are hotels and
motels around the world and truck drivers, because so many child victims
are forced to work truck stops along the interstate.

According to Williamson, the most rewarding part of her work is getting
people involved. Williamson first came to UT to teach in 2000 and many of
her students became involved in the cause.

“I love to get students involved because they are very passionate about
it, and I’ve had a couple of students that actually devoted their careers
to human trafficking so I think that’s the icing on the cake,” she said.
“If we keep producing students who keep going to different states then
pretty soon we’ll have a nationwide effort that is going to be making a
difference, so I think that’s the best.”

Williamson said society functions under the concept that it is socially
acceptable to “throw away” women and children.

“To me there are no throw-away kids, there are no throw-away women, so
they have to be ours. We have the responsibility as a community, as a
society,” she said.

According to Williamson, society has a responsibility to uphold the
principles that “we are our neighbor’s keeper, and children are our most
precious resource.”

“If we truly believe all those things that we say we do, then we naturally
think that these are our kids and these are our women,” she said. “If we
really believe that there is not one throw-away child then we have to do
everything we can to get that child back and restore that child to some
type of emotional health.”

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random stories...

2009-10-01T05:12:00.000-07:00

With joy and a little surprise, I watched on Monday as the room where we were holding our training started to fill up. New students from the Greek Bible Institute, 2 young women I had met the previous year at the youth conference, the niece of one of my good Greek friends, an older woman well respected in her church... I am reminded again that God can do more than I ask or imagine.

Our outreach yesterday went well also as we hosted a visiting team from International Teams in Russia. They were so eager to go with us into the brothels and speak with women in Russian. Our team spoke with Ava, an older Russian madame, who opened up more than she ever has to us about her loneliness, desperation, and fear. Our hope is that she can be connected with a Russian speaking group here in Athens for friendship and more!

I also spoke with a young woman from Romania, who insisted that she wanted to be there, and knew where she was coming. I side-stepped her defenses, and shared with her that I've read research showing that levels of post-traumatic stress are comparable for women coming out of prostitution as for men who've experience combat (see M. Farley's book on prostitution Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress). It was then that she opened up about the stress she feels, and how she tries to block everything out but can't. I hope that she will call so that we can start meeting - but my guess is that she won't try to contact us because she has to keep going to survive. But who knows what will happen with our next encounter?

Happy September!

2009-09-01T03:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had our staff meeting, this morning I had a phone call with Mathilde, my International Teams Europe leader and I was reminded that I am part of something BIG that God is orchestrating! We've had dreams of seeing outreach to women in prostitution in other parts of Europe, particularly in Cyprus, being Greek speaking.

I was thrilled to hear that Kelsey and Stacie, 2 Nea Zoi volunteers, on their vacation in Cyprus ended up meeting people who have been praying already that God would lead them to start reaching victims of trafficking. In the meantime, I received an email from Penny, (a friend of Myrto) who with her church want to do something to reach out to these women in their city. She asked us for help, training and support. In the meantime, our summer interns worked on updating and improving our training materials for volunteers, so we have stuff that's ready to go!

Wow... and that's only a sample of ways that things are coming together within International Teams and beyond in the global church to reach more of those most hurting all around the world. We are expecting visitors to the ministry this fall from the EU, Australia and North America, to see how they can either join us here or be catalysts in their location.

Once again, God does much more than I could ever expect or imagine - who knows what adventures lie ahead.

Just a note from our break

2009-08-26T06:48:00.001-07:00

I've spent the last weeks chasing Erik, laughing with Gianni, cooking, reading,camping, hiking, and biking instead of... Omonoia. I dropped by the other day to the office, and was shocked again by the brutality of the center of Athens. It always hurts to come back into the city center after time off, and again to feel afresh outrage at the walking death of heroin use, the misery of the homeless, the despair and loneliness of the stranger.

I don't feel stronger, wiser, or more inspired to face the challenges of the city. I wish I did. After all, I am leading the Nea Zoi team and isn't that what vacations are for- fresh inspiration? But I am reminded of the God of the Israelites who leads the way through the Red Sea, who guides by fire and cloud through the desert.

Maybe it's okay if I don't have a big plan for everything from next Monday, when we start up again?

2009-07-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

i have felt like a pesky little fly when it comes to sandra. she makes it a point to separate herself from the other nigerian girls where we go for night outreaches. she works alone at the other end of the street and gives us polite but brief answers whenever we want to talk. every outreach, i find her & say hi, giving her space while making it obvious that i know her name & would love to talk.
last week, sandra finally inched her way over to our table. she was ready to ask some heavy questions & even brought up some content from a brochure we pass out. her hard exterior melted a tiny bit as she told us about working alone to avoid police & her trafficker - one of the other nigerian girls. she was still private, but still made a point to sit & talk with us for several minutes.
i can tell sandra is well-educated & has self-respect. but she is still struggling in an environment that gives her little room to breathe, if any at all. please pray for us to build trust that will bring change.

From Brit Kroll... her last story as a Nea Zoi intern.

pictures from the agora outreach

2009-07-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

Monday night outreach

2009-07-30T04:48:00.000-07:00

Monday night outreach and we again witness a police chase and an arrest- this time it was sweet Yve, here for such a short time. Repeatedly as we walked up to a group of girls, we felt invisible - do they even notice our presence, with all their anxiety over the police? Even Jane, who has sat at the table and talked a long while with our intern Laurie, was too nervous to talk more than a few moments.

Tuesday morning... we decided to be there for court the next day as Yve appeared before the judge for illegal prostitution. We arrived at the courts near 12, found the right courtroom, and waited. Soon the English court translator appeared, whom I had met several years ago when we first started meeting Nigerian girls on the street. She told us how the problem with the Nigerian trafficking victims is only getting worse, and that nothing in the court system had changed. Girls who are clearly frightened and afraid regularly appear before the judge to be sentenced for illegal prostitution. As we waited longer, we saw so many hopeless, desparate people - many of whom look just like those I see in Omonoia square every day on my way to our office.

After waiting for several hours, finally Yve showed up, along with 10 other Nigerian girls in court for prostitution. For a brief moment, her face lit up when she saw us there waiting for her. She isn't completely alone in this alien world.

It gives me hope that our presence is noticed. A spark of hope in the midst of darkness, corruption and despair. I will believe that there is hope for Yve.

Thursday evening outreach

2009-07-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

It was a quiet night because the police kept coming through and chasing the girls. We watched the girls fly off into the night, leaving their shoes behind time after time, pursued and mostly not caught by the police. When they weren't running, they were so nervous to talk and anxious to make as much money as possible before the police came by again.

At the table, my friends Lydia and Princess, health professionals from church, had a couple quiet conversations with Trudy and Sophie about their health problems. It is so encouraging to see women beginning to trust us, and see that the Almighty God cares about their bodies, as well as their souls and spirits.

I want to leave you with the words of Princess, who with tears welling up in her eyes said, "How can they stay in this trap of prostitution, with all they go through?" sharing how she felt after seeing firsthand so the dozens of women from her own country on the streets. It is awful, heinous, vile, evil, and so much more, seeing the lives of young women be destroyed through prostitution. We cry out to the Almighty God, who alone can rescue these ones.

Monday 20th by Kelsey Talbott

2009-07-23T02:59:00.001-07:00

Thanks Kelsey, for writing up Monday's outreach!...

A garbage truck collision ... a police raid ... a drug deal ... there's rarely a dull moment on these streets where we set up our table among deserted market stalls and fruit stands. It's only a week and a half into our summer outreach program, but Monday night I was pleasantly surprised to be on the receiving end of a hug and a cheerful greeting ("there's my friend!"). Usually I struggle to remember names, fighting the passing cars of potential clients and other distractions on the busy street for a few minutes of conversation. But this time I was the one recognized and sought out for a chat. It doesn't take much to establish some semblance of consistency here, and the more time we spend in the midst of these women, the more opportunities for relationship and deeper conversations present themselves. The awful, peculiar and sometimes amusing things we observe as we sit for just two hours a few times a week in their territory are part of their daily reality - along with violence, threats, exhaustion, and tedium. The glimpses we are allowed into their world, the brief conversations and the satisfaction of having your name remembered are reminders that although we don't see the whole picture, there is potential for something more significant, hope for change and for freedom from the slavery that is their everyday existence. It's these glimpses that encourage me to keep going back.

Saturday's news, by fantastic intern Laurie

2009-07-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

We started the night looking at Romans 5:1-6, Proverbs 3:5-6 during worship and speaking about how we need to let God guide the positive and negative times in our lives. After Thursday night’s unusual outreach, and the fact that this was our first Saturday outreach, we were all wondering what tonight would bring, and we wanted to soundly place the night in the Lord’s hands.

As we arrived at in the market to set up the table we saw several women out working the streets. Within minutes of us beginning conversations with the women they ran away from the police and did not return. When we found some of the women the situation was volatile and due to needing to be mindful of our own safety, we could not approach the women in their new location. Approximately an half an hour before we would be taking the table down the women came back to their usual location. We were able to make many follow up connections with women we know and meet several new women. The table was flooded with women seeking something cold to drink and information, and there were fruitful connections made. For me personally, I was challenged to give everything that transpired to God and not to feel frustrated that we could not speak with the women earlier in the evening. It was amazing to see the Lord at work and the way that the team supported one another to keep hope and let the Lord be in control.

News on our summer outreaches (2)

2009-07-17T04:08:00.001-07:00

Day time sees a different side of the market where we set up our table -- crowds of people, shouting voices, mounds of fresh fruit and all variety of vegetables. At night, the scene has changed entirely - the street holds no memory of day-time transactions except for a strong aroma of rotting fruit left behind by the venders. We set up our table in a booth along the dimly lit line, and we split our efforts into three different teams. One team remained at the table, awaiting women in "need" of a biscuit and a glass of iced tea - the other two teams split to travel to different hot-spots where the women are typically working. We began, as usual, greeting women on the street - sharing with them a about an opportunity for a brief respite from the harsh reality that they face at a table set up for them, because someone cares.

Suddenly, the women began to scatter - flipping off their shoes and running as fast as they could to hiding places spread throughout the street. This is a typical response to police threats - the fear of arrest. But this time, it was different. Men came from each direction - some down the stairs of the square over the public market, some on motorcycles up one side of the street, and others running down the opposite side of the street. All were thick and fierce - one pushed a girl and she fell into the street, others yelled, "You deserve it! You deserve it!" in English as the women fled. Clearly, their attack had been planned - perhaps just to scare the women out of the area for a few minutes, perhaps just to entertain themselves, perhaps they were hired by local business-men . . . whatever the reason, they only added to the systematic trauma, violence, and fear that these women are constantly experiencing.

Shortly after, a street-cleaner came down the road -- sweeping up shoes left behind in the empty street. It was eerily quiet. Later on, the police came -- arrested the men involved, who were still wandering the quiet street. Needless to say, the women didn't return. None sat at our little refuge tonight . . . a few more interactions, but mostly rushed. The fear they face is a constant reality - but Jesus provides a refuge for those in despair.

by short-term summer volunteer Hannah Bryant, on loan from New Horizons in Seattle

News on our summer outreaches (1)

2009-07-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

the first time i met lisa she laughed in my face. this beautiful nigerian girl danced with laughter in the street where she was flagging down cars full of men. she simply could not take what i'd just said seriously. the idea of nea zoi being able to help her find a new job was like a joke in her world.
the last few times i've seen lisa, she is willing to laugh with me instead. i had to be very intentional in finding her & calling her by name for a few outreaches, but now that we are out 3 times a week, she recognizes & approaches me. pretty sure i even got a high five last monday evening. i'm excited to see lisa now, because i know she is more comfortable to talk & more likely to believe that we can help her as the relationship grows.
grateful for the girls who are beginning to open up, as they begin to know our names & faces on the street this summer.

- britt kroll (nz intern)

Song "Child of God"

2009-07-08T04:04:00.000-07:00

Child of God (Lyrics distributed with permission)
by Steve Siler copyright 2009
Music for the Soul

I paint on the face
I strap on the heels
I shut down my heart so it won’t have to feel
the hands that don’t know me all over my skin
and the eyes that don’t love me drinking me in

Under this make up
I’m black and blue
The petals were crushed before I could bloom
I didn’t choose this
No one ever would
And I’d break these chains if only I could

I’m a child of God
I hide in plain sight
I’m a child of God
Slave to the night
Powerless, broken, abandoned, abused
Do you see a child of God
Or just a prostitute?
The world looks away and calls me a whore
and each day I die just a little bit more
A disposable person to keep at arms length
Human trash…
Is that what you think?

I’m a child of God
I hide in plain sight
I’m a child of God
Slave to the night
Powerless, broken, abandoned, abused
Do you see a child of God
Or just a prostitute?

What I’ve become is not who I am
We both were created by the very same hand

I’m a child of God
I hide in plain sight
I’m a child of God
This isn’t right
See my humanity
Look for the truth
I am a child of God
I am a child of God
Not a prostitute

Police activity!

2009-06-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

Finally Greece is taking action on the situation with all the illegal immigrants in the center. Every day they are rounding up immigrants, checking their documents, and then either deporting them, detaining them, or... What that means for us is that it's hard to get into contact with the girls. Last night even on the brothel street the police had been through rounding up the workers. In the midst of this pressure, we are getting more phone calls from girls who aren't making money and getting more desperate. Pray for wisdom for us to know where to go to make contact with the women, and how to respond to the women who call for help in this season.

A great story on our Russian Eisodos from Stacie Shopp

2009-06-16T03:18:00.001-07:00

The other day I sat down to type you all a letter after a really good day, and then my intentions got distracted and the letter fell to the wayside. So this morning as I was thinking through a different day, and realized that I've not been very good about keeping you up on just the day-to-day stuff! So, I wanted to send a note to share some of the small, and yet, great things that God does when we obey the sudden call.

I had had other plans for that morning. In fact, I was a bit annoyed that when I have finally made plans, then someone has a need in the middle. So, after a bit of a scolding about warning me ahead of time of their needs, I agreed to go to the lawyer's with M.

We met and slowly walked to the lawyer's office. I was to act as the translator, from English to Russian. M was quite nervous, as she felt the education of her girls weighed on the outcome of this meeting. She told me later that her husband is against educating girls. He feels that they should be prepared for being wives, and at 15 are ready to be 'engaged' by the parents to an eligible man. M feels differently. She very passionately told me that she wants her girls to be doctors or lawyers or teachers, anything but dependent. M wants them to have a life beyond the walls of her rented apartment. M wants her girls to see things and learn things that she was not allowed to learn. M also feels trapped now that she has been abandoned by her husband, and without an education must support her two girls. So this meeting with the lawyer is important.

The meeting went well. In the small cramped office on the third floor of the dingy community building, the lawyer gives us some hope. She is glad to help in any way that she can, and is excited to see M and hear about her progress. The lawyer promises to help get the girls into an education, and promises to being the various processes as soon as possible.

M and I leave shortly. I've done nothing really but translate a few words from one person to another. Yet the lawyer is thankful that we could communicate better than normal as words were understood. M is thankful to have had someone on her side to present her case.

I left rather humbled actually. It was not a hard day. It was nothing really to meet M and share this moment with her, and to help through a few translated words. We celebrated with a cold drink from the local kiosk, and M said that she was thankful to have such a friend. Mentally I was thinking about how I almost missed being a friend because I had other plans. Not even very important plans.

Later that day I met up with two other gals, the ones that I had been working with on their English. A friend of K's had died suddenly, and she was really upset. My prepared lesson went unopened, as we sat and drank our frappes in silence. I began to ask K if she believed in God and heaven? She answered quite quickly that of course she was a believer, didn't I see her cross? When asked if K ever read the Bible, she simply looked away and quietly said no. So we began to talk about the Psalms. I shared with her verses and thoughts which talk about protection, provision, and guidance beyond the events of the day.

As the lesson time ended, K asked if we could go and get something to eat together. So we did. It was kebabs at her favorite place. She goes there sometimes she tells me, as it is the only place she knows in the city. The walk was quiet, but her questions about the writer of Psalms and his anger toward injustice and love of God were sincere. K wanted to know what else was in the Bible? So I shared and we talked and I prayed.

The meal was full of fellowship and comfort I hope. I prayed throughout that God would plant seeds and begin to work into K's heart through this pain and hardship.

The next week I prepared a Russian Bible with underlined words and Psalms of joy for K. She didn't show up for the graduation. The Bible sits still in my room waiting for her.

Yesterday she called me unexpectedly and was in town, did I want to meet for shopping and coffee? She chatted away then about life and challenges and how to see through the things on the surface to what is beyond. I realized that K also needs a friend. She wants to find someone to trust, and someone to go with her shopping and to the beach and for walks. I was humbled to know that she considers me a friend.

What an unexpected thing. What a blessing really, and a small but yet significant thing. God has allowed me to be there when someone else needs a friend. It might not be a mighty change, but it is something which I know He has arranged.

I've promised to go and see K in her town, and then I hope to bring her the Bible with it's words of truth.
For now, I pray that God will open my eyes more to the small acts of obedience and friendship for which He might have moved me across the world.

Shalom in Him
--

Event photos!

2009-06-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

Learning from our big event

2009-06-02T02:28:00.001-07:00

Last Friday night was our big event “Behind the Masks: an alternative look at trafficking”. It all began about a year ago when I woke up one morning with the idea of bringing together some artistic friends of mine to put on a show with dance and music to raise funds and awareness in the local community about the work of Nea Zoi. As I shared my idea, it seemed to resonate with the team. My artistic friends agreed that it was a good idea, and it seemed exciting! Although we’d never done something like that and it felt really overwhelming, we decided to go for it. We put a lot of work into this over the last month especially, in addition to running the Eisodos classes and most outreaches. Phew!

At last the big day arrived. It was fun – the dance troupe, the classical quartet and the choir performed beautifully. The tragedy of trafficking as shown by the dance and the monologue was balanced out by the energetic joy of the gospel choir. Our Nea Zoi fans from the area turned up, along with friends of the performers and a few from the neighborhood. Those who came were enthusiastic in their feedback, and said, “When will you do the next one!”

In team meeting yesterday, we debriefed the event and we are discouraged. There was a low turnout, despite our extensive advertising in the church and press releases to all the major media. We were inexperienced and disorganized, and it showed. Plus we didn’t raise any much-needed funds, not even to cover the costs of the event.

I’m proud of the team for their hard work for the event… and we learned a lot. If there is a next time, it’ll be much better, I’m sure. 

Now back to the everyday challenges of Nea Zoi and being wife and mom- finishing well this session of the Eisodos classes and preparing for next year, welcoming some short-term summer volunteers, and the continuing challenge of being present in the dark red-light districts of Athens all while chasing a toddler who’s learned remarkably fast to RUN.

Thank you for your prayers for this event. Keep us in your prayers for rest, encouragement and fresh vision for what God has for us in Nea Zoi.

Pictures to come...

Arm-wrestling...

2009-05-14T12:05:00.000-07:00

Outreach yesterday - my first in a couple weeks. We headed down towards Fylis on a bright, sunny day and started ducking into the dark basement doors. It was an amazing day overall - we didn't get a single door slammed in our face and many of the women we regularly see were particularly open.

Ellie was exceptionally open - even the first time we met her a few weeks ago. She was bouncing around and joking with us, while telling bits of her story of growing up in a family of 9. As I tried to hand her something to read in Albanian, she told me to keep it, since she couldn't read. She hadn't been able to finish school because her father died when she was little.

She continued by telling me that she was good at making money though and asked me if I was strong. A little surprised, I said, "well maybe, since I have to lift up my son all the time". She then put up her hand and said, "let's arm wrestle!" Without thinking I put up my arm... and won! :-) She went on to tell me she'd been a masseuse, and had two kids.

I'll bet you didn't arm-wrestle for your job today! Life...

a birthday for Lucy

2009-05-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Last week was Lucy's birthday. When we called to remind her about the lessons, she reminded us of her birthday. But we were already prepared! We greeted her with cupcakes and singing the birthday song. She brought her camera, and kept saying how thrilled she was to celebrate with such a nice group of girls. Awww.... :-)

We had a special guest yesterday, just in time for Lucy's birthday - Yvette Jarvis, a who is an African American local artist/activist/politician here. We had asked her to share how racism doesn't have to stop you from achieving big things here, to inspire dreams. Lucy was in awe, but she opened up when I asked her to share a piece of her story so Yvette could see if she could help. She told us things she's never said before... Like "Is trafficking really such a bad thing? After all these guys make 40,000 euros per girl they bring. Isn't that God's blessing?" And that she felt scared and suffered so much when she first came, but now she said, "Going out to work on the streets is like going to the bank."

Wow! I see how insidious trafficking is - evil, twisted. How reliable finding a customer is. How we humans can twist our reality to adapt to anything. I think Lucy is closer than many to getting out of prostitution - but she is still so stuck, so addicted, so without options.

Please pray for her. For hope to change, For the truth to set her free.

Great news!

2009-04-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for R and her baby daughter... she is one of the Nigerian girls coming fowhom we asked you all to pray for her papers. We were sitting together over the meal we shared - today it was my own vegetarian chile. She was so happy today because she finally received her residence permit - after a year, it is a huge answer to prayer. Now she can begin to look for work - which will take as great a miracle as getting her papers was! And in the relaxed climate, R shared with us all how she met her husband, and how he supported her through the whole court process.

Also, it's great to take a moment and think of the small victories... even though there's just a few girls attending the lessons, it's so encouraging to think that a while ago they were on a destructive life path. Now we get to be part of their journey to restoration! And you can see on their faces that they feel accepted, comfortable, and hope by being with us.

News that give us hope!

2009-03-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

Breaking the curse

Ten suspected human traffickers went on trial today in Zwolle, near where I live, as a result of an African pastor friend of mine breaking voodoo curses over young Nigerian girls forced into prostitution.

The ten men were part of a larger international trafficking gang rolled up at the end of 2007: 18 people in seven countries. The remaining eight members are standing trial in Italy and Nigeria.

Picking up Saturday’s copy of NRC Handelsblad, I read to my surprise the front page headline: Pastor ‘frees’ sex-slaves. Then the opening sentence: ‘God had to be brought in.’

To my further surprise, I read my friend’s name in the second sentence of the story, explaining how the police and the justice department had asked him to help. They had found themselves powerless to deal with the fear holding the girls back from testifying against their traffickers.

After the police had arrested the gang members in the international operation, they were dismayed when none of the victims were prepared to lay charges or testify.

Again and again the police visited the girls in their rehabilitation centre, returning with father-figures and other young women. But the girls remained tight-lipped and even hostile towards the police.

The authorities realised they were up against a double fear. The girls’ handlers had told them the police would throw them out of the country. And, more terrifyingly, they would reap the consequences of voodoo curses spoken out over the girls during rituals in Nigeria if they broke their contracts.

So, the police engaged the help of a former victim now working as a translator for the justice department to help the girls overcome their fear of the authorities.

But breaking voodoo curses is not dealt with in police training manuals. Someone then suggested the name of my Nigerian pastor friend leading a bible academy in Amsterdam.

Breakthrough

He agreed to talk and pray with the girls, explaining that the God of the Bible was more powerful than the curses. One by one he earned their confidence, and eventually ten of them agreed to bring charges and to testify.

For the justice department, this trial is historic. It is the first time they have picked up a whole chain, from the start to the finish. Many European countries, including France, Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Germany and Italy, worked together to achieve this end. One offical said that while the EU was a TGV economically, at the justice level it was still a plodding horse and cart.

The process has taken nearly 17 months to prepare, and many witnesses have been heard in several lands. The prosecution has collated 65 files, each with 500 pages. This operation has brought the fight against human trafficking to a new level of cooperation and execution.

The defense lawyers, however, argue that the girls are being manipulated to bring false accusations in exchange for residence visas.

Profitable

For the girls themselves, cross-examination by hostile lawyers working for their bosses is a heavy ordeal, leading to nightmares and revived fears. On top of that, they have still received no guarantee of residence permits.

Although figures are difficult to confirm, authorities estimate that some 500,000 women are trafficked into the EU every year. To bring prosecution has been particularly difficult. Last year in Holland, the justice department opened 524 investigations, of which only around 200 ended in convictions.

Human Trafficking used to be third on the list of profitable organised crime, next to arms trafficking and drugs, but now it is at least equal to these options in terms of earnings.

Many young girls have been arriving at Schiphol airport from Nigeria, escorted to the immigration control, at which point the escorts disappeared ‘for something to eat’. The girls were taken into houses for single, minor asylum-seekers, where they were easy prey for traffickers to pick them up on their way to school or church. Within the EU’s borderless nations, the girls were easily transported to Italy and other southern European nations and forced into prostitution.

Hopefully the new level of cooperation achieved through this operation will be maintained to erode the well-oiled machinery of this 21st century slavery.

But it will still probably require divine intervention literally to ‘deliver’ the witnesses.

Till next week,

Jeff Fountain

She came EARLY

2009-03-05T00:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note of thanks to those who prayed for Lucy... she called us before the lesson to see if it was still on, and showed up early for class, saying she just couldn't sleep anymore! We had 3 students, and 2 women just drop in last week on Thursday! Yay!

Persistance matters

2009-02-24T02:56:00.000-08:00

Four years ago, we met Lucy. She's Nigerian, and particularly energetic and extroverted. You may have read about her a couple years ago, because we've been seeing her off and on since the Olympics. We've talked over endless cups of tea, we've shared meals, even taught her how to make Greek food. She tells us that she knows that her work isn't what the best part of her wants. But still, she's working in prostitution.

Today, Lucy is attending our vocational classes. Not every week. Not on time. But our persistance (and God's) is slowly working it's way into her heart. Please pray for her - to keep getting up in the morning on Thursdays, to find the bus and get up all our stairs. Pray that she would feel more courage to change after being with us. And pray for that change to happen from the heart outwards, into the life that God intends for her.

Lucy is one of dozens we meet every week - from Nigeria, Romania, Albania, Russia and Greece. Like Betty I met yesterday, who told me that she knows God doesn't want her working in prostitution. Will we have the persistence of hope to be there for Betty when she reaches the point of change? I hope it's tomorrow!

freshening up

2009-02-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that our office is in an 80 year old building? The ad in the paper was for artists... but I loved it for it's big double doors, high ceilings, and artistic potential. It kinda reminds me of the people with '"artistic potential" we meet on the streets. Only it takes a lot more imagination to see beyond the despair and ugliness to the person God intended them to be.

We are celebrating 10 years of presence on the streets of Athens this month, on the 17th. We will host an open house - and thus decided a fresh coat of paint will do much to enhance our space's potential. More to come...

Last week, our little team was out on Iasonos street, handing out Christian calendars in a brothel that we don't often manage to visit. Besides the madame and young Romanian girl working, was a guy who asked us who we were. The immediate response was fear, thinking perhaps he was someone running the brothels, or in organized crime. "Who are you?" he asked. "Who are you?" our team responded. He eventually introduced himself as a guy retired from the vice squad. The madame told us that in one of the many times he'd picked her up to go the police station, he'd slapped her and broken her tooth. Eventually, though, they became friends. He told us that in all his years in the vice squad, he'd never seen anything so amazing as the job we were doing and that we should keep it up! Encouragement from strange places.

Back on the street

2009-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today we started outreaches again, beginning from the brothel where "Olga's" murder occurred. There are 3 brothels there, little basement apartments with no natural light - and places where less "marketable' women work. In the place where the murder occurred, an older Albanian woman assured us that she was safe as things like that never happen in the daytime. It was the nightshift woman that was killed, and she was "miserly" enough not to pay for "security" (ie: a pimp). Next door, an older Russian woman told us with many details about the victim, and explained to us that Olga had "trouble" with her clients. Basically, she blamed her for her death - she didn't know how to handle her clients who touched her roughly. Therefore there is no reason to fear- she has "security" and knows how to handle her clients. And doesn't ever accept non-Greek clients.

On a nearby street, Mary from Poland told us about the events as well - but a completely different version. And she IS scared, and asked us flat out, "Why do you care enough to come here when no one else cares about us?" With joy Dina and Kiki explained to Mary that God himself cares.

I hope that eventually we will get past these defenses of blame and denial with many more women, to share with them about God's love and real hope.

Mourning...

2009-01-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago, the 2nd of two brutal murders occurred - this time in a brothel that we visit occasionally. Just a couple lines in the local news witnessed the passing of "Olga", a 57 year old Russian woman, working by herself in prostitution. She was stabbed in the breast and the throat, brutally, and the police as of yet haven't found out who did it. Just 3 weeks ago, we brought her a Christmas present with the message that God is near. She was so touched by the gesture, and she confided in us that she hoped to get out of this job soon. We shared with her about the Eisodos project, and promised to visit her in January. It wasn't soon enough.

I forget sometimes that prostitution is dangerous. I wish that somehow we could have reached her with this project 6 months ago. I wish that we had had more conversation about faith in God that day. I think of those we'll see next week when we are back on the streets... probably feeling especially scared and vulnerable these days. May God give us wisdom on how to respond in this moment. So not another Olga will miss her chance.

Christmas outreaches and Eisodos class

2008-12-18T03:19:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas outreaches are going VERY well! We have given out about 80 gifts so far, and many places where normally they are negative, opened wide their doors and welcomed us. In fact, one madame apologized that last week she didn't let us in, and said what a great service we are performing! There also were two women - Jenny a Nigerian and Olga from Russia who asked for help in finding other work. We are encouraged!

About our Eisodos vocational classes... as we speak our second class is running with two Nigerian women. We changed the program so it will run for 3 months, once a week, focusing initially on Greek language and basic life-finding work skills. It was so awesome to hear the laughter as the girls tried to get their tongues around the strange Greek sounds. We are so thankful for Goni, our enthusiastic Greek teacher, who volunteers with us. We are preparing a similar cycle of lessons for 2 other groups from January.

About the riots here from BBC

2008-12-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

We are so sad watching the center of Athens in flames. It's so hard for me as a foreigner to understand this deeply rooted response to this tragedy, even after years here. But even Gianni and other Greek friends are asking why. We are a half hour by train from where the riots are, but our church had some windows smashed, and fortunately we canceled outreach, where it's particularly violent. Please pray for my adopted home, Athens.

This article had some good insight...

The BBC's Malcolm Brabant looks at why student anger has erupted across Greece over Saturday's fatal police shooting of a teenage boy.
A youth clashes with riot police in Athens on 7 December 2008
Young people have been clashing with police in cities across Greece

The riots that have swept Greece for the past two days and look set to continue for the foreseeable future underline why the most important day in the national calendar is "Oxi" or "No" day.

"Oxi" day commemorates 28 October 1940, when Greek leader Ioannis Metaxas used that single word to reply to Mussolini's ultimatum to allow Italy to invade Greece, propelling his nation into World War II.

When Greeks say no, they mean it in spades.

Rebellion is deeply embedded in the Greek psyche. The students and school children who are now laying siege to police stations and trying to bring down the government are undergoing a rite of passage.

They may be the iPod generation, but they are the inheritors of a tradition that goes back centuries, when nuns would rather hurl themselves to death from mountain convents than submit to the ravages of Greece's Turkish Ottoman invaders.

'Springboards for violence'

The centre for this December rebellion is the Athens Polytechnic, where students have been out on the streets with wheelbarrows and shopping trolleys to collect and recycle rocks and pieces of marble used in the previous night's assaults.
A fire bomb burns next to riot police in Thessaloniki on 7 December 2008
The violence began in Athens and then spread to Thessaloniki

The polytechnic is the symbol of modern rebellion.

On 17 November 1973, tanks of the then six-year-old military dictatorship burst through the iron railings to suppress a student uprising against the colonels.

The exact casualty figure is still unknown to this day but it is believed that around 40 people were killed.

The sacrifice of the polytechnic was so significant that the post-junta architects of Greece's new constitution drafted the right of asylum, which bans the authorities from entering the grounds of schools and universities.

That is why places of learning are the springboards for the current wave of violence and it also explains why many of the riots are in university towns.

Students and pupils have effectively been given carte blanche to carry on protesting, because their professors have declared a three-day strike.

'Out of control'

Although many of today's protestors were not born when the polytechnic gates were crushed by the tanks, the lesson of the students' martyrdom is a key component of every Greek child's school democracy curriculum.

If Greece had already appeared difficult to govern, it will now will be out of control
Nikos Konstandaras, managing
editor of Kathimerini newspaper

The latent Greek contempt for the police, which has now erupted so volcanically, has its roots in the dictatorship, when the police were regarded as the colonels' enforcers and traitors to the people.

The death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos at the hands of an experienced 37-year-old policeman has precipitated a wave of nationwide violence unseen since the dictatorship.

Whether it will lead to the fall of the unpopular conservative government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is unclear.

It is premature to see the troubles as Greece's reprise of the Paris uprising of 1968.

One of the wisest observations has come from Nikos Konstandaras, the managing editor of Kathimerini, one of Greece's more sober and respected newspapers.

In an editorial entitled "Anger's teen martyr", Mr Konstandaras wrote that Mr Grioropoulos' blood would be "used to bind together every disparate protest and complaint into a platform of righteous rage against all the ills of our society.

"It will quickly become a flag of convenience for anyone who has a grudge against the state, the government, the economic system, foreign powers, capitalism and so on."

"If Greece had already appeared difficult to govern, it will now be out of control."

the DEEP end

2008-12-02T03:56:00.000-08:00

This week I feel like I'm in way over my head! There the challenges of this new project, the latest wave of trafficking from Romania, and one of our team members burning out. Not to mention the constant challenge I have of learning to balance ministry, family, home, marriage, friends...

This time it's Nea Zoi finances - we are waiting for reimbursement from the EU for expenses from the spring so we can pay off those whom we owe. We are waiting for reimbursement from the foundation for the Eisodos project to pay salaries and insurance - and then there are the bills, rent. It's all those mundane expenses that we all have.

But it's all added up to a huge number, and as I wait, I'm starting to freak out. How come I have to deal with this - did I sign up to do fundraising? I didn't ever aspire to handling a large budget and only studied psychology (not business). I enjoy talking with the women and keep dreaming of doing more with counseling & psychology.

I AM off the deep end, swimming, trying to be faithful to do what I need to do. But I find that this position is familiar. I can remember so many times with Nea Zoi where I feel that the waves are going to crash over me, that I will be washed up on the shore. But I'm beginning to understand that in this place God wants to meet me. Don't we see over and over throughout the Bible that God not only chooses the weak, but leads His people into places where our human fragility is only too obvious. It's OK that I don't feel I can manage it all.

God IS HERE in December 2008, in Nea Zoi finances. He is ENOUGH. I believe.

interesting on prostitution vs trafficking

2008-11-26T03:35:00.000-08:00

This article is an interesting commentary on the relationship between prostitution and trafficking - not the same thing, but related. We see so many women who choose to continue in prostitution after being trafficked.

Prostitution: To Legalize Or Not
via Dipnote - U.S. Department of State Official Blog on 11/17/08

About the Author: Ambassador Mark P. Lagon is Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

This week I participated in a conference "Overlaps of Prostitution, Migration, and Human Trafficking" in Berne, Switzerland which brought together European government experts from Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain to discuss a very hot topic: the relationship between prostitution and human trafficking.

The United States Government believes that prostitution fuels sex trafficking based on solid empirical evidence. It estimates that approximately 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked each year across international borders. (This is not to mention millions more who are trafficking victims who never cross borders.) Two-thirds of these victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation, making trafficking for prostitution the single biggest category of transnational human trafficking.

So, following a December 2002 policy decision, the U.S. Government opposes prostitution and any related activities, as contributing to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons. U.S. policy is that these activities are inherently harmful and dehumanizing and should not be regulated as a legitimate form of work for any human being. This view enjoys broad support from a range of those concerned about human trafficking policy.

Sweden also considers prostitution to be harmful. In 1999, Sweden passed a law to criminalize sex buying and pimping (mainly involving men), while decriminalizing the act of prostitution (where women and girls are found).

At about the same time, between 1999 and 2002, several European countries came to the opposite conclusion: Germany and the Netherlands legalized prostitution within a government regulated sector. Other countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, and Switzerland, also regulate prostitution. They argued that regulation could provide prostituted people protection from disease and violence, prevent the involvement of organized crime, and help reduce sex trafficking.

But there was evidence at the Berne conference that more and more people -- and countries -- recognize that where there is legal prostitution, sex trafficking continues to flourish. Conversely, in Sweden, since it made sex buying illegal, there has been a decrease in known human trafficking cases and shrinkage of the commercial sex industry.

The Norwegian National Coordinator for Trafficking Issues, Jan Austad, announced in Berne that later this month, the Norwegian Parliament is set to approve a new law to make it illegal to buy sex or sell people for sex.

After much study, Norway has decided to adopt the Swedish model that emphasizes the harmful impact of prostitution.

Mr. Austad explained that his country was particularly shocked to witness the plight of hundreds of Nigerian women, trafficked into prostitution in Norway under tourist visas.

Eva Biaudet, Special Representative on Combating Human Trafficking for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, gave a keynote address in which she observed: "We have let ourselves off too easy. Prostitution is extremely harmful. People really get traumatized in this…. We are not identifying enough sex trafficking victims within prostitution although there are unacceptable levels of exploitation in prostitution."

It was a dramatic personal statement from this former Minister and Member of Parliament from Finland. Asked how she had come to this conclusion, she explained: "Since I came to the OSCE two years ago, I have been shocked at how big this is, the exploitation of vulnerable migrant women and girls in prostitution, and how no one cares."

Even the representative from the Netherlands said that the legalization of prostitution had not accomplished what it was supposed to. Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen, her country's National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, said in candor that: "One of the goals was to get crime out. Did we succeed? I don't think so."

In a worthy step to the Netherlands' credit, earlier this year, the city of Amsterdam closed about one-third of the city's infamous red-light district because legalization and regulation have not dried up sex trafficking, which has continued apace.

It was gratifying to know that as we learn more about the vicious exploitation that occurs in prostitution, and the link between prostitution and sex trafficking, countries are willing to reexamine their legal regimes.

This new information will also impact U.S. approaches, as we work to confront the voracious demand which fuels this dark trade in human beings.

In my concluding remarks, I explained to my European colleagues that the U.S. has developed a strong, bipartisan policy including the following precepts:

-- We need a more victim-centered approach.
-- We need to look for sex trafficking victims among vulnerable populations in prostitution and migrant workers being considered for deportation.
-- We need to realize that prostitution is not victimless.
-- Open prostitution is not a solution to sex trafficking, but provides a guise behind which traffickers can hide.
-- Where prostitution is criminalized, victims must not be blamed or punished; those who traffic or buy them must be.

It was striking that fully four of the six main speakers shared this perspective at a conference hosted by a country -- Switzerland -- whose officials say itself is looking at its legal prostitution regime. Based on experience and prudence, a wave of opinion on behalf of women's welfare, and against violence and victimization, appears to be developing.

Numbers

2008-11-21T04:11:00.000-08:00

As we are working to create plan B for the Eisodos program, one thing that keeps coming up is numbers. How do we show what we are doing, which is ultimately of spiritual value, with concrete statistics? It's not that we are sitting around, wondering what to do. We are working to make contact with the women, as well as other organizations, to find potential students. But how do you quantify, so someone who doesn't believe in a spiritual dimension, can see the value of our activities? According to modern thinking, to believe in something that isn't represented by our five senses is crazy. It comes back to things like call and vision, that keeps us going past what we can see, taste, touch or hear. Please keep us in your prayers for encouragement and vision!

Expectations

2008-11-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

Since I last wrote, not too much has changed. We still don't have students, and we feel the pressure to start this program.

But, I got a good reminder about the realities of change. We cannot expect women to change overnight, and our job is made all the more difficult by the intensive human trafficking that happens in Athens. Lately we are seeing more brand new women from Romania, and fewer of those we know from Nigeria. So with most of our contacts, we are beginning to open up the subject of change. And as victims of trafficking, the easiest response to their situation is to identify with the job and the trafficker so they can emotionally respond. So we say, "Hi we're Nea Zoi and we've got this fantastic program for you to change" and their response is freaking out and pushing away the person who is trying to get them past their defenses. Who, living in chaos, can make purposeful decisions about the future?

So, we need to intensify our efforts to meet the few who are ready to change. It's a numbers thing, but also we rely on God to direct us to those who are searching for change.

no-shows

2008-11-04T11:15:00.000-08:00

So we did a lot of work over the past months - long meetings, phone calls, arranging volunteers, planning material and curriculum. We talked to dozens of women on the streets and in brothels about change, and the support they need to get another job - and by phone with others whom we know longer about their hopes for another job. Five women finally signed up, as of last Friday, and we were all set to start on Monday. At the metro station, Joanna waited ... and waited. And no one showed. Finally, hours after the planned time, one student phoned. She said that she needed to attend her church's Bible school instead. ... wow... And today, the other student that was to start didn't show up at the meeting point either.

It's crazy cuz all of these young women have told us they need help to find a better job - obviously the first thing they need to work on is keeping appointments.

We are disappointed - it is hard not to conclude that the madames who run the brothels are right. They tell us repeatedly that the girls won't change, that nothing will change, that there is no hope.

But I believe. No little girl dreams to be a prostitute. May we be faithful to do our part so they can have a chance - and be wise to know how!

Help-less

2008-10-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Just a few weeks ago we got a call from a Bulgarian girl who suspected she was pregnant and wanted to see an ob/gyn. We were able to take her to a doctor who offered his services to us, and confirmed that she was 5 months along. During the whole visit, she was talking on the phone to her "brother". Hmmm... We asked what her plans were with the baby as she isn't with its father and she works in prostitution, and she wasn't sure. I asked her to call me to set up an appointment to talk about options, but she didn't. Until she called late on a Friday afternoon, saying that she had cramps. I called the doctor, who suspected premature labor and said she should go to the doctor. I had a Bulgarian friend call to tell her, and it turns out it was stomach pain. Ok... not an emergency, and arranged that she would come to talk about options for the baby, like adoption.

We met last week and she asked us to help her get her baby into a good home. We said we would look into ways to help her, and could she call us when she knows what she wants to do. Not a word until... she called us saying that she's bleeding yesterday. Another emergency, for which she should go to the doctor. But then her phone got disconnected somehow. Or did she already go?

It's times like this when I feel helpless, yet with such a strong desire to get in there and do something, rescue. After all, I just went through a pregnancy and know how important prenatal care is. It's a constant challenge to leave the responsibility for her life, in her hands, to encourage her to take action. I'm glad that God can act in her life and speak to her wherever she is!

Where did they go?

2008-10-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because of the increased publicity over the situation with trafficking of Nigerians in the center, but last night as for the last 3 weeks, the girls have disappeared. We have been so concerned as the situation has been escalating so rapidly since 2003 when the first Nigerian girl appeared - violence, competition, customers and aggressive sexuality. So on the one hand, we are glad that as we walk the streets of Athens, it's calm where it once was chaos. But on the other hand, the shelters aren't full of victims - in fact most have closed. And when we call the girls, they just complain about the police and aren't talking about making a serious change. So my fear is that this is just a temporary fix. We need wisdom for our response.

On the other hand, fantastic things have been happening with the outreach to the transgendered. One of Athen's most famous trans just came to church with a Bulgarian guy whom he's pimping! 3 years ago, when we first met him, he was the LAST person we expected to show up for church! He seems open to coming again, and told Martha that maybe he shouldn't be pimping these guys. Hmmm...

We are in the last week before our Eisodos vocational project starts ... We are praying that we will find the right students for this first class, and we'd like to have at least 4 students. Also, we haven't had any jobs open up yet either, so this is a matter for prayer as well!

On TV!

2008-09-30T04:36:00.000-07:00

Check out this site to see the program we were in on Mega last Tuesday.

Σε αυτή την ιστοσελίδα, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=286114313966805296
μπορείτε να δείτε την εκπομπή "πρωταγωνιστές" με τον Θεοδωράκη, που είχε σαν θέμα τα τα θύματα σωματεμπορίας στην Αθήνα.

Γίνεται αναφορά στη διακονία "Νέα Ζωή" και υπάρχει και συμμετοχή από την Ειρήνη Χατζηγιάννη.
The report refers to our work, though somewhat skewed in its representation, and Eirini shares about what we see with the Nigerians. Bravo Eirini!

A fresh start amidst media flurry!

2008-09-05T03:20:00.000-07:00

We've started back together at Nea Zoi, with our first outreach happening last night to the transvestite population. And in the office, we are busily preparing for the Niarchos Eisodos project, as Lori began work as the coordinator.

We gave 2 media interviews as well - Protagonistes on Mega tv is doing a big article on the trafficking from Nigeria. The Elevtherotypia newspaper interview was due to my award as an anti-trafficking hero for 2008. Mark Lagon, from the US State Dept Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking was in Athens this week, and in his honor, there was an official dinner at which I was seated to the ambassador's right at the table plus I got a bronze plaque for my office wall! It's so odd to have "hero" status - where's my cape? But I am honored as well! My hope is that through this publicity, we can garner some attention for the plight of trafficking victims here. It seems that most people have just accepted the problem, and don't feel that there's a solution.

We hope to do all our outreaches next week - to have enough volunteers, especially guys. Perhaps I can connect with some potential volunteers at the young adult conference this weekend in Northern Greece. Also, we are trying to arrange speaking engagements in the local churches this fall, to increase our level of local financial support and volunteer base.

We'll see what adventures await!

And we REST!

2008-07-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well another hot summer of Nea Zoi outreaches is over... we scatter for the summer. I'm off to Seattle with the fam, Eirini is at camp (with Jo!), Dina and her family are off for Leptokaryia, Jim to Naxos with his fam, and Niki to her family in the US.

The last week is never boring, with visits from Becca and Tori to keep us focused! I'm so thankful for them and the two groups who visited to remind us that what we do has a bigger impact than just here in Athens. Becca is here for the 3rd time, and since being here in 2005, has done two other internships about trafficking, including one with Stop the Traffik. Tori has done research for her degree on trafficking, and combines that with a love for Greece. We'll see if either of these come back to work with us longer.

Through a friend of friends, we were almost able to help an Eastern European girl get away from where she's working. We were so excited to help, but that enthusiasm was tempered because we hadn't talked directly to her. When it's a friend who asks for help, we are never sure how serious they are. And so, we can rest this August, and maybe she'll be ready in another month?

Pray that our time away, at rest, would refresh us so we can be renewed for another eventful year.

Good news, bad news...

2008-07-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Naomi & Gary Davidge on the birth of their son Zach! We are praising God for this answer to prayer and are eagerly awaiting meeting him in September when they return to Athens! Pray for the family in all their adjustments to this new little guy!

The bad news is that Argyris Petrou, the husband of our bookkeeper Dina, has just had confirmed a reoccurance of Hodgkin's disease. He battled it the first time four years ago, and his body successfully fought the disease, and so we are praying that God will heal him again! It's bad timing (like there's any good timing for Hodgkin's) as their middle son Erik is headed of to college next month. Please keep Argyris, Dina and their sons Mark, Erik and Erastos in your prayers!

Research is going well with our new project. One of the things that we are having confirmed is the complete lack of connection with the reality of Greece that these women have. Yesterday I spoke with a 50 year old Greek woman who had no idea what the basic monthly wage was here (650 euros!) and a Romanian teen who had no idea how much money she needed to live every month. The world of prostitution is a world of lies and deceipt that takes a miracle to escape!

Nea Zoi news

2008-06-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

So much is happening these days in Nea Zoi!

Outreaches continue to happen, although without many volunteers. We have a few new faithful Romanian volunteers, which is a huge answer to prayer.

We're starting the Niarchos Foundation funded project from July 1st, doing research on the vocational skills and barriers to other employment for women in prostitution. We will be joined by Kiki and Lori from September, and Eirini will continue on with us focusing on this project. We are looking for a location to hold the lessons here, from November until June. More info on this to come...

I wish that program had already begun for Bea's sake. I finally met her last week! She's a sweet, subdued young woman, with an innocence that starkly contrasts with the trauma she's been through. She remains in a way victimized/powerless by her situation with legal documents, and continues to feel very out of control of her life. Please pray for her continued restoration, and for God to provide a job and place to live for her.

Julie came back to us - for a few weeks. She is sufficiently recovered to travel, but has to be careful not to get overtired, and has to take handfuls of pills daily! We will miss her tons as she goes back to Michigan to finish her studies.

Naomi in England is eagerly awaiting the birth of her son - just a few weeks. Pray for a healthy boy and a safe delivery!

Erik and I are coming down to the office frequently - he loves the stroller and train ride and entertains people quite a lot. I'm thankful that he's getting more used to staying with his giagia though!

Only a month until we travel to the US - I am looking forward to friends, family, nature and parks, and shopping bargains!

Hero?

2008-06-05T03:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the new Trafficking in Persons report issued by the State Department was released. And, I've been profiled as an anti-trafficking hero, along with 8 others for the year. The US Embassy here in Athens selected me this year to recommend, and they chose me. What a surprise!

Check it out at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/ page 128-129 for facts on Greece and trafficking, and page 42 for my story.

Emma Skjonsby Manousaridis is
the director of the faith-based
NGO New Life (Nea Zoi),
affiliated with International
Teams. She and her dedicated
staff and volunteers regularly visit bars, brothels,
and hotels to assist trafficking victims in Athens.
Armed with nothing more than thermoses of hot
tea, information about how to get help, and a
kind word, Emma and her team have been known
to disarm madams and brothel guards to gain
access to young women, mostly from Eastern
Europe and Nigeria. Over the past nine years,
Emma and her team have exhibited tremendous
perseverance and have worked collaboratively
with key NGO partners, the U.S. Embassy, the
Government of Greece, and law enforcement to
empower victims and influence the community.
She and her staff, despite frequent threats of
violence, remain unflinching in their efforts.

Quick update

2008-04-30T09:49:00.001-07:00

Just so you know...

Julie is still in the hospital in Michigan, being treated for what is most likely tuberculosis. She has two tubes in her lungs, draining fluid, and has a lot of pain. It's pretty hard to wait for her body to fight this infection, and discouraging because her heart is here in Athens. I talked to her in the hospital, where she is in a stupor from all the pain meds, and her concern was that she wouldn't be here to ease my return from maternity leave!

Also, Nicole and Jim just left for the International Teams leadership conference in the Philippines. I hope that they return with fresh vision and hope for what they do with us in Nea Zoi.

I'm getting ready to come back from maternity leave next week. Pray for us all!

Prayers needed

2008-04-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Please keep Julie in your prayers still. After coming down with what seemed like a cold that wouldn't get better, she finally went to the hospital with suspected pneumonia. But it wasn't that... and they found liters of fluid on her lungs. They sent her back home to her US Doctor for further treatment. To everyone's surprise, Julie's been diagnosed with tuberculosis. It will take a while to determine which drug treatment to do, and for her to feel better. Pray for her biopsy/surgery at 8.15 tomorrow morning.

Also, keep tomorrow's Easter outreach in prayer, especially that there will be enough volunteers.

Pray for Daisy, who is starting a real job at a cinema in the next week!

Woohoo she's out!!!

2008-03-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

I think all the best adventures happen while I'm out of the picture! About a month ago I asked for prayers for a Nigerian girl I call Bea, who has been thinking about leaving for a couple months but was too scared. We have watched her trying to adjust to street prostitution while being in continual emotional and physical distress. Well, she made the step and decided to run away from her trafficker, despite the voodoo rites that still bind her! She's under police protection now, and getting needed medical and pshychological care at a shelter. She really needs your prayers now, as does our team in providing needed emotional support to her. She told two of our team members, "You're the only family I have now." It is a spiritual battle as well as a legal battle and we need all the resources available. It's hard to want to be two places at once - with my voracious, adorable Erik for whom there is no substitute for me, or with my team. But they are doing great- thanks for your prayers!

He's Here!!!!

2008-02-24T23:26:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, the 17th of February, on the snowiest day in 5 years in Athens, Junior decided that he'd better come out and see the snow! After hours of labor at home, we slipped and slided to the hospital in Gianni's bro Costas' car (panic moment: skidding up a hill with Gianni pushing the car!) We made it safely to the hospital, and after many more hours of labor and our Doctor trekking through the snow to get to the hospital, we reached the point of pushing him out, but alas, he didn't fit.

So at 12.10 am on February 18th, Erik Aristomenis Manousaridis was born by emergency caesarean (with me out cold, exhausted and oblivious!) He was big - 4,170 kg/9#3oz and 54 cm/21 in. We got to meet later that night in our room at Elena hospital, where he roomed in with me. He's pretty quiet, except when hungry!!! And received many visitors in his first week of life... what can he do with such a social butterfly for a daddy.

We also had a little scare about hepatitis A. The doctors noticed some wierd numbers on my blood test, and started examining my liver. After diagnosing me with Hep A, they sent me to an isolation unit so as not to get the other new mothers sick, and cut me off from breastfeeding. I totally panicked! They sent me to a specialist the next day, who concluded that it was a old case from years ago, and what was showing up was the antibodies - phew, I'm not sick after all! Thank God!

We came home on Friday afternoon, and are settling in well. My mom arrived on Thursday night, just in time to take over housekeeping duties so I can focus on baby. And of course spoil her new grandson. (With Yiayia Manousaridou next door as well, and aunt Tania downstairs, he's totally doted on!) We're learning the rhythms of life with a newborn, making tons of adjustments. Wow... no matter how much you are told, it can never prepare you for the real experience!

Here are a few photos... for more, check out our Facebook profile, and in a couple days, our blog. www.emmaskjonsby.blogspot.com

Thanks to all of you who have already sent congratulations a wishes for the new baby. We appreciate all the support!

Emma, Gianni & Erik

Making space

2008-02-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

As my body expands to make room for this new personality that will soon make his appearance, I think about how I am trying to make space for the new growth in Nea Zoi. Much of my time in the past weeks has been taken up talking over issues and how to make decisions with Jim and Julie, who along with everyone else, will take over my leadership role while I am bonding with Baby. We've got some exciting things coming up - our first Nea Zoi mini-mission trip to encourage another ministry in Thessaloniki (Whitney Brown with Door of Life), the International Teams leadership conference in Manila, a celebration event as we reach ten years of existence as a ministry, and a possible mission trip to Cyprus in early summer. How do we select interns, how do we manage our finances, how to we train new volunteers - all things that have seemed obvious but are decisions made based on experience. My hope is that God will us this making room season to prepare us to more effectively assist women and men stuck in prostitution.

And just a note on those I asked you to pray for in January...
***Johnny keeps coming to appointments (on time!) and making steps to find another job, though as yet unsuccessful.
*** Daisy has received a temporary residence permit, which helps her to be more content here.
*** Maria is continuing in her hair stylist program, and has been told that she is doing fine.

Also, please keep our ministry finances in your prayers, that we would have favor for a recent grant application that we've made and experience again God's on-time provision.

Happy 2008!

2008-01-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

2008 is off to an exciting start already! Read on to learn about my Gianni's discussion with trans "Johnny", our brave Russian friend "Daisy" bringing charges against her traffickers, and a TV interview...
Three times since Christmas our phone has rung - Johnny has been looking for someone to talk about something personal, and the only person he remembered was my Gianni (maybe since they have the same name?). "When are you going to be open again," he asked. We made an appointment with him for last Friday afternoon. After waiting for an hour in our freezing office and getting disappointed, the phone rings. "Are we still on for today?" he asked. As we had talked about his worries over health insurance and his future finances, the fun he has clubbing and jealous rivalries with the others working, I was amazed to see little signs of change. He's no where near leaving prostitution, but he has begun to accept that his life isn't what he wants and to understood that someone cares about him. Pray that God will use his concern for the future to create willingness for change, and that God will give us the resources and wisdom we need to help.

Just before Christmas when everything was frantic with Christmas outreaches and final school projects for me, we got a strange phone call, from a woman who only spoke Russian and German. I asked our Russian-speaking volunteer Viki to call her back, and the saga of Daisy* began. This woman had a sister Daisy trapped in prostitution here in Greece, desparate for escape. She hadn't heard from her for a week, so she began with an organization she knew that helped immigrants in Germany, who found another group who helps women in prostitution there, who connected her with us. We then started trying to make contact with the sister, and after a couple weeks, got through. Daisy hoped to escape but didn't know where to go, fearing that the police would deport her for having false papers. We were able to reassure her that if she cooperated with the police, she would be protected. So, we connected her with the police, who collected her from the brothel where she was being held, and helped her get into a shelter here in Athens. Daisy's case is now being researched, and she is waiting for the day when she can get on with her life. We've spent time with her in the past weeks, and she seems so lost. She needs healing and purpose...

Also while on our break, a local TV station NET asked for an interview with us about the problem with Nigerian trafficking, which is taking tragic proportions. Yesterday we did the interview, and they will be continuing their research before airing this issue on the news. We believe that exposure of this problem is key to bringing down the organized crime and corruption behind it all, and maybe these reporters are part of it all!

Christmas Outreaches this week!

2007-12-18T01:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks for praying for us as we are handing out Christmas gifts this week. So far, we've given out gifts on two nights - about 180 gift packages of cookies and a star necklace. It's been crazy but fun, and we've enjoyed having a few new volunteers.

Thursday night was especially chaotic... one of the Nigerian girls was knifed in the face by a customer from a car just before we arrived on the streets. When we got to the site, all of the Nigerian girls working in the area where gathered around her, while she was bleeding, and were absolutely enraged. They were shouting at every man walking by with clenched fists, pouring out their fury. I'm sure that it was a way to express their deep anger at all the injustice they suffer on a regular basis. Please pray for the girl, and that the danger of their situation would move them towards change.

Pray also for a Russian girl who was just rescued from her traffickers this weekend, that she would find rest and hope for the future, though she most likely will be far from family this holiday season.

Resistance!

2007-12-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Didn't we all learn in school that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction? This weekend was one of resistance... I caught a cold and spent a couple days between the couch and the bed with Junior and Isabella (the cat). As if that wasn't enough, last night on our way to check out this neighborhood that we've just heard has male prostitution, Gianni & I had a car accident. We are okay, but not the car... Junior was pretty scared, I think - he was kicking away for several hours after that. And that's on top of an already rather tight budget, from the dollar's steady drop in value. There's more but I think you got the picture.

All this is a reminder that as we have more exposure as an organization to those who may or may not like what we do, we are more vulnerable. Would you remember us in your prayers, especially this month, for divine protection and provision? But we can all be encouraged, because we must be doing something right too!

Voodoo training!

2007-11-20T05:41:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning we are hosting a training on how to deal with the voodoo rituals that keep many Nigerian woman as victims of trafficking. Many people from different organizations and agencies, including the police, will be present. It's another... who would have guessed moment!

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T05:23:00.002-08:00

Gratitude is something that takes cultivation! I was reminded of this the other day when I went with the church down to the Peleponnese to those affected by the fires. We were bringing boxes with supplies... and, at their request, a New Testament in modern Greek.

And EVERYTHING went wrong. Vehicles broke down, there was confusion, tension about who was supposed to be where... and it POURED down rain. Buckets, cats & dog, or as they say here, chair-legs! In the end, with hours of delay, we were able to deliver everything and get home safely. But in the meantime, I had to struggle with feelings of frustration, worry over the things I had to do back home, being spooked out by the lightning and thunder... BUT...

I met some wonderful people down there, who came on their vacation to cut down charred trees and build anti-flooding works, to avoid soil erosion in the burnt areas. I was amazed at their offering of time- and they were amazed to hear what I'm doing with Nea Zoi. In talking with Don, a former missionary to Nigeria for 30 years, I was so encouraged as he both understand the challenges we face and was delighted to hear of our care for these Nigerian girls. I was also caught up with a sense of awe - look how God arranged for me to be down in this little village in Greece at the same time they were, in order to encourage me!

I also met an elderly gentleman from Thessaloniki who's also in awe - of what God is doing through him and other caring individuals in his church for the poor in neighboring Bulgaria. Miraculous provision for the most lost and needy in orphanages, residences for the disabled and churches. If you want to learn more, check out www.symparastasi.gr

So when I stop and look around me, I realize that God is always providing for me and for Nea Zoi. It just takes a change of perspective, to gratitude!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Amazing October

2007-11-20T02:56:00.000-08:00

What a full month October has been at Nea Zoi! Some of the highlights:

Mid October, we organized and taught a seminar for Greek police on the background, cultural dynamics, and particular needs of Nigerian women who are victims of trafficking as part of the European project with Nigerian woman which we have undertaken. Over 100 police attended the seminar each day, and Francisca, Pepie, Eirini and myself each taught a section, along with a Christian psychologist and police personnel. I couldn't have imagined this level of cooperation with the Greek officials a couple years ago - or myself feeling confident enough to teach a seminar to this group! But despite our anxiety, the seminar went very well, and the police indicate an openness to further collaboration as we continue to visit potential victims of trafficking in the detention center. Who would have guessed what God would do?!!

The following week we hosted Christie Schmid and Sheila Houston from New Horizons Ministries in Seattle along with their friend Faye Capers for a week of training for our volunteers. We enjoyed great times of sharing experiences in a similar ministry context - and introducing them to Serbeti baklava with mountains of kaimaki ice cream! I appreciated their presence with us, and the way they allow God to shine through their life story. Check out the photos from our training.

One of the highlights for me was talking about some of our motives in being on the street. They taught on this topic in a way that confirmed much that I've learned intuitively through experience - namely that we are NEVER the rescuers. We simply empower, encourage, stand alongside another as they allow God to work in their lives and make decisions for change. After all, He's the Savior and Rescuer. It's such a freeing lesson to learn - I don't have to carry around a sense of guilt for others not changing! I just have to where God has placed me

Like in my work with Maria from Albania, I feel like mostly I've been a cheerleader. I watch as God gives her courage to make steps toward change, like beauty school and I pray. She came to visit yesterday, with scratches all over her face, another cold, and full of worries about her son. There's nothing I can really do to solve the problems she faces - it's such a tangled mess of bad decisions in the past, good moves in the present, and fears and worries for the future. I told her that I wished I could> magically solve her problems, but I can't. I only know that God can give her the strength and wisdom she needs to get detangled. She asked me to pray for her this time, instead of me suggesting prayer together. Hey, that's a baby step towards change, isn't it?