Wednesday, September 17, 2014

ENA's Anti-Slavery Initiatives

“A note clearly states her belief of never being able to see her child as the cause!!! Extremely sad!!! Guys we need to help rescue these people!!!”
-FNI undercover operative and ENA partner, 9/5/14.

This month I received some very sad news from an undercover operative at one of our partner organizations, FNI (Freedom Now International). This person told me that the mother of a child who was kidnapped and trafficked to the Middle East had tragically committed suicide. This was very sad and difficult news for all of us to hear because both our organizations have been trying to rescue this mother’s daughter for quite a while. Plus, FNI recently was able to locate her child in Egypt. We had an experienced and professional rescue team composed of former law enforcement and Special Forces operators all ready to go and they had located her child. However, there was one major problem preventing the rescue..... MONEY!

Even after reducing operational costs as much as possible it still was not enough in the end to launch the rescue.  Operations are not cheap. They require airplane tickets and other travel expenses, investigations/logistics, equipment and personnel with highly specialized skills and expertise capable of working in difficult, dangerous, hostile, corrupt and sometimes lawless countries, not to mention executing the actual rescue mission of a real human life.

Lengthy delays occurred and eventually we had to shelve the Op as we desperately worked to raise funds. Also this mother’s personal hell began years before we ever came in contact with her and learned of her child’s abduction. All the mental and heart wrenching circumstances were finally just too much for her to take. In fact, her own suicide note stated never being able to see her child as the reason.  It’s just very sad. Lack of money prevents children, women & men from being rescued from slavery and gaining their freedom all the time though. It is also a root cause of why so many people are enslaved today. Poverty is a root cause of why so many people are enslaved and there are an estimated 27-30 million people in slavery today. (Kevin Bales, Disposable People).

In response to this sad event, the ENA board of directors would like to share with all of you, our trusted supporters, exactly what ENA is doing as an organization to end slavery in Africa and here in the USA via our Anti-Slavery Initiative.

WHAT WE DO:

FIRST- We establish collaborative partnerships with anti-slavery organizations (nonprofits, abolitionists, human rights organizations, corporations, and survivors) to eradicate sex trafficking, child kidnapping, forced labor, and slavery in all its forms.

SECOND- We partner with anti-slavery organizations in the rescue, recovery, and reunification of victims with their families whenever possible and provide resources for aftercare programs, safe houses, recovery shelters and protective services so victims can heal and begin to lead lives of value and purpose.

THIRD- We partner with local community leaders in rural African villages to teach and educate families and community members in targeted African countries (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Namibia and another country we must unfortunately remain quiet about right now) by providing anti-slavery awareness and prevention training that addresses root problems of slavery, slavery in communities, and signs of victims, solutions and much more. Our ASI manuals, instructions and teaching method are modeled after years of ENA’s very successful literacy training programs in Africa.

ANTI SLAVERY TASK FORCES- We are also creating trusted and vetted anti-slavery task forces (ASITF) in targeted African countries composed of local doctors, medical personnel, social workers, psychologists, law enforcement officers, lawyers, NGO’s and volunteers  to better protect and serve slavery victims.

In the USA we are working collaboratively and specifically with Shared Hope International, The Defenders, men of Shared Hope International, Swift Charities, and Swift Transportation to eradicate sex trafficking of minors within the trucking industry. It’s a very targeted approach that has the potential to create large scale positive results within the United States.

So there is hope! Please educate yourselves and then help us and others spread the word so this will never happen again. Share with family members, friends, co-workers, and your faith community about the evil of modern day slavery and please help us help the victims by donating to ENA today so we can fund our Anti-Slavery Initiative (ASI) of rescue, prevention, and recovery programs in Africa and here in the USA. Together we can make a difference one life at a time. 

To donate to our anti-slavery initiatives and help us rescue victims visit our website here

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