Traffick Jam 2011

This is going to be a detour from my usual banter, but it's about something that has grabbed my heart and caused me to pause and do a little something. If it causes you to pause as well, I hope you might choose to help me.

The backstory is that a fellow mom came to speak at my Mops group back in January about a totally unrelated topic, but after that visit, I started to read her blog. She went on a mission trip to Cambodia last year, and since then has been trying to go back with her whole family. About a month ago, she wrote the post that made me pause. The images that she shared shook me pretty hard.

I had heard the word "human trafficking" before, and even "child sex trafficking." But I hadn't had someone that I have met say that they have seen it and explain exactly what that means. The short story is that every day in Cambodia (and other parts of the world), girls as young as five are being sold to grown men for sex. Five. My daughter is about to turn five, and I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to imagine any single thing more evil in my concept of the world.

So here's the helping part: there is an organization over there doing really positive things to put a halt to this awful trend. They are having 10 mile walk-a-thon all across the US on May 7th to raise money to support their efforts. The walk is called Traffick Jam 2011, and I am participating. Now, I have never walked 10 miles before, and I am literally in the worst physical shape of my life, but now that the weather has turned and the time has changed, I'm working hard to be able to do that by May 7th.

What I need now is sponsorship. The goal of Traffick Jam is to get each walker to have ten people donate $10. But I think I can get more than that! If you would be willing to make a donation, I'll be collecting cash and checks (made out to I.O.M.) until May 7th. If you know me personally, you can hand me the donation in person. If you have my mailing address, you can mail it to me. If you need this information, email me or leave a comment with your email address and I will get it to you.

Thanks for taking the time to consider this. My prayer is that we can make a difference in some girls' lives who have very little hope in their current situation.