Throughout the next week we’ll be bringing you updates from the ground in Gulu, Uganda. Stay tuned to hear how your donations are making a difference in the lives of young women and children at Christine’s House, our Freedom 4/24 safe house there for exploited and trafficked girls.Read on as President Tim Spaulding shares thoughts from Uganda about how we can all play a part in slaying the “werewolves” of human trafficking.
Werewolves.
These mythical creatures strike fear in the hearts of children (and some adults) around the world, the fear of which causes innumerable parents to routinely check closets and under beds, and leave more than a few lights left on overnight to aid sleep and keep “them" at bay.
We all know how the story goes, right? The towns people are terrorized and regularly lose livestock to the voracious appetite of these werewolves. Multiple people, armed with all manner of weaponry, attempt to vanquish the creature, but only end up losing their own lives.
Then one day a hero comes along with a silver bullet. Boom—Problem solved.
Before the hero appears, the beast appears unstoppable. The only thing the towns people can do is hide in fear, hoping the menace goes away on its own.
This afternoon, we toured the Kampala Ministry Center— Sports Outreach’s (our partner on the ground) partially completed master plan for transforming the lives of at-risk children from all over Kampala. While touring the Center, we saw the finished homes for orphans and street kids, as well as the partial completed chess academy, computer labs, library, and chapel. Later, we stood on the sites of a future primary school and vocational center and dreamed of how both will one day change lives.
While taking this all in, I was struck by the complexity and multi-faceted nature of ending sexual exploitation and human trafficking. I wish it were as simple as a hero with a silver bullet. I wish all it took was rescue and providing a means of self-sufficiency. But it’s not that simple.
The causes of exploitation and trafficking are vast and the cultural triggers and societal malaise allowing these horrors to continue are deeply engrained and not easily changed. Ending exploitation and trafficking requires changes in law, government, public policy, and understandings of public health. It requires a well-rounded approach much like Sports Outreach is doing through the Kampala Ministry Center. What it really requires is you and me.
Without our voices, the larger systemic change will not occur.
Without our efforts, hope will not be restored and lives will not be changed.
Without you, there will be no freedom and no justice.
We are witnessing with our own eyes these next 10 days how YOU are helping to bring freedom to women and children in Uganda. If you want to be part of restoring hope and changing lives, make a donation today. We can’t wait to share more stories this week of real girls experiencing true transformation. Stay tuned!