A friend of mine, actually, a friend who is a missionary and a minister working in Taiwan who we were privileged enough to have officiate at our wedding, is starting a project to inform people who have worked with Iris Ministries about ways to get involved to work against human trafficking and slavery. So far, from what I know, a few Iris school alumni have started projects working to help victims of trafficking and slavery. One of them is a friend of mine who has a project in India and will be starting one in Northeast Brazil soon! The project in Brazil will be in Paraiba, way up north, even more north than Recife.
From what I know, trafficking and child prostitution are huge problems in Brazil. Not so much in the capital region, but definitely child prostitution is a big problem in the northeast. How do I know?
I remember one night we were at the hippie fair at Boa Viagem, the beach in the center of the city in Recife, and as we were standing on the curb waiting for the bus, I saw something that I will never forget. The image of a couple young teenage girls, young Brazilian girls, in a bar, with a couple of middle-aged, light skinned, heavy-set, clearly not Brazilian, tourists. The girls were hanging at the bar to get picked up to be prostituted out that night by men traveling to Brazil for more than just your average tourism.
Though that was about 5 years ago, I can still see the image in my mind, frozen there, me frozen on the other side of the street, unable to do anything.
Then the first time I was in Brazil, working with YWAM in Recife, I saw a scene so unforgettable, it changed the very core of my being. It was like something I had only read about, happening right in front of me.
We were working with street kids in a particular park in the city that YWAM had a weekly project at, we went once a week to reach out to the street kids there. The street kids in this park were younger than other gangs, the oldest kids were only about 15 or 16, and most of them were 8-11 years old. There was a beautiful 9 year old girl there, who stuck pink tropical flowers in my hair, and I stuck them in her hair. I didn’t speak Portuguese, but I spoke Love to her. She was a little fiesty girl, but precious as any of God’s children. When our program was almost over, she started to leave, and an older boy started fighting with her, hitting her, and almost beating her up.
YWAM’s policy is to not get involved with kids fighting, as outsiders getting involved can oftentimes mean later dire consequences for the kids. So we watched, and listened, and I asked what was going on. The girl was trying to leave, but the older boy, her brother wouldn’t let her. She was going to go to a man who would give her presents and money in return for sexual favors. The brother knew this was happening, and, even though he lived on the street as well, he didn’t want his little sister to go and be exploited, again.
The little girl left, stormed off, rather mad. We couldn’t do anything to help. We couldn’t change the situation. At that point, there was no house open for street girls in Recife.
I pray that my friend’s project in Paraiba will reach out to many girls like the ones I remember, the girls being sold into prostitution, the ones selling themselves into prostitution. Maybe they aren’t being trafficked across borders, but they are being sold into sexual slavery. Right here. In my new home country. Jesus help us all.
For more information about stopping child prostitution and exploitation, go to www.ecpat.net
