Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
12 January 2011
Haiti on my mind...
Haiti, mon pays
Wounded mother I'll never see
Ma famille set me free
Throw my ashes into the sea
Mes cousins jamais nes
Hantent les nuits de Duvalier
Rien n'arrete nos espirits
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see
In the forest we are hiding
Unmarked graves where flowers grow
Hear the soldiers angry yelling
In the river we will go
Tous les morts-nes forment une armee
Soon we will reclaim the earth
All the tears and all the bodies
Bring about our second birth
Haiti, never free
N'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme
Tes enfants sont partis
In those days their blood was still warm
(Translation: Haiti, my country, wounded mother I'll never see. My family set me free. Throw my ashes into the sea. My cousins, never born, haunt the nights of Duvalier. Nothing stops our spirits. Guns can't kill what soldiers can' t see. In the forest we are hiding, unmarked graves where flowers grow. Hear the soldiers angry yelling, in the river we will go. All the still-born children form an army, soon we will reclaim the earth. All the tears and all the bodies bring about our second birth.Haiti, never free, don't be afraid to sound the alarm your children are gone in those days their blood was still warm.)
Jan 12, 2010 brought intense pain and sorrow to a country that I couldn't have imagined taking on any more suffering. The massive earthquake on that day brought Haiti to the surface of attention. A country that many people couldn't have placed on a map, people and a culture that aren't thought about on a daily basis, devastation that many can't even begin to comprehend, including those that were affected and appear to be so resilient...Haiti has been on my mind for years now, studying and working in public health. I have had many missed opportunities to visit this country, but hope at some point I will make my trip to Haiti. In the meantime, Haiti is on my mind. Especially lately though. Throughout November and December, I was back in Washington, D.C., working for my old boss at WHO/PAHO. For four weeks the only thing that was on my mind was cholera and Haiti. The devastation in this country just doesn't end and I don't think anyone can wrap their mind around the extent of pain and suffering. As I sat through all these meetings with top officials, including world-renowned Epidemiologists, Doctors, Politicians, etc, I have never felt so sad. Studying Haiti and all their problems, I have always had a glimpse of hope for their future. Sadly, I don't feel that right now...gut-wrenching image after image break my heart and make me lose my sense of hope that I try to maintain when I think of those that are there. I think of the pain and suffering that has been endured, throughout past generations and that will be endured for generations to come.
You take 2010 alone, this country has suffered one of the most devastating earthquakes our earth has seen (in the sense of impact on human beings), one that killed more than 300,000 humans and displaced around 1.5 million, most of which will never rebuild their homes or lives and will be in long term camps for internally displaced populations. This country has more recently faced extreme flooding during the 2010 hurricane season, specifically with Hurricane Tomas, which hit in November. This is a country that so gratefully had not been exposed to Cholera for more than 100 years, but within the last few months has been introduced to the bacteria, creating an outbreak that has devastated countless...numbers aren't even accurate at this point, as there is no effective surveillance system set in place.
Hasn’t this country suffered enough? Unfortunately not. The entire infrastructure is a disaster in Haiti, which means this country is far from seeing the end of its own misery. As long as there is a corrupt system in place...as long as there is no infrastructure...as long as people, particularly those in power, are only in it for themselves and not for the well-being of the Haitians...this country will continue to be a disaster. How do you fix a country that is so messed up? How do you solve all of the issues? There are SO many layers to even the most basic of issues. Mass education and a shift in politics, with a little top soil would do wonders for this country...but again, so many layers...where do you even begin to try and fix even those three problems?
Just thoughts on my mind...I wish I had the answers. I wish I could do more to help. I wish people that don't belong there would stay out and not use up the resources that are needed for those in need. Haiti is on my mind, especially today...the first anniversary of the earthquake.
01 November 2010
Dateline: Sex Trafficking
To follow up with the book that I recently read and post I made about it...I came across this older article from NBC and a Dateline that was done on Brothels and the Sex Trafficking Industry. I thought it really portrays what goes on...but it's LONG!
The night clubs of Bangkok and the windows of Amsterdam are among the most well-known destinations in what has become a multibillion-dollar industry: sex tourism. But the business is not all about adult prostitution. There are some places you might never have heard about, notorious places, the kind of places a sexual predator would be willing to travel halfway around the world to reach — destinations like a dusty village in Southeast Asia, where the prey is plentiful and easy to stalk.
They are children born into poverty and sold for sex. And while the thousands of men who flock here each year — many of them Americans — may think that they're involved in nothing more than prostitution, by any definition it is rape.
The small Buddhist country of Cambodia has a rich cultural heritage, but it has become a magnet for people who prey on the young and innocent. To follow their trail, we'll have to infiltrate their perverted world and pretend we're predators ourselves. It’s the only way we'll be able to see first-hand how serious the problem really is — so serious that President Bush told the United Nations it has become a top priority for his administration.Secretary of State Colin Powell is leading the administration's efforts and has a special office dedicated to the problem.
Chris Hansen: “Why has child sex trafficking become such an important issue for you and the Bush administration?”
Colin Powell: “Because it's the worst kind of human exploitation imaginable. Can you imagine young children, learning their ABCs or whatever the equivalent is in their language, being used as sexual slaves for predators? It is a sin against humanity, and it is a horrendous crime.”
On the front lines
To combat that crime, increasingly the administration has been turning to people like Gary Haugen, a former federal prosecutor who runs a human rights group called the International Justice Mission. Haugen's group uses tactics that are considered controversial by some in the human rights community. He sends his investigators undercover to gather evidence of sex slavery in other countries, then takes the evidence to local authorities to persuade them to take action. Their work helped rescue hundreds of women and children around the world.
This time the target is Cambodia, and a Dateline team is headed there undercover.
After an 11,000-mile journey, our producer and cameraman set up shop in a hotel in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, where they assemble our state-of-the-art equipment and rig themselves with hidden cameras.
Cambodia still suffers from a traumatic past. In the 1970s and ’80s, an estimated 2 million Cambodians died because of war, famine and a brutal dictatorship.
Now there are signs of recovery, thanks in part to the three-quarters-of-a-million foreign visitors who come to Cambodia each year. Our hidden cameras found that many tourists come not to visit the historic sites, but for another purpose. They go to a place like Martinis. It's a nightclub where young women outnumber men 10 to one, and many of the women are for sale.
Even though prostitution is illegal in Cambodia, finding a girlfriend for the night at Martinis takes just a few words, a few dollars, and a stroll out the door. But the action at Martinis pales compared with what else we're about to see in Cambodia.
Early one morning, our producer walks out the front door of the hotel and is greeted by a local motor bike taxi driver, who explains how easy it is to find girls for sale:
Video: Children for sale: Undercover in Cambodia
Twelve-year-olds for sale. As shocking as that sounds, we're about to find out in some places that's considered old. Children who should be in elementary school are being exploited by adults.
A human rights investigator we'll call Robert is acting as a sex tour guide for a Dateline producer and cameraman posing undercover. The investigator is a former police detective from New Zealand. We agreed not to show his face or use his real name, because of his ongoing undercover work.
Robert has developed local contacts who know where to go and whom to see. All it takes is a quick phone call for this man to arrange a visit to a brothel in Phnom Penh.
The producers and investigators arrive across from what looks like a local café, but it's really a brothel. The owner is a woman who goes by the name Madam Lang. She's eager to do business. She leads the group through the café and up a back staircase to meet some girls for hire. And when she says they're girls, she means it literally: young girls, younger than we even imagined. And as an extra attraction, she says they're still virgins.
Trapped in tragedy
Many sex tourists come to Cambodia for exactly that reason, and they're willing to pay a premium. Madam Lang tells us her virgins go for $600, and for that price she says we can take a girl back to the hotel and keep her there for up to three days. When she brings out the girl, the 15-year-old looks paralyzed with fear.
A child's tragic journey into the sex trade often begins in a family struggling for survival. This is a country where the average income is less than $300 a year. Some children are sold by their own parents. Others are lured by what they think are legitimate job offers like waitressing, but then are forced into prostitution.
One 14-year-old, who was recently freed from a brothel, says she came from an extremely poor family in the country next door, Vietnam. She says when she was walking home from school one day, she was approached by a woman offering work in a café. But the café turned out to be a brothel. With no money and no way to get home, she didn't have much of a choice and was forced into sex with grown men, many of them American.
At best the girls' families get a few hundred dollars, a debt the girls then owe to the brothel owners. It can take years to work it off. It's a form of slavery. And when this girl refused to go along, she says she was beaten:
Girl: “I thought, I am here to serve coffee, not be a prostitute. But the boss told me that I had to be a prostitute. She forced me, and I was scared. I did not want to go with those men, but being beaten was worse.”
So she tried to run away.
Girl: “I got captured. They forced me into a room for three days and three nights. They beat me. They did not let me have anything to eat or drink. And they sold me to a different brothel.”
All this comes as no secret to the Cambodian government. Mu Soc Hua is Cambodia’s minister of women's affairs.
NBC News NBC News
It's an exotic vacation destination, with ancient cities, bold colors, legendary temples, remarkable beauty — and horrendous crimes that go on behind closed doors. Children, some as young as 5 years old, are being sold as slaves for sex. It's a shameful secret that's now capturing the attention of the world and the White House, a secret that has been exposed by Dateline's hidden cameras. Dateline ventured into this dark place, where sexual predators can gain access to terrified children for a handful of cash. How could this be happening? And how can it be stopped?
Inside the world of child sex trafficking, each year, by some estimates, hundreds of thousands of girls and boys are bought, sold or kidnapped and then forced to have sex with grown men. Dateline’s investigation leads to the troubled and distant land of Cambodia. We reveal what “tourists,” like one American doctor, may be up to, and we'll take you inside a dramatic operation to rescue the children.The night clubs of Bangkok and the windows of Amsterdam are among the most well-known destinations in what has become a multibillion-dollar industry: sex tourism. But the business is not all about adult prostitution. There are some places you might never have heard about, notorious places, the kind of places a sexual predator would be willing to travel halfway around the world to reach — destinations like a dusty village in Southeast Asia, where the prey is plentiful and easy to stalk.
They are children born into poverty and sold for sex. And while the thousands of men who flock here each year — many of them Americans — may think that they're involved in nothing more than prostitution, by any definition it is rape.
The small Buddhist country of Cambodia has a rich cultural heritage, but it has become a magnet for people who prey on the young and innocent. To follow their trail, we'll have to infiltrate their perverted world and pretend we're predators ourselves. It’s the only way we'll be able to see first-hand how serious the problem really is — so serious that President Bush told the United Nations it has become a top priority for his administration.Secretary of State Colin Powell is leading the administration's efforts and has a special office dedicated to the problem.
Chris Hansen: “Why has child sex trafficking become such an important issue for you and the Bush administration?”
Colin Powell: “Because it's the worst kind of human exploitation imaginable. Can you imagine young children, learning their ABCs or whatever the equivalent is in their language, being used as sexual slaves for predators? It is a sin against humanity, and it is a horrendous crime.”
On the front lines
To combat that crime, increasingly the administration has been turning to people like Gary Haugen, a former federal prosecutor who runs a human rights group called the International Justice Mission. Haugen's group uses tactics that are considered controversial by some in the human rights community. He sends his investigators undercover to gather evidence of sex slavery in other countries, then takes the evidence to local authorities to persuade them to take action. Their work helped rescue hundreds of women and children around the world.
This time the target is Cambodia, and a Dateline team is headed there undercover.
After an 11,000-mile journey, our producer and cameraman set up shop in a hotel in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, where they assemble our state-of-the-art equipment and rig themselves with hidden cameras.
Cambodia still suffers from a traumatic past. In the 1970s and ’80s, an estimated 2 million Cambodians died because of war, famine and a brutal dictatorship.
Now there are signs of recovery, thanks in part to the three-quarters-of-a-million foreign visitors who come to Cambodia each year. Our hidden cameras found that many tourists come not to visit the historic sites, but for another purpose. They go to a place like Martinis. It's a nightclub where young women outnumber men 10 to one, and many of the women are for sale.
Even though prostitution is illegal in Cambodia, finding a girlfriend for the night at Martinis takes just a few words, a few dollars, and a stroll out the door. But the action at Martinis pales compared with what else we're about to see in Cambodia.
Early one morning, our producer walks out the front door of the hotel and is greeted by a local motor bike taxi driver, who explains how easy it is to find girls for sale:
Video: Children for sale: Undercover in Cambodia
Twelve-year-olds for sale. As shocking as that sounds, we're about to find out in some places that's considered old. Children who should be in elementary school are being exploited by adults.
A human rights investigator we'll call Robert is acting as a sex tour guide for a Dateline producer and cameraman posing undercover. The investigator is a former police detective from New Zealand. We agreed not to show his face or use his real name, because of his ongoing undercover work.
Robert has developed local contacts who know where to go and whom to see. All it takes is a quick phone call for this man to arrange a visit to a brothel in Phnom Penh.
The producers and investigators arrive across from what looks like a local café, but it's really a brothel. The owner is a woman who goes by the name Madam Lang. She's eager to do business. She leads the group through the café and up a back staircase to meet some girls for hire. And when she says they're girls, she means it literally: young girls, younger than we even imagined. And as an extra attraction, she says they're still virgins.
Trapped in tragedy
Many sex tourists come to Cambodia for exactly that reason, and they're willing to pay a premium. Madam Lang tells us her virgins go for $600, and for that price she says we can take a girl back to the hotel and keep her there for up to three days. When she brings out the girl, the 15-year-old looks paralyzed with fear.
A child's tragic journey into the sex trade often begins in a family struggling for survival. This is a country where the average income is less than $300 a year. Some children are sold by their own parents. Others are lured by what they think are legitimate job offers like waitressing, but then are forced into prostitution.
One 14-year-old, who was recently freed from a brothel, says she came from an extremely poor family in the country next door, Vietnam. She says when she was walking home from school one day, she was approached by a woman offering work in a café. But the café turned out to be a brothel. With no money and no way to get home, she didn't have much of a choice and was forced into sex with grown men, many of them American.
At best the girls' families get a few hundred dollars, a debt the girls then owe to the brothel owners. It can take years to work it off. It's a form of slavery. And when this girl refused to go along, she says she was beaten:
Girl: “I thought, I am here to serve coffee, not be a prostitute. But the boss told me that I had to be a prostitute. She forced me, and I was scared. I did not want to go with those men, but being beaten was worse.”
So she tried to run away.
Girl: “I got captured. They forced me into a room for three days and three nights. They beat me. They did not let me have anything to eat or drink. And they sold me to a different brothel.”
All this comes as no secret to the Cambodian government. Mu Soc Hua is Cambodia’s minister of women's affairs.
Hansen: "Cambodia has a lot of problems. Where do you rank the child sex trade?"
Mu Soc Hua: "I rank sexual trade, sexual exploitation of our children as top — on the top of my list."
Hansen: "Is there any way to even attach a number to this to say how many children?"
Mu Soc Hua: "Around 30,000."
Hansen: "That's a staggering number."
Mu Soc Hua: "Yes. Yes."
Inside Phnom Phenh
She says it's happening all over the country, but there's one place that is notorious. Any taxi driver can tell you it's the place to go if you're looking for the youngest girls. Svay Pak is a rundown village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. A 20-minute drive, and we're on a dirt road dotted with cafes and gated storefronts. It takes just a second for a pimp to approach.
Everyone in Svay Pak assumes we are here for sex. When we sit down at one of the cafes, we're greeted by a young hustler named Po. He's only 15 but already a real operator. He tells us he's grown up in the village and introduces his mother — who knows exactly what he's up to and takes a cut of the money he brings in.
Po says he can get us girls who are even younger than the ones we saw at that brothel in the city. And despite all we've seen, we're stunned at just how young he says they are — 8-year-olds. It's hard to believe. He tells us to come see for ourselves. Along with a human rights investigator, we follow Po through some alleys into a ramshackle house. We think we've already seen it all, but who could be prepared for this?
Video: Children for sale: A rare view
Girls, some so young they could be in kindergarten, are all for sale. Throughout the village, we see the same scene at one brothel after another. Everyone here seems to know a little English. When they talk about sex, they use simple child-like terms anyone can understand. "Yum-yum" means oral sex. "Boom-boom" means intercourse.
We meet dozens of children. One girl says she's nine. She's joined by another who says she's 10. Both say they know how to perform oral sex. And they even tell us how much it will cost: $60 for two girls.A pimp says if two girls aren't enough, how about three?
Our team then leaves saying we may come back later. In the car, the grim reality has set in for the International Justice Mission’s chief investigator, Bob Mosier. In 20 years as a cop, he says, he's never seen anything like this.
Bob Mosier: “Youhave an 8-year-old or 9-year-old little girl you know just looking at you smiling, realizing that you're going to in just a few moments possibly, probably going to engage in a sexual act they're going to get money for, and they're smiling about it. I mean I see a smile like that on my kids' face when they're finding out they're going to go to Disney World or something like that.”
But the tourists in Svay Pak are a far cry from the ones you see at Disney World, and they're not anxious to talk about why they're here. But last year, a human rights investigator with a hidden camera found a visitor who was willing to admit he was not visiting for the scenic beauty or the local cuisine.
The American 'tourist'
Video: Children for sale: American 'tourist'
When the camera was hidden, an American prowling Svay Pak was happy to brag about his exploits. He’s an American doctor, whom we saw repeatedly while we were in Cambodia. Dr. Jerry Albom is radiologist from Oklahoma, but on the streets of Svay Pak he offers pointers to a man he believes is a sex tourist.
The International Justice Mission’s Gary Haugen says he'd like to see people like Dr. Albom and the pimps who supply him put out of action. Haugen has a plan. He wants to mount a daring operation, to bust the pimps and to rescue the children. Now the question is can he put his plan into action.
What he can do, he hopes, is prompt the government there to join his cause.But this is Cambodia, so chaotic it's hard to cross the street much less get the police to take action. If you really want results, what you need is the blessing of senior Cambodian government officials. But getting their attention requires help from someone with real clout. So Haugen has taken his evidence to the U.S. ambassador, who in turn has agreed to make the case.
Plan for raid takes shape
It takes a week, but finally, the Cambodians sign on to Haugen's plan. It involves tricking the pimps into bringing the girls to a supposed sex party at a house outside the village. There it will be easier for the police to arrest the pimps and rescue the children.
To get the pimps on board, Robert, the investigator posing as a sex tour guide, has been telling them that his clients are reluctant to come into the village. Robert has discovered it really is dangerous.
When he tried to sell the sex party idea to one of the pimps, the man asked if Robert had a hidden camera. Then he asked Robert to prove he was for real and have sex with a 5-year-old girl. And when Robert refused, the pimp got angry. Finally, the pimp threatened him.
Robert kept searching until he found other pimps willing to let some of the girls leave the village for the supposed "sex party." The pimps say they want to come along to keep an eye on the children, which plays right into the plan, because remember when they arrive at the house, they'll be arrested.
These wouldn't be the first arrests in Svay Pak. The Cambodian police have set up a unit to deal with sex trafficking. But they've never been involved in anything like this. This time, sixty officers are being assigned to the raid.
But the big question is: can they all be trusted? There are no guarantees because many of the cops are in the pimps’ pockets, like the one caught on Robert’s hidden camera. He thought Robert was really a sex tour operator and for $150 promised he could make sure neither Robert nor his clients would be arrested.
One hundred fifty dollars - that's the equivalent of five months pay for the average Cambodian cop. If a cop like this finds out about the raid, he could alert the pimps.
The operation begins with a ride on a bus which is also supposed to be used to rescue the girls from Svay Pak. The bus waits on the outskirts of the village. A half a dozen motor bike drivers take the producers and investigators to go get the girls. The drivers stop by a pathway that leads to the brothel, where the girls are supposed to be waiting.
Initially, there’s no sign of the children. But after much discussion with the pimps, finally, two children, sisters are brought into the waiting area. The investigators have seen these girls twice before. The first time, they were brand new to Svay Pak and had not yet been sold for sex. But only a few weeks later, the girls apparently had lost their innocence. They'd been forced to perform oral sex.
Video: Children for sale: The raid
Now, if they're lucky, these girls will never have to do that again. That's if
everything goes according to plan.
At first, everything seems on track, but then suddenly the pimps change their minds and won't let the girls leave the brothel. Investigator Bob Mosier suspects the operation has been compromised.
It's not clear how much the pimps know, but it seems they've picked up on rumors of an investigation. They may be suspicious, but they're not exactly chasing anyone away. In fact, they want the sex party to take place right here, right now, and there isn't much of a choice, so our producers and the investigators play along. There is a back-up plan -- a phone call to alert the police who are supposed to be standing by. Who knows when or even if they'll show up?
It hasn't all gone according to plan, but at the end of the day a dozen suspected pimps and madams are in custody, and 37 girls rescued, many under the age of 10. As they're loaded into a van, they're in shock and in tears and don't seems to understand that they're about to be taken to a safe place. Escorted by officers from the Cambodian Ministry of Interior, they pull away from this place where they lost so much, hopefully never to return.
Gary Haugen, the head of the human rights group that made all this happen, is thankful, though he had hoped more children would be rescued.
Video: Children for sale: The confrontation
And he says, while it's good to prosecute the people who sell children for sex, if you want to solve the problem; you also have to go after the tourists who buy them. But who is going to confront these sex tourists? In the case of that American doctor, we do.
Why should the U.S. get involved?
This issue has become a top priority for the Bush administration. It’s for that reason Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed to look at what we found, including the videotape of Dr. Albom.
Powell: "He may be a doctor but he's a criminal. He's a criminal and if he can be brought to justice, he will be brought to justice. The law requires it. And he won't have to worry about being a doctor because he'll be doing time in jail and that's where he belongs. More than that, he probably needs to see several dozen psychiatrists if that's what turns him on."
Hansen: "Why should Americans be concerned about the sex trade in Cambodia?"
Powell: “How can we turn away? If we want to have friends in the world, if we want to have better relations with the countries of the world, we have to help them with this kind of problem.”
Help them or pressure them – the U.S. government can impose sanctions on countries the State Department says aren't doing enough, which may be why the Cambodians recently arrested two American men accused of having sex with children, and sent them back to the U.S. for prosecution.
In the end, at least seven of the suspects we saw, including a man who supplied little girls for the sex party, were recently found guilty by a Cambodian judge and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. In mid-January, Madam Lang, the woman who offered us virgins for $600, was also convicted and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. That's believed to be the longest sentence of its kind ever in Cambodia.
Future for the children
As for the children we saw taken out of the brothels, they were brought to a safe house for a few days. Then they were placed in group homes: one for the younger girls and one for teens, which is run by a charity called AFESIP. The director of AFESIP, Pierre Legros, says getting the girls out of the brothels is tough, but keeping them in the group home is even tougher. He estimates that on average 40 percent of the rescued girls return to a life of prostitution.
In October, more than six months after our first visit, Dateline returned to Svay Pak. And despite whatever efforts the Cambodian government is making, we were offered children for sale. We showed our latest hidden camera tapes to Cambodia’s Minister for Women's Affairs, Mu Soc Hua. She was not surprised by our findings, she says, because it'll take years to overcome the extreme poverty and widespread corruption that cause the child sex trade to flourish. But she sees the current wave of prosecutions as a step forward.
Mu Sochua: “Yes that is the little, little small ray of light I see at the end of this tunnel. That's why there is hope and we have to continue to fight. Prosecution is the key word, the message has to be very strong and forget about prosecuting the little fish prosecuting everybody who is involved in it.”
Secretary of State Powell acknowledges it may not be possible to eliminate the problem totally, but he says putting pressure on countries like Cambodia is the right thing to do.
Powell: “Can you imagine the spread of disease that is taking place with this kind of activity? Can you imagine what will happen to these girls when they're 15 or 20? What will become of them? They'll have no education. They will be -- they will have been used and tossed away and ruined… And a nation such as ours, which says we are a moral nation, and that we have a value system, that we would allow our citizens to go over and fuel that trade, by their presence and by their money and by their rotten exploitation of these children, we wouldn't be living up to our values if we didn't do something about it.”
The U.S. government is now giving the human rights group, International Justice Mission, a $1 million grant to help battle sex trafficking in Cambodia. Also, agents from the Department of Homeland Security who specialize in child sex crimes are nowinvestigating the activities of dozens of Americans -- including Dr. Jerry Albom -- suspected of traveling abroad to have sex with children.
Mu Soc Hua: "I rank sexual trade, sexual exploitation of our children as top — on the top of my list."
Hansen: "Is there any way to even attach a number to this to say how many children?"
Mu Soc Hua: "Around 30,000."
Hansen: "That's a staggering number."
Mu Soc Hua: "Yes. Yes."
Inside Phnom Phenh
She says it's happening all over the country, but there's one place that is notorious. Any taxi driver can tell you it's the place to go if you're looking for the youngest girls. Svay Pak is a rundown village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. A 20-minute drive, and we're on a dirt road dotted with cafes and gated storefronts. It takes just a second for a pimp to approach.
Everyone in Svay Pak assumes we are here for sex. When we sit down at one of the cafes, we're greeted by a young hustler named Po. He's only 15 but already a real operator. He tells us he's grown up in the village and introduces his mother — who knows exactly what he's up to and takes a cut of the money he brings in.
Po says he can get us girls who are even younger than the ones we saw at that brothel in the city. And despite all we've seen, we're stunned at just how young he says they are — 8-year-olds. It's hard to believe. He tells us to come see for ourselves. Along with a human rights investigator, we follow Po through some alleys into a ramshackle house. We think we've already seen it all, but who could be prepared for this?
Video: Children for sale: A rare view
Girls, some so young they could be in kindergarten, are all for sale. Throughout the village, we see the same scene at one brothel after another. Everyone here seems to know a little English. When they talk about sex, they use simple child-like terms anyone can understand. "Yum-yum" means oral sex. "Boom-boom" means intercourse.
We meet dozens of children. One girl says she's nine. She's joined by another who says she's 10. Both say they know how to perform oral sex. And they even tell us how much it will cost: $60 for two girls.A pimp says if two girls aren't enough, how about three?
Our team then leaves saying we may come back later. In the car, the grim reality has set in for the International Justice Mission’s chief investigator, Bob Mosier. In 20 years as a cop, he says, he's never seen anything like this.
Bob Mosier: “Youhave an 8-year-old or 9-year-old little girl you know just looking at you smiling, realizing that you're going to in just a few moments possibly, probably going to engage in a sexual act they're going to get money for, and they're smiling about it. I mean I see a smile like that on my kids' face when they're finding out they're going to go to Disney World or something like that.”
But the tourists in Svay Pak are a far cry from the ones you see at Disney World, and they're not anxious to talk about why they're here. But last year, a human rights investigator with a hidden camera found a visitor who was willing to admit he was not visiting for the scenic beauty or the local cuisine.
The American 'tourist'
Video: Children for sale: American 'tourist'
When the camera was hidden, an American prowling Svay Pak was happy to brag about his exploits. He’s an American doctor, whom we saw repeatedly while we were in Cambodia. Dr. Jerry Albom is radiologist from Oklahoma, but on the streets of Svay Pak he offers pointers to a man he believes is a sex tourist.
The International Justice Mission’s Gary Haugen says he'd like to see people like Dr. Albom and the pimps who supply him put out of action. Haugen has a plan. He wants to mount a daring operation, to bust the pimps and to rescue the children. Now the question is can he put his plan into action.
What he can do, he hopes, is prompt the government there to join his cause.But this is Cambodia, so chaotic it's hard to cross the street much less get the police to take action. If you really want results, what you need is the blessing of senior Cambodian government officials. But getting their attention requires help from someone with real clout. So Haugen has taken his evidence to the U.S. ambassador, who in turn has agreed to make the case.
Plan for raid takes shape
It takes a week, but finally, the Cambodians sign on to Haugen's plan. It involves tricking the pimps into bringing the girls to a supposed sex party at a house outside the village. There it will be easier for the police to arrest the pimps and rescue the children.
To get the pimps on board, Robert, the investigator posing as a sex tour guide, has been telling them that his clients are reluctant to come into the village. Robert has discovered it really is dangerous.
When he tried to sell the sex party idea to one of the pimps, the man asked if Robert had a hidden camera. Then he asked Robert to prove he was for real and have sex with a 5-year-old girl. And when Robert refused, the pimp got angry. Finally, the pimp threatened him.
Robert kept searching until he found other pimps willing to let some of the girls leave the village for the supposed "sex party." The pimps say they want to come along to keep an eye on the children, which plays right into the plan, because remember when they arrive at the house, they'll be arrested.
These wouldn't be the first arrests in Svay Pak. The Cambodian police have set up a unit to deal with sex trafficking. But they've never been involved in anything like this. This time, sixty officers are being assigned to the raid.
But the big question is: can they all be trusted? There are no guarantees because many of the cops are in the pimps’ pockets, like the one caught on Robert’s hidden camera. He thought Robert was really a sex tour operator and for $150 promised he could make sure neither Robert nor his clients would be arrested.
One hundred fifty dollars - that's the equivalent of five months pay for the average Cambodian cop. If a cop like this finds out about the raid, he could alert the pimps.
The operation begins with a ride on a bus which is also supposed to be used to rescue the girls from Svay Pak. The bus waits on the outskirts of the village. A half a dozen motor bike drivers take the producers and investigators to go get the girls. The drivers stop by a pathway that leads to the brothel, where the girls are supposed to be waiting.
Initially, there’s no sign of the children. But after much discussion with the pimps, finally, two children, sisters are brought into the waiting area. The investigators have seen these girls twice before. The first time, they were brand new to Svay Pak and had not yet been sold for sex. But only a few weeks later, the girls apparently had lost their innocence. They'd been forced to perform oral sex.
Video: Children for sale: The raid
Now, if they're lucky, these girls will never have to do that again. That's if
everything goes according to plan.
At first, everything seems on track, but then suddenly the pimps change their minds and won't let the girls leave the brothel. Investigator Bob Mosier suspects the operation has been compromised.
It's not clear how much the pimps know, but it seems they've picked up on rumors of an investigation. They may be suspicious, but they're not exactly chasing anyone away. In fact, they want the sex party to take place right here, right now, and there isn't much of a choice, so our producers and the investigators play along. There is a back-up plan -- a phone call to alert the police who are supposed to be standing by. Who knows when or even if they'll show up?
It hasn't all gone according to plan, but at the end of the day a dozen suspected pimps and madams are in custody, and 37 girls rescued, many under the age of 10. As they're loaded into a van, they're in shock and in tears and don't seems to understand that they're about to be taken to a safe place. Escorted by officers from the Cambodian Ministry of Interior, they pull away from this place where they lost so much, hopefully never to return.
Gary Haugen, the head of the human rights group that made all this happen, is thankful, though he had hoped more children would be rescued.
Video: Children for sale: The confrontation
And he says, while it's good to prosecute the people who sell children for sex, if you want to solve the problem; you also have to go after the tourists who buy them. But who is going to confront these sex tourists? In the case of that American doctor, we do.
Why should the U.S. get involved?
This issue has become a top priority for the Bush administration. It’s for that reason Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed to look at what we found, including the videotape of Dr. Albom.
Powell: "He may be a doctor but he's a criminal. He's a criminal and if he can be brought to justice, he will be brought to justice. The law requires it. And he won't have to worry about being a doctor because he'll be doing time in jail and that's where he belongs. More than that, he probably needs to see several dozen psychiatrists if that's what turns him on."
Hansen: "Why should Americans be concerned about the sex trade in Cambodia?"
Powell: “How can we turn away? If we want to have friends in the world, if we want to have better relations with the countries of the world, we have to help them with this kind of problem.”
Help them or pressure them – the U.S. government can impose sanctions on countries the State Department says aren't doing enough, which may be why the Cambodians recently arrested two American men accused of having sex with children, and sent them back to the U.S. for prosecution.
In the end, at least seven of the suspects we saw, including a man who supplied little girls for the sex party, were recently found guilty by a Cambodian judge and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. In mid-January, Madam Lang, the woman who offered us virgins for $600, was also convicted and sentenced to 20 years behind bars. That's believed to be the longest sentence of its kind ever in Cambodia.
Future for the children
As for the children we saw taken out of the brothels, they were brought to a safe house for a few days. Then they were placed in group homes: one for the younger girls and one for teens, which is run by a charity called AFESIP. The director of AFESIP, Pierre Legros, says getting the girls out of the brothels is tough, but keeping them in the group home is even tougher. He estimates that on average 40 percent of the rescued girls return to a life of prostitution.
In October, more than six months after our first visit, Dateline returned to Svay Pak. And despite whatever efforts the Cambodian government is making, we were offered children for sale. We showed our latest hidden camera tapes to Cambodia’s Minister for Women's Affairs, Mu Soc Hua. She was not surprised by our findings, she says, because it'll take years to overcome the extreme poverty and widespread corruption that cause the child sex trade to flourish. But she sees the current wave of prosecutions as a step forward.
Mu Sochua: “Yes that is the little, little small ray of light I see at the end of this tunnel. That's why there is hope and we have to continue to fight. Prosecution is the key word, the message has to be very strong and forget about prosecuting the little fish prosecuting everybody who is involved in it.”
Secretary of State Powell acknowledges it may not be possible to eliminate the problem totally, but he says putting pressure on countries like Cambodia is the right thing to do.
Powell: “Can you imagine the spread of disease that is taking place with this kind of activity? Can you imagine what will happen to these girls when they're 15 or 20? What will become of them? They'll have no education. They will be -- they will have been used and tossed away and ruined… And a nation such as ours, which says we are a moral nation, and that we have a value system, that we would allow our citizens to go over and fuel that trade, by their presence and by their money and by their rotten exploitation of these children, we wouldn't be living up to our values if we didn't do something about it.”
The U.S. government is now giving the human rights group, International Justice Mission, a $1 million grant to help battle sex trafficking in Cambodia. Also, agents from the Department of Homeland Security who specialize in child sex crimes are nowinvestigating the activities of dozens of Americans -- including Dr. Jerry Albom -- suspected of traveling abroad to have sex with children.
26 August 2010
Ground Zero Debate
I have to take a moment to purge a few thoughts on some of the big news of late. If you have an EDUCATED opinion on the matter, I would love to hear it. If you are going to purge your biased views and opinions and cannot back it up with anything, I don't care to hear it, especially if you are going to base it off of what you hear from any sort of extremist (e.g. Glen Beck). I really just don't understand the opposition on this one though.
So as you may know, there has been the "Ground Zero Mosque" talk. In summary, there has been a lot of controversy about whether or not it is appropriate of building an Islamic community center near Ground Zero (about 2 blocks away). The center will include a pool, health club, restaurants, mosque, etc. and will be open to the public. The designer's mission in mind is to increase religious understanding and tolerance. Unfortunately, there are people that do not even have their facts straight and have also let their "patriotism" get the best of them.
Okay, that being said, let's discuss 9/11 for just a minute. I get it. I get that people are trying to be patriotic. That is great; patriotism can be a wonderful thing! I take a lot of pride in my country and in being a citizen of this country. I also get that this patriotism that is interlinked to the "Mosque talk" is stemming from 9/11. We lost around 3,000 lives on that tragic day. The day of the attacks drastically changed the lives of those that were directly affected, but also changed countless Americans and many more around the world, indirectly affecting millions of people. It was a substantial victory of "evil", if you will. Unfortunately, now there are those that see anything related to these "Islamic" terrorists, such as a Mosque at Ground Zero, as a threat or something that is going to further destroy our country; some sort of defeat.
This mindset if VERY difficult for me to comprehend, especially as an American citizen and knowing what America stands for. We are a country, where men and women have fought for many generations, to protect our rights, including the First Amendment - Freedom of Religion. I think there are too many that easily forget this. It is disheartening to see a country full of wonderful, successful people succumb to hate, ignorance and fear.
My thoughts have been brewing on this topic since it hit headlines, however, the necessity of purging my thoughts stem from an article I just read that my dear friend Rebecca posted to facebook about Mayor Bloomberg's impassioned speech on religious freedom. I also just finished reading his speech, which you can access here. I encourage you to read it; I personally find it quite moving. He brings up some very powerful thoughts and points about religion, but also about terrorism and patriotism. Along with Rebecca's posting she also said the following, which I thought was so well put, "We all get to have our beliefs and respect others....the only way it will work. Sadly, there are extremists, power-monger's, haters, fearful people in every religion and 'non-religion' religions or philosophies and there are also wonderful, kind tolerant people as well. What we need is those that are tolerant to build bridges and come together..." I couldn't agree more! We can learn so much from each other, but we must be patient and keep an OPEN MIND.
Bloomberg said, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights - and the freedoms that the TERRORISTS attacked." This includes more than just tolerance among Muslims, but of all religions and/or belief systems. How great is it that we live in a country that we have the right to find our own "happy-medium" and discover what we truly believe, as an individual, and what we want in our life...we are not forced to believe any one way, we do not all have to believe the same or think the same - how awesome is that, to be able to have that diversity within our country?! I think it is pretty great! I love and respect it and find it terrible to hear that Islamic centers and mosques have been subjected to protests and harassment, with protesters shouting obscenities, such as, "Jesus hates Muslims" and "Muslim children are murderers". What has our country come to when you get these extremists (yes, including those that are in the media) saying we should not allow "even one more mosque in the US" or other churches conducting "Koran burning days". What is this accomplishing?! Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I guess for me, the bottom line and the point I am trying to make is this, quoting Bloomberg: "Islam did not attack the World Trade Center – Al-Qaeda did. To implicate all of Islam for the actions of a few who twisted a great religion is unfair and un-American. Today we are not at war with Islam – we are at war with Al-Qaeda and other extremists who hate freedom." To say that this center cannot be built NEAR (not even ON) Ground Zero is a horrifying thought, in my opinion. There is no good excuse, in my mind, of why it SHOULDN'T be built.
May we all be a little more tolerant. May we all be a little more open minded and accepting. May we all be a little more loving and trusting.
So as you may know, there has been the "Ground Zero Mosque" talk. In summary, there has been a lot of controversy about whether or not it is appropriate of building an Islamic community center near Ground Zero (about 2 blocks away). The center will include a pool, health club, restaurants, mosque, etc. and will be open to the public. The designer's mission in mind is to increase religious understanding and tolerance. Unfortunately, there are people that do not even have their facts straight and have also let their "patriotism" get the best of them.
Okay, that being said, let's discuss 9/11 for just a minute. I get it. I get that people are trying to be patriotic. That is great; patriotism can be a wonderful thing! I take a lot of pride in my country and in being a citizen of this country. I also get that this patriotism that is interlinked to the "Mosque talk" is stemming from 9/11. We lost around 3,000 lives on that tragic day. The day of the attacks drastically changed the lives of those that were directly affected, but also changed countless Americans and many more around the world, indirectly affecting millions of people. It was a substantial victory of "evil", if you will. Unfortunately, now there are those that see anything related to these "Islamic" terrorists, such as a Mosque at Ground Zero, as a threat or something that is going to further destroy our country; some sort of defeat.
This mindset if VERY difficult for me to comprehend, especially as an American citizen and knowing what America stands for. We are a country, where men and women have fought for many generations, to protect our rights, including the First Amendment - Freedom of Religion. I think there are too many that easily forget this. It is disheartening to see a country full of wonderful, successful people succumb to hate, ignorance and fear.
My thoughts have been brewing on this topic since it hit headlines, however, the necessity of purging my thoughts stem from an article I just read that my dear friend Rebecca posted to facebook about Mayor Bloomberg's impassioned speech on religious freedom. I also just finished reading his speech, which you can access here. I encourage you to read it; I personally find it quite moving. He brings up some very powerful thoughts and points about religion, but also about terrorism and patriotism. Along with Rebecca's posting she also said the following, which I thought was so well put, "We all get to have our beliefs and respect others....the only way it will work. Sadly, there are extremists, power-monger's, haters, fearful people in every religion and 'non-religion' religions or philosophies and there are also wonderful, kind tolerant people as well. What we need is those that are tolerant to build bridges and come together..." I couldn't agree more! We can learn so much from each other, but we must be patient and keep an OPEN MIND.
Bloomberg said, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights - and the freedoms that the TERRORISTS attacked." This includes more than just tolerance among Muslims, but of all religions and/or belief systems. How great is it that we live in a country that we have the right to find our own "happy-medium" and discover what we truly believe, as an individual, and what we want in our life...we are not forced to believe any one way, we do not all have to believe the same or think the same - how awesome is that, to be able to have that diversity within our country?! I think it is pretty great! I love and respect it and find it terrible to hear that Islamic centers and mosques have been subjected to protests and harassment, with protesters shouting obscenities, such as, "Jesus hates Muslims" and "Muslim children are murderers". What has our country come to when you get these extremists (yes, including those that are in the media) saying we should not allow "even one more mosque in the US" or other churches conducting "Koran burning days". What is this accomplishing?! Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I guess for me, the bottom line and the point I am trying to make is this, quoting Bloomberg: "Islam did not attack the World Trade Center – Al-Qaeda did. To implicate all of Islam for the actions of a few who twisted a great religion is unfair and un-American. Today we are not at war with Islam – we are at war with Al-Qaeda and other extremists who hate freedom." To say that this center cannot be built NEAR (not even ON) Ground Zero is a horrifying thought, in my opinion. There is no good excuse, in my mind, of why it SHOULDN'T be built.
May we all be a little more tolerant. May we all be a little more open minded and accepting. May we all be a little more loving and trusting.
10 May 2010
A shout out to all mothers!
I would like to pay a special tribute to my wonderful mother that does not give herself enough credit! She is an amazing woman that I truly admire. I am grateful to have a mother that has taught me the value of hard work and supports me in all that I strive to accomplish. She is one of the greatest, most selfless people I know!
While I do not want to detract from my own mother and how much I care for her and wish to celebrate her, I would also like to take some time to pay tribute to all mothers around the globe. Let’s think about moving the apostrophe so that it becomes not just Mother’s Day, honoring a single mother, but Mothers’ Day — an occasion to try to help other mothers around the globe.
I faithfully follow Nicholas Kristof, who is a writer for the New York Times. He writes about a variety of global [conflict] issues. His article in lieu of Mother's Day is beautiful! I have pulled a few interesting stats from this article, but you may also link to the article in its entirety here.
Some $14 billion will be spent in the United States for Mother’s Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation. That includes $2.9 billion in meals, $2.5 billion in jewelry and $1.9 billion in flowers.
To put that sum in context, it’s enough to pay for a primary school education for all 60 million girls around the world who aren’t attending school. That would pretty much end female illiteracy.
These numbers are fuzzy and uncertain, but it appears that there would be enough money left over for programs to reduce deaths in childbirth by about three-quarters, saving perhaps 260,000 women’s lives a year. There would probably even be enough remaining to treat tens of thousands of young women suffering from one of the most terrible things that can happen to a person, a childbirth injury called an obstetric fistula.
These numbers blow me away! Haven't hear enough statistics yet? Check this out:
- The United States’ rate for maternal mortality is 1 in 4,800 – one of the highest in the developed world.”
- A woman in the Unites States is more than five times as likely as a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece or Italy to die from pregnancy-related causes in her lifetime and her risk of maternal death is nearly 10-fold that of a woman in Ireland. (2010 State of the World's Mothers)
- 50 million women in the developing world give birth without professional help and 8.8 million children and newborns die from easily preventable or treatable causes.
- The risk of a woman dying from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes in Niger is 1 in 7. The risk is 1 in 8 in Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. Compared to Ireland, that risk was 1 in 47,600.
Every minute, a mother dies from complications during pregnancy or childbirth. In fact, in many countries, a girl is more likely to die in pregnancy than to finish secondary school. Mothers should be remembered and honored today, on Mother's Day, but I hope that we can see a turn in some of the frightening statistics and see women’s lives become more of a priority!
Publish Post
28 July 2009
Slowly, updating!
I know it's been 2, maybe even close to 3 months since I was in DC, but I thought I'd still post some of the pictures from my last week or two out there. I had such a great time living there and hope I'll be back before I know it (cause i'm really missing it)...or wherever it is that my next "career" job will take me! haha
And as for those of you that are wondering where I am these days and how long i'll be wherever I am at...her is the latest (since i'm ever so slow at my postings on here): I am in Utah right now, just staying with my parents and friends. It's been nice to catch up with a few friends, but I have yet to actually be in Utah too much yet in the last 7 or 8 months. I have been doing a lot of traveling! I moved my stuff back to Utah and turned around 3 days later and headed to Colombia for a couple weeks, got back for a week, headed to Europe for three and now I am back and will be here till I find a new job. If anyone wants to sponsor any more trips for me, I'd be happy to take that! Or just sponsorship for my life/bills right now since I don't qualify for unemployment...just a poor post-graduated...person? I'm not even student status anymore :(
And as for those of you that are wondering where I am these days and how long i'll be wherever I am at...her is the latest (since i'm ever so slow at my postings on here): I am in Utah right now, just staying with my parents and friends. It's been nice to catch up with a few friends, but I have yet to actually be in Utah too much yet in the last 7 or 8 months. I have been doing a lot of traveling! I moved my stuff back to Utah and turned around 3 days later and headed to Colombia for a couple weeks, got back for a week, headed to Europe for three and now I am back and will be here till I find a new job. If anyone wants to sponsor any more trips for me, I'd be happy to take that! Or just sponsorship for my life/bills right now since I don't qualify for unemployment...just a poor post-graduated...person? I'm not even student status anymore :(
HERE'S WHAT'S TO COME ON MY BLOG...PICTURES FROM TRIPS!
COLOMBIA (above)...
and of course, some EUROPEAN lovin'!!
CARE CONFERENCE
I was able to attend the CARE conference and hear some of the most remarkable people speak! I really admire people that do such great work in this world, especially for women/girls and the work that goes into empowerment of women and girls in developing countries! I LOVE CARE's work and hope that one day I can work with them (yup, it's my end career goal...I'll be satisfied once I can say I work with CARE).
Yes, the pictures below are of exactly who you think! Yes, I DID indeed meet Richard Gere in person and YES, he is just as sexy in person as he is on screen and in the magazines! And he's nice too! I really admire the work he does in this world. As most people don't know, Richard Gere is a full time philanthropist and has his own organization (http://www.thetibetcenter.org/gere.html). Anyway, he won CARE's award for person of the year...or something to that effect, because of the philanthropy work he is involved in.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Hands down, the most beautiful building I've set foot in! At least in the States and it definitely competes with all the beautiful building in Europe too! I could not believe how beautiful it is!! I absolutely LOVED it!!
One of my last days in DC (at least for now), I had my friend Hilary set up a little somethin'-somethin' for me :) She got me my own personal tour of the White House (haha, okay it's not the White House, I realize this...but for some reason I ALWAYS call the Capitol building the White House! It's really weird...everytime though!) It was really interesting though to get the history of it. I should go do this tour whenever my pride in America begins to lack! It was so great and really made me want to dive into my history books!
A visit from Michelle! I worked with Michelle at the hospital awhile ago, and she just finished her Nurse Practitioner program through GWU, so she was out for graduation. We got together with Hailey (another nurse we worked with at LDS Hospital) and all went to dinner and sat, chatting at Starbucks the rest of the night. It was so great to see these lovely ladies!!
I love this cemetery by my old townhouse! It's pretty big, so I used to go running around the windy roads of it. It's so old and has got some of the coolest headstones! Not going to lie though, kinda would get creeped out walking by it late at night on my way home from the metro!
This was at the National Botanical Gardens...thought it was kinda cool :)
COLOMBIA (above)...
and of course, some EUROPEAN lovin'!!
CARE CONFERENCE
I was able to attend the CARE conference and hear some of the most remarkable people speak! I really admire people that do such great work in this world, especially for women/girls and the work that goes into empowerment of women and girls in developing countries! I LOVE CARE's work and hope that one day I can work with them (yup, it's my end career goal...I'll be satisfied once I can say I work with CARE).
Yes, the pictures below are of exactly who you think! Yes, I DID indeed meet Richard Gere in person and YES, he is just as sexy in person as he is on screen and in the magazines! And he's nice too! I really admire the work he does in this world. As most people don't know, Richard Gere is a full time philanthropist and has his own organization (http://www.thetibetcenter.org/gere.html). Anyway, he won CARE's award for person of the year...or something to that effect, because of the philanthropy work he is involved in.
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Hands down, the most beautiful building I've set foot in! At least in the States and it definitely competes with all the beautiful building in Europe too! I could not believe how beautiful it is!! I absolutely LOVED it!!
One of my last days in DC (at least for now), I had my friend Hilary set up a little somethin'-somethin' for me :) She got me my own personal tour of the White House (haha, okay it's not the White House, I realize this...but for some reason I ALWAYS call the Capitol building the White House! It's really weird...everytime though!) It was really interesting though to get the history of it. I should go do this tour whenever my pride in America begins to lack! It was so great and really made me want to dive into my history books!
A visit from Michelle! I worked with Michelle at the hospital awhile ago, and she just finished her Nurse Practitioner program through GWU, so she was out for graduation. We got together with Hailey (another nurse we worked with at LDS Hospital) and all went to dinner and sat, chatting at Starbucks the rest of the night. It was so great to see these lovely ladies!!
I love this cemetery by my old townhouse! It's pretty big, so I used to go running around the windy roads of it. It's so old and has got some of the coolest headstones! Not going to lie though, kinda would get creeped out walking by it late at night on my way home from the metro!
This was at the National Botanical Gardens...thought it was kinda cool :)
23 April 2009
EaRtH DaY
"We now must begin to realize that the Earth does not belong to us, it's the other way around. We belong to the Earth."
- Evo Morales (President of Bolivia)
- Evo Morales (President of Bolivia)
Here are 8 ways you can protect your health - and the planet!
1 - Take short showers. Yup, I'm talking five minute showers - or get "low-flow" shower head (I am really guilty tonight...I took the longest shower EVER and pretty sure I could never keep it under 5 minutes, esp if i have to shave!).
2 - Bypass your dry-cleaning and wash 'em by hand or find a "wet-cleaner" (they don't use hazardous solutions).
3 - Go EASY on the BEEF (it's gross anyway!). Did you know that red meat production is responsible for about two-and-a-half times more greenhouse-gas emissions than chicken or fish?
4 - Stop using air fresheners? Okay, truth be known...I read this in an article: "Indoor air may be up to three times more polluted than the air outdoors, so go fresh the natural way by opening your windows (and use potpourri instead). The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) tested 14 air fresheners and found that 12 contained phthalates, chemicals linked to hormone abnormalities, birth defects, and reproductive problems. Even products billed "all-natural" or "unscented" weren't chemical-free. Eeeew! Why does everything always have to have so much crap in it!?!
5 - BUY ORGANIC!! I am a strong supporter of organic foods and buying locally (I wish it wasn't quite as pricey though).
6 - Skip the liquid: Many liquid soaps, though convenient, contain triclosan, an antibiotic agent toxic to wildlife. Again, WHY!?! :( Not going to lie, I struggle with some of these better ways...can I make up by reducing my carpon footprints instead? In some other way? :)
7 - Screensavers=no, no! Set your computer up to sleep after a bit instead of running the screensaver.
8 - Toss the flea collar! HAHA Easier said than done! Come on, haven't they ever lived in ROMANIA!?! Have the makers of these rules ever had fleas living in their house and had a million bites all over their bodies? Probably not. But all I can say is FINE! Get rid of the flea collar, but not the flea bombs! But yes, yes...the pestisides, always the pestisides!
RESPECT THE EARTH!!
07 April 2009
HaPpY BiRtHdAy: WORLD HEALTH DAY!!
Today is World Health Day!
"When Disaster Strikes, Safe Hospitals Save Lives"
"When Disaster Strikes, Safe Hospitals Save Lives"
Celebrations were held all over the world today in honour of World Health Day, PAHO included. My unit has been busy at work planning out the celebration here in DC. We had 3 really great speakers this morning. One of which was one of the doctors that ended up stranded in Charity Hospital with her patients during Hurricane Katrina. She was an excellent speaker! It was a busy, busy day...but great success (Mostly thanks to Jill and Pat!).
On my soap box...
"You have to be stronger than your fears if you want to get anything done in this life." -Daoud Hari-
I just finished reading The Translator, a book which is about the war in Darfur (I put a summary of the book @ the end of this post). It was interesting to learn more about, cause I didn't know the history of the war very well. I have also been sitting in on weekly teleconferences with the W.H.O. office in Geneva about the Humanitarian/Health situation in Sudan, making the book that much more interesting. Recently, the ICC (International Criminal Court) issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir. This is fantastic news, indeed. Unfortunately, in response Sudan has ordered some 13 international aid groups to leave the area - the best thing in Sudan right now!! This is heartbreaking news, given the situation!! Essentially, this leaves the nation at extremely high risk of a lot of health problems...if they weren't already at high enough risk!
So I am sure many of you wonder, "why does Sherrie post about these awful things!?!" I know I lose people right off the bat, but they are such IMPORTANT issues and I feel like it's important for people to know about them and not be entirely ignorant to what is going on in our world. Imagine if all the systems and rules that hold our country together fell apart suddenly and your family members were all - every one of them - in a dangerous situation. THIS is why I talk about this stuff...can YOU imagine or even begin to comprehend!?! NO, it's next to impossible to! On top of all of this, this type of stuff sparks my angry side and I've got to vent somewhere, right?!?
Now when I say people should not be ignorant to what is going on this world, I mean they should know about issues that don't involve Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Hannah Montana or some of the ridiculous athletes that are WAY overpaid! I'm sorry, but famous people and majority of the media make me absolutely DISGUSTED! I get so tired of hearing about them - their drug problems, relationships, the ridiculous amounts of money they spend on clothes, purses, shoes...or the athletes that complain about not getting paid enough! Some of these people have been able to use their fame, position, power and money for great things (people like Oprah, Angelina Jolie, and Natalie Portman). These few, definitely deserve some attention...if anyone in Hollywood does. But let's stop focusing on Hollywood and let's focus on the AMAZING heroes in this world that HAVE actually done such great work and sacrificed something! These are the people that are well overdue for some credit and fame!
This book I just finished reading...WOW! What a powerful memoir! It's people like Daoud Hari that should be on the cover of magazines! I definitely recommend reading his story if you'd like to know more about the war that is continually raging in Darfur, Sudan. It's definitely heart-wrenching and makes you weak in the knees at some of the stories told...especially knowing that these are first-hand accounts - all true stories. I realize that there are some people that just absolutely cannot gut some of these types of things. Most people can't. I will be honest, I had a REALLY hard time reading parts of this book. However, I still think it is important to know that this stuff is going on in the world. It is the only way that anything is going to be done to stop it.
As many of you know, I am a total news junkie and came across a photo article not too long ago on the BBC news site. It was pictures that young children had drawn for the ICC to prove that Genocide is happening in Sudan. It was extremely saddening...almost disturbing! Photos in explicit detail of what is going on to these children's families, friends, and villages. One young artist said: "It is very kind to send us food, but this is Africa and we are used to being hungry. What I ask is that you please take the guns away from the people who are killing us." Children should NOT have childhoods like this! No human being should have to have a life like this!!
Often times I wish there was more I could do. Maybe one day I will be able to do more, but for now, all I can do is be an advocate here and help others to spread the word.
"The leaders of the world can solve this problem, and the people of Darfur can go home, if the leaders see that people everywhere care deeply enough to talk to them about this. So, if you have time, perhaps you can do so. For it has no meaning to take risks for news stories unless the people who read them will act." - Daoud Hari
May we ALL do a little more...
"Altitude itself is a powerful thing. When travelers are in space, looking at our small planet from a distance where borders and flags cannot be seen or imagined, this also, I am told, bends one toward a peaceful view. That is what I wanted, really, just peace."
Title: The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of DarfurI just finished reading The Translator, a book which is about the war in Darfur (I put a summary of the book @ the end of this post). It was interesting to learn more about, cause I didn't know the history of the war very well. I have also been sitting in on weekly teleconferences with the W.H.O. office in Geneva about the Humanitarian/Health situation in Sudan, making the book that much more interesting. Recently, the ICC (International Criminal Court) issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir. This is fantastic news, indeed. Unfortunately, in response Sudan has ordered some 13 international aid groups to leave the area - the best thing in Sudan right now!! This is heartbreaking news, given the situation!! Essentially, this leaves the nation at extremely high risk of a lot of health problems...if they weren't already at high enough risk!
So I am sure many of you wonder, "why does Sherrie post about these awful things!?!" I know I lose people right off the bat, but they are such IMPORTANT issues and I feel like it's important for people to know about them and not be entirely ignorant to what is going on in our world. Imagine if all the systems and rules that hold our country together fell apart suddenly and your family members were all - every one of them - in a dangerous situation. THIS is why I talk about this stuff...can YOU imagine or even begin to comprehend!?! NO, it's next to impossible to! On top of all of this, this type of stuff sparks my angry side and I've got to vent somewhere, right?!?
Now when I say people should not be ignorant to what is going on this world, I mean they should know about issues that don't involve Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Hannah Montana or some of the ridiculous athletes that are WAY overpaid! I'm sorry, but famous people and majority of the media make me absolutely DISGUSTED! I get so tired of hearing about them - their drug problems, relationships, the ridiculous amounts of money they spend on clothes, purses, shoes...or the athletes that complain about not getting paid enough! Some of these people have been able to use their fame, position, power and money for great things (people like Oprah, Angelina Jolie, and Natalie Portman). These few, definitely deserve some attention...if anyone in Hollywood does. But let's stop focusing on Hollywood and let's focus on the AMAZING heroes in this world that HAVE actually done such great work and sacrificed something! These are the people that are well overdue for some credit and fame!
This book I just finished reading...WOW! What a powerful memoir! It's people like Daoud Hari that should be on the cover of magazines! I definitely recommend reading his story if you'd like to know more about the war that is continually raging in Darfur, Sudan. It's definitely heart-wrenching and makes you weak in the knees at some of the stories told...especially knowing that these are first-hand accounts - all true stories. I realize that there are some people that just absolutely cannot gut some of these types of things. Most people can't. I will be honest, I had a REALLY hard time reading parts of this book. However, I still think it is important to know that this stuff is going on in the world. It is the only way that anything is going to be done to stop it.
As many of you know, I am a total news junkie and came across a photo article not too long ago on the BBC news site. It was pictures that young children had drawn for the ICC to prove that Genocide is happening in Sudan. It was extremely saddening...almost disturbing! Photos in explicit detail of what is going on to these children's families, friends, and villages. One young artist said: "It is very kind to send us food, but this is Africa and we are used to being hungry. What I ask is that you please take the guns away from the people who are killing us." Children should NOT have childhoods like this! No human being should have to have a life like this!!
Often times I wish there was more I could do. Maybe one day I will be able to do more, but for now, all I can do is be an advocate here and help others to spread the word.
"The leaders of the world can solve this problem, and the people of Darfur can go home, if the leaders see that people everywhere care deeply enough to talk to them about this. So, if you have time, perhaps you can do so. For it has no meaning to take risks for news stories unless the people who read them will act." - Daoud Hari
May we ALL do a little more...
My thoughts, provoked from the book (sorry they are random)...
- It amazes me that in a country that has such a great deal of oil money, the people only get a few hours of electricity a week!
- The line that made me laugh the hardest in this book, "Most people are a little thin because of all the walking, the hard work, and the dieting - that is one of the many advantages of poverty." Who honestly finds ADVANTAGES to living in poverty!?!?!
- Daoud comments on the child soldiers at one point, "the tragedy of a life so monstrously wasted". Interesting, cause I have this conversation all the time and think about this constantly!! I think about how many AMAZING people are unidentified because they are not able to grow and develop into the person they have the potential of being, because of their situations. I thought about this when I spent time in Africa...how many of those little kids running around had the potential to be life-saving doctors, powerful women, successful and bright individuals but are restricted by the walls of poverty and circumstances and are never able to develop into Einsteins or Paul Farmers. Some may be lucky to jump over the hurdle of limitations...those not so lucky though? It makes me sad...what a waste!
- All in God's hands. This is Daoud's theme in life. His work was his fate and everything was in God's hands. What beautiful faith in his God. May we all be like that a little more; putting more trust in that higher being in which each of us believe in.
- Google PAUL SALOPEK. He was the writer for National Geographic that was with Daoud when they were taken by the government. It is interesting to hear his side of things. What a good man!
Author: Daoud Hari (as told to Dennis Burke and Megan McKenna)
"Daoud Hari is not a person to stand around and do nothing. Despite the danger, he felt compelled to put his English skills to use as a translator for genocide investigators and reporters, in an attempt to get the word out about the genocide, to bring the ethnic cleansing of his people into your living room, so their voices could be heard. His memoir largely follows his work from 2003 until 2006, when he received protection as a refugee in the United States. It is a remarkable story of one man's determination to help his people, risking his life over and over again to fight the injustice that he has witnessed.
Daoud's story is the story of his people. It is also the story of millions of refugees living in border refugee camps around the world. They encounter many of the same problems that Hari witnesses: inadequate shelter, women and girls raped when they have to leave the camp to gather firewood for fuel, and people unable to earn any income when their host country forbids them from working.
The Darfur genocide is still taking place today. It may come and go in the news, on the whim of large media outlets, but it has not gone away."
Daoud's story is the story of his people. It is also the story of millions of refugees living in border refugee camps around the world. They encounter many of the same problems that Hari witnesses: inadequate shelter, women and girls raped when they have to leave the camp to gather firewood for fuel, and people unable to earn any income when their host country forbids them from working.
The Darfur genocide is still taking place today. It may come and go in the news, on the whim of large media outlets, but it has not gone away."
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