Tearfund Correspondent June 2016

CORRESPONDENT June 2016

Fighting Traffickers pgs 6-7

Counter offensive: Tearfund’s partner Nvader is taking the fight to human traffickers.

PICTURE Nvader

Defying darkness Nvader’s Justin Boswell has encountered many heart-breaking stories from trafficking survivors, and this story is one of many that highlights the inhumanity faced by millions today – many of them children. * Malee shares her story:

Syrian Refugees pg 9

“A van arrived daily to pick us up. If any of the girls were sad they would put ecstasy in our meals, or they would inject us with something so we were always happy for the clients. I tried to avoid eating the meals but I started to get sick, so I didn’t have a choice.

One man intimidated me and threatened my family when I wasn’t making enough money. The clients were very abusive and forceful.

I lived like this for three months and got so depressed that I tried to commit suicide. I tried to escape, but every time they would follow me on a motorbike and bring me back.

They used verbal and psychological threats and they kept my passport.”

The story of Malee is repeated time and again with the victims we encounter. Modern-day slavery is a horrific problem. Offenders exploit the vulnerable by controlling them through force, fraud, or coercion, for forced labour, sexual exploitation, or both.

Kidnapped girl returned pg 10

This is a massive problem and the statistics are hard to comprehend.

There are 21 million people in slavery. This includes 4.5 million people trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Illegal profits are estimated at US $150 billion per annum, with US $99 billion from forced sexual exploitation. But the good news is that we have an opportunity to make a change!

Currently the risk to offenders is very low. Many offenders act with little regard for the victims because there is little chance of them being brought to justice.

With a staff of just 14, Nvader was involved in approximately 15% of the human trafficking prosecutions in Thailand last year.

While there are US $150 billion in profits, there are only 4,443 prosecutions globally (which means for every US $34 million in profits, there is just one prosecution).

Fewer than 0.5% of victims get the opportunity to testify against their traffickers. These statistics need to change, and that is why Tearfund’s local partner Nvader, is focused on the area of justice and prosecution.

This strategy not only liberates victims; prosecution is also a strong prevention tool.

I have just returned from Thailand

and it is exciting to see our team developing. With a staff of just 14, Nvader was involved in approximately 15% of the human trafficking prosecutions in Thailand last year. This is a huge achievement for our team.

While in Thailand, I heard about some women who had been trafficked for labour and sexual exploitation. They were forced to work on a farm from 6am to 6pm, then from 6pm until 2am, they were forced to work in a brothel. They had just four hours to sleep and were forced to take drugs to keep them awake. Our social worker was hugged by one of the sobbing women because someone had intervened in her situation.

Nvader was formed by Kiwis and now works alongside locals in Thailand.

This is a great combination and is making significant progress in combating sex trafficking.

Without Tearfund supporters, we would not have been able to achieve such great results. Your partnership through Tearfund is critical in the efforts to hold offenders accountable, help free victims and prevent others from being trafficked. So, thank you for your support. * Name changed for privacy

To support Tearfund’s antitrafficking work: Make a monthly donation to Tearfund’s Project Act, or see tearfund.org.nz, and click on ‘Protect’ to find out more.

2 | CORRESPONDENT – June 2016

Taken captive: Tearfund’s partners are helping to bring the hope of freedom.

PICTURE Helen Manson

Protecting the vulnerable

By Keith Ramsay I would say welcome to another issue of the Correspondent, but with the strong focus on human trafficking; perhaps welcome is not the right word. However, Tearfund invites you into the work we call ‘Protect’ with the hope that together, we can make a difference for victims and survivors of this inhumane, but unfortunately thriving trade.

Human trafficking and exploitation is a huge issue, with more people enslaved today than ever before in history. At Tearfund we believe in a

Inside out

By Ian McInnes

I used to be an adventure guide and I’ve always loved a physical challenge. So, recently I peeled back the years and biked 300km over three days from Queenstown to Cromwell, on to Wanaka, then over the hill and back into Queenstown.

The Crown Range, leaving Wanaka, was no smaller in reality that I had imagined it to be. It was grueling, but over those days a bunch of us raised over $30,000.

In this issue, you’ll read about the work this money is serving. With your help, we support partners who work to help young girls like Malee, on our cover. In April, I visited our partners in Thailand and Cambodia who face a much tougher hurdle, meeting human

God who is passionate about seeing the oppressed and the captives set free. So while some of the articles may take you to a dark place, we ask that you remember that light overcomes darkness and we can do something to help shine that light.

Tearfund works with several partners – each using their particular expertise in addressing aspects of the fight against human trafficking and exploitation. You can read more about the ‘Five Ps’ approach on page Six. Our child sponsorship also plays a part in protecting children from

trafficking head on. In a world that celebrates freedom, it’s those stories of captivity and abuse that kept me pedalling up the hill.

In these pages you’ll also read about our response to Cyclone Winston in February, and a reflective piece on how our approach of working with small, indigenous partners means we can reach into the hard-to-reach

It turns out sponsorship is another way to help prevent trafficking.

It’s all connected and I love the way our programmes join the dots. places using local contacts and knowledge. I love how this builds local ability to respond and recover, rather than side-lining the true professionals in this work. And, it’s more cost-effective.

I’m excited that each child in our Compassion sponsorship

human traffickers. Because the children are known and have a case worker, they help to address issues that may lead to children being trafficked. In the event that this does happen, the project is quick to notice a child’s absence and investigate. This was the case for Daniela (page 10), who was freed by her abductors, thanks to our child sponsorship partner Compassion, in Bolivia. You can also read about radio announcer John Peachey’s trip to Thailand, where he observed the effectiveness of child sponsorship in one of Asia’s human trafficking hot spots.

Moving away from this subject, you can get an update on some of our disaster responses and catch up on our upcoming events. One special event is the Justice Conference, which has attracted a variety of highly-inspirational speakers. If you are passionate about justice issues and want to be challenged to do more, this conference is for you.

We do hope that by reading this issue of the Correspondent, you will be motivated to stand up for the voiceless and stand alongside our partners as they fight against the injustice of human trafficking.

programme is known by name and has a social worker who takes a keen interest in their development. You’ll read how this resulted in Daniela from Bolivia being rescued from traffickers. It turns out sponsorship is another way to help prevent trafficking. It’s all connected and I love the way our programmes join the dots.

If the Crown Range wasn’t bad enough, here’s another crazy thing.

On June 18, we ‘Sleep-out for Syria’ and it’s not too late to join us. Our partners work tirelessly to help some of the most desperate Syrian refugee families living in limbo in Lebanon. Our partner has provided 1750 vouchers for heating, 4000 blankets and almost 300 mattresses – it’s an impressive list, but they can only help a fraction of families in need and we want to help them to do more.

Our partners are always active and we believe in serving our supporters by giving you opportunities to be active too. This includes giving, so our projects can better serve

PICTURE Annelise Greenfield

those they work with, but it can also include you joining us on experiences that deepen our understanding of poverty, such as Live Below the Line, and studying our booklets that help you live in sync with a world of need.

It’s an exciting year. Put a big red circle around October 28 and 29 and come to the Justice Conference.

Before that, I’m cycling again in August for the Poverty Cycle. You can read about this too. Why don’t you join me? The hills in Auckland are much easier!

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First time responding to a disaster

By Claire Hart When I do things in life, I like to be prepared and I like to know what to expect. So, when I got a phone call offering me the chance to gain some experience supporting our disaster team after Cyclone Winston devastated Fiji, I went into a mild state of panic.

“Yes,” I said confidently and quickly, while freaking out on the inside. Twelve sleepless hours later, I was on a plane headed to Fiji.

A minute after leaving Fiji’s airport, the reality hit – this can’t be for real…hot, humid, no power, no cell phone!

Ninety minutes later, I was in the flooded settlement of Lovu surrounded by children. Lovu is an informal settlement where one of Tearfund’s partners works.

Flooding is a regular burden for this community, due to its close proximity to the sea and serious drainage problems.

I didn’t have a clue how to express the sadness in my heart for the people whose houses were destroyed or flooded. Any words I said sounded very hollow, even though from the heaviness in my heart, I knew they were genuine.

Biblical Snapshot: Philemon 15-16

By Frank Ritchie We currently exist between two points, the Resurrection of Christ, and the world to come where God sets everything right. Both provide a vision of a completely redeemed world, free of everything that destroys and robs both humanity and the rest of creation of the flourishing life that has always been intended for all things.

Scripture captures the movement towards God’s intended outcome for everything in how it approaches many issues. One of those issues is slavery. Slavery in scripture takes many forms. It would be dangerous to read slavery in the Bible as if it’s the same as modern slavery. It’s not.

In context within scripture it takes many different forms. Nonetheless it is still clear in scripture, that slavery is not ideal. This complex

While in the community, I stood in the wrong place and got sprayed with mud from the spinning wheels of car stuck in the mud. To my embarrassment, my blouse and face were covered in mud.

The women of the village were mortified that my lovely clothes were ruined and meticulously and vigorously wiped me down with tissues. Don’t waste those on me,I thought.

Five hours after leaving the airport I returned to my accommodation – dehydrated, sun burned, covered in mud, subdued and relieved. Every night for the next 10 days I would finish the day in a similar fashion.

Newbie: Claire Hart helping with Tearfund’s response to Cyclone Winston, Fiji. in my eyes. Sometimes I wasn’t even moved by the damage – I was moved by the calm acceptance of a family who had lost everything; I was moved by the awfulness of the places some people called home.

I was glad for the heat and brightness of the sun most days, when it allowed my sun glasses to conceal the tears in my eyes

During my time in Fiji, I worked with three of Tearfund’s partners.

Along with Alice, our Humanitarian Officer, one of our aims was to work with our partners to develop response plans. All three partners put together response plans which involved supplying cycloneaffected communities with relief supplies and a longer term focus on recovery.

As a first-timer in a disaster zone, there was little I could do to prepare myself for the damage and misery I would see. I was glad for the heat and brightness of the sun most days, when it allowed my sun glasses to conceal the tears

Leaving Fiji felt like I had been jerked from a harsh reality back to normality. It seemed life hadn’t changed for anyone in my New Zealand life. This jarred with what I knew had occurred in the lives of the people I had just been with.

PICTURE Supplied

Ever since my return to normality, our partners have been busy.

With contributions from Tearfund supporters, they’ve provided 317 households with emergency assistance and provided psychosocial and protection support to 1,290 people.

All of the people responding among our partners had suffered loss, yet they were out helping others in their communities. Their dedication and love for others was humbling. I have nothing but admiration and respect for them.

I know that they’ll continue working hard for many months to come to help communities recover.

Pray for the swift recovery of cyclone- affected communties in Fiji and for Tearfund’s partners.

issue comes to a head in the story of Philemon and Onesimus. Here, the value Jesus showed to everybody is our backdrop for Paul’s approach – the same approach that informed his words in Galatians 3:28, that showed no distinction between the slave and the free person in Christ.

In God’s Kingdom, they are both the same.

Paul, probably while imprisoned, wrote a letter to a wealthy Christian who belonged to a house church that met in his home. In Roman culture at the time, servants/ slaves were seen as the property of the master of the house, in this instance, Philemon. Onesimus was his servant/slave and was therefore ‘owned’ by Philemon.

For some reason Onesimus fled.

There is much speculation as to why, but Philemon, within Roman culture, was within his rights to have Onesimus killed for it. Yet Paul challenged Philemon to welcome back Onesimus as a brother, not as a slave (Philemon 15-16). This was a radical request, informed by the view that no person could be owned by another. In the past, some have argued that scripture never completely stamps out slavery.

This view misses the progression that takes a turn in Paul’s letter to Philemon, which might well make that case. But with the vision of the resurrection and the promises of God’s redemption to come, Paul’s vision and our actions now, have

the ability to demonstrate God’s vision for his creation.

By working against slavery, we give people a chance to see, in very tangible ways, the reality of God’s world made right.

4 | CORRESPONDENT – June 2016

Events Tearfund has some exciting events coming up that will truly inspire you, from speakers to talented musicians. To find out more, visit tearfund.org.nz/events

Speakers from top, clockwise: Danielle Strickland, Ken Wytsma and Joel McKerrow.

Eugene Cho will be a main speaker at the Justice Conference NZ in October.

PICTURES Supplied

Justice conference launches in NZ One of the largest and well-regarded international gatherings on social justice is to be held for the first time in New Zealand.

The conference will be held on October 28 and 29 at the Salvation Army Auckland’s facilities in Mt Wellington, with pre-conference events around Auckland.

The Justice Conference is a space for people to gather, engage with, and better understand justice.

It seeks to answer the question: “What if Christians truly lived out Jesus’ practice of transforming communities through bringing authentic justice?”

Sleep-out for Syria Sleep outside your church on Saturday in solidarity with Syrian refugee families.

As their streets are destroyed and they fear for their lives, millions of Syrians flee in the hope of finding somewhere safe to live. But the reality of what awaits them in countries like Lebanon is bleak: inflated rents for cramped garages, tents and other substandard accommodation, and dwindling aid not meeting the demand.

Our partner, the Lebanese Baptist Society, has been working tirelessly since 2011 to help some of the most desperate Syrian Refugee families in Lebanon. But they tell us hopelessness is growing.

What is Sleep-out for Syria?

• Sleeping outside on your church grounds (or crammed inside)

Brought to New Zealand by Tearfund, the conference will feature main stage speakers, short TED-talk style addresses, workshops and pre-conference events for leaders and a ‘poetry slam’. Internationally acclaimed speakers, Eugene Cho, Danielle Strickland, Joel McKerrow and Ken Wytsma will present, as well as more than 15 New Zealand justice practitioners and advocates.

oppressed. I hope it stimulates more ideas and expands Kiwis’ thinking about what the Gospel is meant to be and do in the world.”

Tearfund CEO, Ian McInnes says, “By fostering a community of people who live justice together, we hope to help build on a shared concern for the vulnerable and

Grab your early bird tickets now!

Justice Conference founder, Ken Wytsma, who will be here for the launch, says the conference started in the belief that justice is not just good, but it is necessary. “As such, it deserves our best conversations, the widest community and our ultimate collaboration.”

Available online at: thejusticeconference.org.nz.

• Set up a givealittle page and get friends and family to sponsor you. Spread the word on social media using #sleepoutforsyria.

• All the money you raise before July 31 will be doubled by the New Zealand Aid Programme up to a cap of $2.5m across all agencies appealing.

Guidelines for the sleep-out • The sleep out should be from 5pm to 7am the next morning.

• You may want to arrange a security guard if you are sleeping outside in an urban area.

• You’ll need access to toilets • You can sleep in tents with sleeping bags and mats, as many refugee families are living in tents or crammed into garages.

• Remember to bring food and drink.

We’ll aim to get churches coverage in their local newspaper. Let us know if you are taking part and

Beautiful Survivor – Lillian Nakabiri, featuring Juliagrace Aug 19 – Sep 4: The Beautiful Survivor tour features award-winning Christian singer/ songwriter Juliagrace and former child sponsor from Uganda, Lillian Nakabiri. Lillian’s story is a powerful reminder of God’s love and faithfulness to us, and reaffirms what can happen when we demonstrate the kind of compassion God has demonstrated to each of us.

Lillian will share her remarkable story around the country. Born into a life of poverty and hardship, Lillian’s life was what you’d expect of a destitute orphan. But with the help of Tearfund, she finished her schooling and has a Master’s degree.

She is working to help other children escape the shackles of poverty.

Joining Lillian is the madly-talented and entertaining Juliagrace – performing some of her most popular songs and some of her favourite hymns. This is an evening you really don’t want to miss.

Naomi Striemer Oct 28 – Nov 9 Roughing it: Kids play in an informal refugee camp in Lebanon.

PICTURE Supplied who your point of contact is. Email partnership@tearfund.org.nz.

Remember to take photos and post them on Facebook using #sleepoutforsyria, and tagging Tearfund NZ so we can re-share!

Please join us and support Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Have any Questions?

email partnership@tearfund. co.nz or call 0800 800 777.

Canadian, Naomi Striemer, is an incredibly-talented singer/ songwriter and author. Naomi signed her first major record deal at 18. She has worked with some of the most influential names in music, including guitar legend Carlos Santana. Naomi was hailed as ‘the next commanding diva of the decade’ by Billboard Magazine.

Hear her perform and share her incredible story of how she changed her career to pursue a Christian music ministry. This happened as a result of an encounter in Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs NYC hip-hop studio, when a chauffeur told her a dream he had been given about her life.

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Live Below the Line offers hope

By Frank Ritchie For New Zealanders, Live Below the Line is usually an exercise in selfcontrol, and if you want to do it well, meticulous planning.

Tearfund’s Live Below the Line challenges Kiwis to get a small glimpse of how it is to live in poverty by living on $2.85 a day, for all their food and drink over five days. The money participants raise goes to our work, fighting against human trafficking.

Live Below the Line can be a struggle for those used to having access to much more, but for many around the world it is a reality. It’s a stretch to consider what such a life might be like even in a context of a wellfunctioning family and community where poverty exists. But it’s even harder to fathom in much darker circumstances where access to good nutrition is much harder to obtain.

This darker reality where it’s not just a struggle, but almost impossible to get enough food, is faced by the many vulnerable people who have been trafficked and are trapped in exploitation. It is particularly dark

for those trapped in forms of sexual exploitation, who are prostituted against their will.

For these people, predominantly women and girls, their daily diet consists of relentless abuse.

That abuse regularly extends to forced drug addiction, where often

This darker reality, where it’s not just a struggle, but almost impossible to get enough food, is faced by many vulnerable people who have been trafficked and are trapped in exploitation. a cocktail of narcotics is supplied and enforced to keep girls docile and beholden to their ‘owners’.

Their bodies and mental state are weakened and they suffer because of it.

For this reason, those who are fortunate enough to find freedom are usually in need of nutritional

Wheels of Despair; Wheels of Hope Murray Sheard reflected on Tearfund’s Poverty Cycle and its links to trafficking, while riding in the South Island to raise money for anti-trafficking.

Bikes have two wheels. That’s nothing new. But so does poverty.

Here’s why. Last year, I cycled in the South Island to raise money for Tearfund’s anti-trafficking work, in the cycle Tour of New Zealand. In Tekapo, I took off my front wheel, walked into the restaurant that was hosting the cycle tour that night, and spoke (no pun intended) to 150 tired cyclists assembled at the end of a 100km ride. I used my wheel to illustrate the two wheels of trafficking: the Wheel of Despair and the Wheel of Hope.

Breaking the chain: Tour of NZ riders join forces on the road to fight trafficking.

First, there’s the Wheel of Despair.

So many young people living in villages in Southeast Asia are born into poor families. This is the start of a cycle, like a slowly turning wheel, that too often has its end game in trafficking.

Vulnerability is the key here. If you are poor, if your family struggles to feed itself, if they can’t afford an education for you, you are in the demographic most likely to be forced or tricked into being taken away from your family and enslaved

PICTURE Scottie T

Protect: By participating in Live Below the Line you can help keep children safe from traffickers.

PICTURE Supplied

care as part of the holistic rehabilitation they go through.

Rebuilding their bodies through careful nutritional input is one part of their healing. This can seem like a minute detail, but it’s easy to underestimate the impact of good nutrition, or lack of it, on our mental and physical wellbeing. You may discover that to a small degree as you participate in Live Below the Line.

The fundraising element of

Live Below the Line offers the chance to engage in thankfulness for what we have – access to what our body needs. It’s also a good chance to pause and consider the plight of others.

as part of a holistic recovery process.

Live Below the Line gives us the opportunity to shine some light into the darkness that is human trafficking and exploitation, by supporting organisations involved in battling this complex issue. It gives us the opportunity to prevent many from falling victim to it, and provides healing where it is needed, even in the access to good nutrition

Sign-up to Live Below the Line now by going to tearfund.org.nz/lbl

in a brothel. In addition, due to poverty, your family are more likely to contemplate sending you with traffickers in return for enough money to feed the rest of the family, or in the hope that you will send money home.

But there’s another wheel: The Wheel of Hope. If families are supported by child sponsorship and livelihood projects, such as those Tearfund supports around the globe, we can reduce the vulnerability of those families.

If girls and their families are educated about the schemes and tricks traffickers play, they can be more savvy and able to resist them.

For those trafficked, if they can be rescued, they can enter therapy and receive vocational training that enables them to re-enter society with their heads held high.

And the cycle comes around again even stronger: If we can strengthen the capacity of the police to intervene, prosecute and disrupt the diabolical trafficking networks, we increase the risks for traffickers.

In this way, the financial rewards that motivate traffickers are less attractive.

By joining the Poverty Cycle or financially supporting someone who does, you can turn that wheel of despair into the wheel of hope for the most vulnerable, through the

Free Wheeling: Murray Sheard cycling to support Tearfund’s anti-trafficking work.

PICTURE Scottie T

work of Tearfund’s anti-trafficking partners. I’m riding this year.

I’d encourage you to join. With gratitude for your own freedom, use that freedom to free others.

Register for Tearfund’s Poverty cycle on August 27, at povertycycle. org.nz and get your friends and family to sponsor you. By riding, you can help protect the most vulnerable.

6 | CORRESPONDENT – June 2016

Coordinating the fight against human trafficking Human trafficking is the fastest growing organised crime in the world and it needs a highly-organised network of agencies to fight against it. Tearfund’s Barbara-Anne Lewis explains how Tearfund’s partners are fighting the good fight.

Human trafficking syndicates generate an estimated $US150 billion in profits a year, making human trafficking the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.

Combating trafficking requires a multipronged approach, involving the coordination of multiple players.

To fight against this horrific, illegal trade in human beings, we too must be well co-ordinated.

Combating trafficking requires a multi- pronged approach, involving the co-ordination of multiple players including the United Nations, governments, non-government organisations, police, lawyers, judges, researchers, social workers, counsellors, and community leaders.

At Tearfund, we have adopted a ‘Five P’s approach, drawing from best practice in the anti-human trafficking sector.

1. Prevention addresses the root causes of people’s vulnerability to trafficking.

PICTURE Artur Francisco

2. Prosecution involves strengthening the justice systems to hold offenders accountable.

3. Protection provides traumainformed rehabilitation services to survivors, (grounded in an understanding that severe trauma has serious implications for a person’s wellbeing and that survivors need to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment for long-term recovery).

4. Policy works towards policy and legislation changes which improve protection for people from human trafficking.

5. Partnership involves engaging in inter-agency collaboration and learning through creating strong anti-trafficking alliances.

The unique skills each our antitrafficking partners possess, influences where they fit best under the ‘Five P’s approach. All of our partners acknowledge they cannot fight human trafficking alone, and choose to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders to strengthen and widen the impact of their programmes.

Dark underworld: Among the glitz of the neon signs lies a dark world of misery for those trafficked into sexual exploitation.

Prevention Share and Care Nepal, skilled in community development, is our key prevention partner. Share and Care is an active member of the Nepali anti-human trafficking network, along with 22 other Nepali organisations.

A key prevention strategy is encouraging safe migration.

Share and Care and the other organisations run a safe migration centre in close co-ordination with the Nepali government.

Every woman applying for a passport in the Makwanpur District, near India’s border, must visit the safe migration centre to receive pre-migration counselling.

Members of the anti-trafficking network take turns operating the centre, which assists women in determining whether an overseas job offer is legitimate and provides information on keeping safe while working in a foreign country.

Protection & Partnership Hagar’s expertise lies in traumainformed aftercare. Hagar is our key protection partner. Hagar is part of the Chab Dai coalition, a wellcoordinated network of Christian anti-trafficking organisations in Cambodia.

Safe: Tearfund’s partner helps trafficking survivors through the pain of their ordeal.

PICTURE Hagar

Through this network Hagar receives referrals for trafficking survivors to its aftercare services, and delivers trauma-informed care training as part of a joint learning initiative.

Smiles: Kids learning to have fun again at a rehabilitation centre.

Prosecution & Policy Nvader is a team of highlyprofessional investigators, lawyers and social workers . They are our key prosecution partner.

Nvader has gone one step further by co-ordinating The Freedom Collaborative in Thailand.

The Freedom Collaborative, created by Chab Dai founder, Helen Sworn, uses technology to connect organisations globally to fight human trafficking. Anti-trafficking

7

Protect: A woman holds her child close following the Nepal earthquake in 2015.

PICTURE Supplied

Nepal earthquake still creating victims

By Keith Ramsay

PICTURE Emma Conyngham

It is over a year now since the Nepal earthquake (April 25, 2015) and while the shaking has subsided, the quake has opened the door for a different kind of misery to pervade the country, creating even more victims of this disaster.

A disaster, especially on a big scale like the Nepal earthquake, provides the perfect opportunity for human traffickers to exploit children.

Children have often lost everything including parents or guardians, and the means to look after their needs.

Schools are generally a safe place for children following disaster, but the quake damaged most schools.

This makes children prime targets to be snatched or lured into the hands of traffickers.

If they do have families or relatives, they are often destitute, as their homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. There may also be relatives or neighbours living together in the same dwelling, putting further pressure on limited resources.

PICTURE Hagar

organisations register on an online platform and are screened carefully before they are given full access to discussion forums, newsfeed and research on anti-trafficking.

Organisations can contact each other through private messages. While criminal syndicates are motivated by profit, our partners are motivated by a strong sense of justice.

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken,” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

This is when traffickers move in, offering the promise of good jobs in a nearby city, where the young family members can earn enough to support themselves and to send money home to help the family. It sounds too good to be true; and it is. But when you’re in desperate circumstances, any hope is better than no hope. After all, there are so many needs in the family to meet.

The opportunity of work is the main way people are trafficked into forced labour and sexual exploitation. This is because their labour is often the only asset they have left to trade.

Most trafficking victims from Nepal end up over the border in India, but

such is the volume of victims as a result of the earthquake, that some are being sold in Western countries.

transatlantic slave trade, and they are being trafficked to destinations all over the world.

While we celebrate heroes like William Wilberforce, who helped create a movement that eventually abolished the slave trade in Britain’s colonies, the slave trade today is alive and thriving and even

What is Tearfund doing?

While we celebrate heroes like William Wilberforce who helped create a movement that eventually abolished the slave trade in Britain’s colonies, the slave trade today is alive and thriving and even happening in Britain where the historic Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was enacted. happening in Britain where the historic Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was enacted.

A recent article in The Guardian newspaper highlighted claims that child survivors of the Nepal earthquake are being sold to British families to work as domestic slaves.

An investigation by the Sun newspaper reported that boys and girls as young as 10 were allegedly being sold in Britain for just £5,300 (approx. NZ $11,185) by black market gangs operating in India’s state of Punjab.

It is like a flashback to Britain’s colonial past. But worse still is the fact that there are far more slaves in the world today than were ever transported during the

Human trafficking in Nepal has always been a problem and that is why Tearfund works there and in other countries, to try to prevent it. Education about how traffickers operate is a major tool in preventing people from being trafficked.

Reducing their vulnerability is another approach used by our partner Share and Care, Nepal. Following the emergency distribution after the earthquake, Tearfund focused on re-establishing agriculture livelihoods to get families earning again to reduce their economic vulnerability.

Through this period, Share and Care made sure that people were aware of traffickers and how to mitigate the risks of trafficking.

Give Give to Project Act to protect innocent children from traffickers, or take part in one of our antitrafficking events –Live below the Line or the Poverty Cycle.

Learn • The International Labour Organisation estimates 21 million people are trapped in forced labour. The number in forced sexual exploitation is 22%, and 26% of those, are under 18.

• Email advocacy@tearfund.org. nz for a copy of our in-depth study guide, No Longer Slaves.

Pray that trafficking networks will be destroyed and those responsible will face justice.

8 | CORRESPONDENT – June 2016

Advocate!

All of these resources are FREE and have had great feedback. Join with others in your community to act against injustice.

Resources for living life well

Be Part of a Justicefocused Small Group Last year, we piloted the Catalyst Network – a network of individuals and small groups, resourced by Tearfund, that wanted to explore and respond to justice-related issues. Groups may choose to focus on a particular subject area (human trafficking, climate change, inequality or ethical consumerism) or be across a bunch of issues.

The aim is to: • Gain a greater understanding of an issue.

• Investigate what the Bible has to say about the subject.

• Take action.

#Double the Quota Many Kiwis got behind the campaign to permanently increase New Zealand’s refugee intake from 750 a year. That level was set 30 years and hasn’t changed. So far, there has been an extra intake of 600 refugees, but this is not a permanent increase.

Tearfund made a written and oral submission calling for this to change.

We congratulate all churches in New Zealand who have supported refugee families in their communities. We renew our call for other churches and families to open their hearts in this way.

To understand how, email us on advocacy@tearfund.org.nz.

Here is what some people had to say about being part of a Catalyst Group: “We gathered around a shared meal and studied Tearfund’s booklet Living Simply. Acting on this, one of our members convinced the local 4 Square to stock more fair trade items and some of us started composting and buying organic vegetables. We all have more awareness of where things come from and the impact on the environment.

We then focused on trafficking and slavery. We signed up for Live Below the Line and got creative

to see how much we can raise.

We also committed to finding the connection with slavery in our daily lives - areas which we feed the demand and can change our buying patterns. If Tearfund hadn’t started Catalyst Groups, we wouldn’t have done all this together.”

An existing small group can become a Catalyst Group, or you can form a new Catalyst Group with others from your area. Groups will be supported

by Tearfund with resources and ideas.

Although we live in one of the farthest corners of the world, the way we conduct our lives impacts those far away from us.

Tearfund believes that one of the most urgent challenges for Christians today, is to live in ways that work for justice, even if that

This book is a lifestyle revolution for global citizens. Do you wonder how you can use your everyday choices to live responsibly, abundantly, and to make a difference to those we serve in other parts of the world?

Author, Ruth Valerio, gives a brief, theologically-informed account of 26 global issues, unpacking our interconnectedness. She shows us how, by making small changes, we can learn the secret of a life that is fair and fulfilling. For example, ‘B is for Bananas’, looks at global trade. In each chapter, you are given simple steps to take.

Interested?

email advocacy@tearfund.org.nz

The Good Lives Project The latest Good Lives Project is hot off the press! This improved version of the study will take you, your family and your small group on a journey of faith aimed at opening up areas of your lives to God, and ultimately creating good lives.

L is for Lifestyle!

No Longer Slaves

means living counter-culturally.

In seven studies, we examine household, personal lifestyle and economic habits, inviting you to learn, read the Bible and make changes, in order to live more responsibly. Be prepared to be challenged!

Want a copy of this study?

email advocacy@tearfund.org.nz.

Ask us for one, or five copies of our introductory group study guide on human trafficking and slavery.

The booklet features five studies that show individuals and groups the facts about modern slavery, the history of abolition, and what Tearfund’s partner organisations who work on the frontline are doing.

It’s all wrapped in Biblical principles and a framework for understanding it, and concludes with what we can all do about it.

Call us on 0800 800 777 or email advocacy@tearfund.org.nz to find out more about either of these. Also check out projectact.org/takeaction.html for our very accessible primer on trafficking and slavery.

9

Thanks for helping Syrian refugees

By Keith Ramsay After more than five years, the misery caused by Syria’s conflict continues to affect millions of lives.

The good news is that Tearfund supporters have helped to make the plight of those displaced a little easier. We thank you for your support of our partner working with refugees in Lebanon.

With your generous help, and funds from the New Zealand Aid Programme, Tearfund has provided relief assistance to Syrian refugees including food, essential non-food items, medical care, and educational and psychosocial support to refugees.

More than 12,360 Syrian refugees have received ongoing monthly food assistance. Funds have also helped to keep vulnerable families warm and dry over the cold winter months when the country was blanketed in snow, by providing vouchers for stoves and heaters, providing blankets and improving shelters.

We were also encouraged by the

Behind the Syrian Crisis

By Frank Ritchie and Murray Sheard A once prosperous nation has been ripped apart by war and millions of people have lost everything.

Recent History A longstanding, oppressive regime always ferments potential for conflict within a nation. But when you add in other man-made and natural factors, you can see why this century has seen the perfect storm unleash over Syria.

Syria’s population increased fourfold in 50 years, putting pressure on natural resources and especially farming. This was combined with natural factors such as the 200611 drought. When you add this to the mismanagement of natural resources and demographic tensions, the result was crop failures, creating food insecurity for millions.

It’s not hard to trace the consequences: One is a rapid and significant urbanisation, and the other is a widespread dissatisfaction with the response of the government, especially among the youth, who

number of churches and individuals who have been supporting Syrian refugees who have come to New Zealand.

Government to double your donations In amongst the hardship there is some good news for Syrian refugees.

The New Zealand Aid Programme will match Tearfund’s donations dollar-for-dollar to further support Syrian refugees until July 31. This is capped at $2.5m across all agencies appealing. This is an opportunity for you to double the help you give to those in need, allowing Tearfund to do even more.

Cold war: Syrian refugee children carry a blanket distributed by Tearfund’s partner.

PICTURE Megan Fraga: Medair

Making do: Refugee children have little shelter from the elements.

PICTURE Megan Fraga: Medair

Sleep-out for Syria Another way you can help is to organise a Sleep-out for Syria event at your church. See details on our events page.

To double your donation

to Syrian Refugees, go to Tearfund.org.nz before August.

have crowded into the cities in huge numbers.

from ISIS), so the war now plays out on a number of fronts.

Conflict Begins

The Humanitarian Crisis

In March 2011, popular protests began in many parts of the country.

Rather than listen and negotiate, the government of Bashar AlAssad responded with force. This saw tensions quickly escalate into an armed conflict between the government and various opposition groups.

The humanitarian fallout is one of the one most disastrous in modern times. Around 5 million people have fled the country.

Neighbouring nations like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt have taken most of those refugees.

Lebanon alone has absorbed well over 1 million (almost a quarter of its own population). About 6.6 million are internally displaced and a total of 13.5 million people need humanitarian assistance.

Because of the demographic and socio-political nature of the Middle East, the conflict took on a sectarian nature early, with Sunni Islamic groups and Shia Islamic groups entering into conflict with each other. This reflects the power struggle in the Middle East that exists between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who have involved themselves in the war to varying degrees to sway the outcome in their favour.

Among the refugees, minorities in particular, find it difficult.

Christians fall into these religious minority groups. Many fail to

register with the UN due to fears for their own safety. Refugees that do not register do not get access to the basic needs supplied by the UN. The informal refugee camps come with safety issues and the danger of disease outbreaks as they were meant to be temporary measures.

Within Syria, whole towns and cities are cut off from basic supplies and access to medical help.

The longer the conflict continues, the more the lack of a stable home and income becomes an issue. This pressure creates the chance of more instability in the Middle East.

See how Tearfund is responding to this situation in the story above.

On the side of Bashar Al-Assad, Iran has given support, as have Russia and Hezbollah, a militant group within neighbouring Lebanon. On the side of many of the opposition groups have been Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, Turkey, and a number of Western nations.

ISIS also emerged from among those opposition groups and has grown its powerbase to cover large parts of Syria and Iraq. All sides are now in opposition to ISIS (though behind the scenes, some buy oil

Home invasion: Millions in Syria have been driven from their homes by war.

PICTURE Supplied

10 | CORRESPONDENT – June 2016

Kidnapped girl returned Story Galia Oropeza

take action. A month after she was taken, Daniela was returned home.

The kidnappers told her: “You must have a lot of political influence; otherwise, you wouldn’t have been released.” Practically the whole town moved, and that influence reached the government.

According to the Organization of American States (OAS), Bolivia has one of the highest reported cases of human trafficking in South America. Bolivia averages 62 people a month.

The Vice Minister of Citizen Security in Bolivia points out that this statistic has increased tenfold since 2005, when only 35 cases were reported in a year. *Daniela, along with her father and four siblings, has been living in her grandmother’s house with 16 other people ever since her mother left when she was about 12.

The Yapacani province where they live is considered a red zone for human trafficking.

Daniela lives in a town where about 70% of residents are children and youth, and the neighbourhoods are packed with brothels. Young women like Daniela, who come from broken families, are at high risk of being kidnapped into forced prostitution.

Pastor Alcides Valenzuela heads up the church where Tearfund’s Compassion sponsorship programme is run. He has found that the problems the sponsored children and teens face are abandonment, mistreatment, and physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. Pastor Alcides says, it is children from these broken and

Small partners, big value in disasters

By Keith Ramsay Tearfund has responded to many major disasters over the years, including Typhoon Haiyan and Cyclone Pam. One of the things that stands out for us is the value in working with indigenous in-country partners. Tearfund has invested a lot in building the capacity of these smaller NGOs, and time and again they have proved to be effective in delivering emergency aid to their communities. Through the process, many have grown to do larger New Zealand Government funded recovery work out of these disasters.

The disaster response There are many advantages to working with indigenous incountry partners. They already have good networks and are trusted in their communities.

Communication and understanding of the situation, culture and language are crucial in

Hope for a Future Daniela is now planning to study biochemistry and one day she hopes to own a pharmacy.

Daniela focuses on the future after her release from kidnappers.

impoverished family backgrounds, that are targeted by kidnappers.

“When we found out Daniela had been kidnapped, we responded along with her family. Threats were made against her family, so we had to act carefully and mobilize the authorities,” says Pastor Alcides.

“We reached the Vice Ministers, Ministers, the Mayor, city Councillors, and Congressmen. We had to reach everyone, because if one doesn’t mobilize them, nothing happens.”

When Daniela didn’t re-appear, the church pressured all the different agencies they could, and held a march in protest. They gathered several times with the authorities

times of emergency. International agencies coming from outside must establish this. It is easier for in-country partners to assess needs quickly and compile a budget based on local pricing knowledge and the availability of supplies. While the international community rallies its networks and sometimes has trouble getting into the disasteraffected country, with the right investment and training, the partners we work with can respond sooner with information and needs assessments. Using smaller in-country partners also tends to be more cost-effective. There are fewer, if any, expat staff to pay and lower travel costs. There are also many volunteer networks, such as women’s groups, to run distributions, so they don’t have to recruit new people.

PICTURE Compassion

from the town and different institutions. Daniela not returning wasn’t an option for them.

Still nothing happened. So they sent a letter to a Vice Minister telling him that if in 72 hours Daniela didn’t re-appear, the

“If I hadn’t been part of the child sponsorship programme, I would probably never have returned home. community would start a blockade.

It was this final pressure from the whole town that created the right kind of influence for officials to

re-establishing small-holder livelihoods as part of a major agricultural recovery programme.

Tearfund is employing New Zealand expertise to create value chains to market to enhance farmers’ incomes.

Vanuatu The Island of Tanna bore the brunt of category-five Cyclone Pam. Tearfund’s partner Nasi Tuan was a lead agency in the emergency response. With the training in emergency response, disaster preparation and emergency rescue,

She says, “I never thought I would go through that. I didn’t know what to do or how to escape and I wasn’t the only one; there were other young girls too, some as young as eight and ten.

“If I hadn’t been part of the child sponsorship programme, I would probably never have returned home. I’m very thankful for all the help they provided my family.”

She lived through her kidnapping nightmare for a month, but many are not as fortunate to have the church and sponsorship to help keep them safe.

Daniela often reflects sadly about the girls who weren’t released.

There are days she doesn’t want to go outside, but through the church, she is receiving the support of a psychologist. *Name changed for privacy

Nasi Tuan, played a significant part in the wake of Pam. Being at the forefront of creating agriculture livelihoods, Nasi Tuan was a perfect fit for the $400,000 agricultural recovery programme that followed.

By building up these smaller in-country partners Tearfund has been able to respond quickly and cost-effectively to disasters.

Another benefit is that when the work is completed, these partners are there to carry on the work, unlike the bigger agencies, that often pull out at the end of the disaster phase.

Beyond the emergency Many indigenous partners that Tearfund has invested in, have gone on to implement some big disaster recovery programmes.

Below are a few.

Philippines Following Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Tearfund responded with Food for the Hungry in the hard-hit Island of Western Samar. With the emergency phase over, Food for the Hungry is now

Cyclone recovery: Isaiah Iokaivm grows coffee plants after Cyclone Pam destroyed crops on Tanna.

PICTURE Andrew Finlay

11

Caring environment: John Peachey (third from left) and Sharon Raath with sponsorship project implementers in Thailand.

PICTURE Supplied

Keeping children safe in a trafficking hot spot New Zealand’s Rhema radio announcer, John Peachey, shares his thoughts on his recent trip to Thailand to see the work of Tearfund’s Compassion child sponsorship programme.

For all our troubles and the plight of the New Zealanders in an increasing lower-economic stratum, we still take for granted access to the basics of clean water, food, shelter and abundant educational opportunities.

And, when we find ourselves in need, there is someone to help us up. Consider the other extreme; living in an unsafe and even hostile landscape where you have limited shelter, sporadic meals and no educational opportunities. There is nobody looking out for you and

Safe haven: Kids have fun in their sponsorship programme.

no government agency offering assistance if your crops fail and you can’t support your family. This is the reality for the Karen people of northern Thailand and Myanmar.

Many live in Thailand without citizenship. If you cannot trace your birth, sign your name and produce your documents of origin, then you are persona non grata. You are alone and vulnerable.

Non-identified peoples are easily trafficked. This is because they

PICTURE Supplied

can’t legally work in Thailand.

This fact is exploited by human traffickers who dangle the prospect of lucrative work in the nearest town to support their families back home. But if you have no identity, who cares if you disappear? They are sold and enslaved; many into the sickening dehumanising world of prostitution. This is the reality for these beautiful people.

The north-western Thai town of Mae Sot, where we spent almost a week, is a frontier human trafficking town. The influx of huge sums of foreign cash into the town has seen it studded with gleaming new malls alongside the traditional gold-adorned temples. This sits uncomfortably in stark contrast to the poor rural villages. The region’s borders are the highways on which people illegally flow between Thailand and Myanmar. The border guards lounge with automatic weapons staring with indifference into this space. They are the keepers who do not keep, who let human traffickers slip by them to peddle the misery of the most vulnerable, including children, in the nearest town.

Our mission was to observe Tearfund’s Compassion child sponsorship programme run through local churches. But how can one observe when you are drawn into the joyous smiling faces of a people who have been delivered

life and opportunity? Observation becomes connection and the change of one fortune is dramatic. The children are happy, playful, fed and involved. Over 100 children gathered in a mountain village.

Here they gather for the Compassion Saturday programme. Some travel

But if you have no identity, who cares if you disappear? They are sold and enslaved; many into the sickening dehumanising world of prostitution. This is the reality for these beautiful people.

20km on foot to play, to learn, to share and to laugh. But equally important is the alternative future that the programme opens up to these children. Here the children are known and cared for. They are not non-identified people and are highly unlikely to fall into the hands of human traffickers. The Compassion programme is a safe haven for children and by extension their families, offering safety, nurture and the hope of a better future.

Pray for Tearfund’s partners who are working hard to keep children safe from traffickers .

12 | CORRESPONDENT – June 2016

Protect a child today by sponsoring

Donate

I’d like to support: Anti-trafficking (Protect) Syrian refugees Where most needed Donation amount: $35 Other $

$50

$100

Donations over $5 are tax deductible.

Tearfund is a registered charity. Charities Act 2005 registration CC21725. Donations $5 and over are tax deductible.

or

Sponsor a child $48 per month

The world is a dangerous place

Each child in our Compassion

healthy childhood. As in the case of

for vulnerable children living in

sponsorship programme is known

Daniela, her sponsorship programme

poverty, especially if you are a girl.

by name and has a social worker

mobilised the authorities to get her

The average age of a victim of sexual

who takes a keen interest in their

back from her abductors. They did

trafficking is just 12-years-old.

development. Case workers regularly

not give up until she was safely back.

visit the child in their homes and

Please consider sponsoring one of these girls and ensure they are protected from trafficking.

By sponsoring you are helping to

work with the family to ensure they

keep a child safe from trafficking.

have everything they need for a

To sponsor a child in this edition, call us on 0800 800 777.

My preference is: Girl Boy Location: South America Central America

Either Africa

Asia

No preference

Please add Sponsorship Plus:

$10 extra per month to cover additional needs like unexpected medical treatment and help to support other children still waiting for sponsors.

Thania

Ruth

Sarah

Gabriela

Age 11, from Bolivia

Age 15, from Bolivia

Age 15, from Brazil

Age 15, from Brazil

DOB 14/08/04

DOB 9/05/00

DOB 19/11/99

DOB 17/12/99

Thania lives with her parents and two siblings . She helps by making beds and cleaning.

Her parents are sometimes employed. Thania is in primary school and enjoys playing with dolls and playing volleyball.

Ruth lives with her parents. She helps by making beds. Her father is sometimes employed and her mother is unemployed. Ruth is in high school. She enjoys music and group games.

Sarah lives with her mother.

She helps by cleaning, making beds and running errands. Her mother is a teacher. Sarah is in high school and enjoys music, swimming and walking.

Gabriela lives with her parents.

She helps by running errands and cleaning. Her father is employed and her mother is sometimes employed. Gabriela is in high school and enjoys walking and listening to music.

Mobile:

Saray

Pingkan

Gracee

Putri

Email:

Age 15, from Colombia

Your details Fill in this section if you are making a donation, or if you’d like to sponsor a child.

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Age 14, from East Indonesia

DOB 24/12/99

DOB 8/06/01

Age 13, from East Indonesia

Age 12, from Indonesia

DOB 25/03/03

DOB 16/06/03

Saray lives with her parents.

She helps by running errands, making beds and cleaning.

Her father is a teacher and her mother is unemployed. Saray is at intermediate and she enjoys ball games and running.

Pingkan lives with her father and grandmother. She helps by washing clothes and cleaning.

Her father and grandmother are sometimes employed as a farmers. Pingkan is at intermediate and enjoys ball games and jump rope.

Gracee lives with her parents.

She helps by cleaning and caring for other children. Her father is employed and her mother is unemployed. Gracee is at intermediate and enjoys basketball and singing.

Putri lives with her mother.

She helps by washing clothes, helping in the kitchen and cleaning. Her mother is sometimes employed as a farmer. Putri is at intermediate and enjoys reading, listening to music and singing.

Viona

Jolina

Sasitorn

Sukanda

Payment details Make a secure online donation. Go to tearfund.org.nz and click ‘donate now’

Cheque (make payable to Tearfund) Visa / Mastercard (please complete below) Card Number:

Expiry date: Cardholder name:

Signature:

Age 11, from Indonesia

Age 14, from Philippines

Age 11, from Thailand

DOB 8/10/04

DOB 27/04/02

Viona lives with her parents. She helps by cleaning. Her father is sometimes employed as a construction worker and her mother is sometimes employed as a cook. Viona is in primary school and enjoys cycling, reading and skipping.

Jolina lives with her parents.

She helps by making beds, gardening/farming and running errands. Her father is sometimes employed as a farmer and her mother is unemployed. Jolina is in primary school and enjoys reading and running.

DOB 24/08/02

Sasitorn lives with her parents.

She helps by washing clothes, gathering firewood and making beds. Her father and mother are farmers. Sasitorn is in primary school and enjoys art/drawing, running and singing.

Sukanda lives with her mother. She helps in the kitchen, running errands and washing clothes. Her mother is sometimes employed as a farmer. Sukanda is at intermediate and enjoys music, singing and skipping.

OUR PURPOSE

PUBLICATION DETAILS

CONTACT

The purpose of Tearfund is to glorify God by extending His Kingdom in ministry to the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged, and to encourage God’s people in NZ to live out the values and principles of His Kingdom by sharing with those in need. The Correspondent is published three times a year.

Editor: Keith Ramsay.

Contributors: Justin Boswell, Claire Hart, Ian

0800 800 777 | tearfund.org.nz enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

McInnes, Barbara-Anne Lewis, Murray Sheard, Frank Ritchie, John Watson & Galia Oropeza.

Graphic Designer: Phil Botha.

Art Director: Alex Carter. Printing: PMP Print.

Age 13, from Thailand

DOB 23/08/04

Mixed Sources Product group from well-managed forests, and other controlled sources www.fsc.org Cert no. SCS-COC-2324 © 1996 Forest Stewardship Council