BY MELANIE BALDAIA

What joys in your life are you grateful for? Have they been given to you or did you have to earn them? Do you recognize the freedom you have to pursue joy in the first place? Imagine something for a minute if you can. Imagine a life where you are forced to work for almost no pay (or no pay at all) in a place where you cannot wear a clean comfortable uniform, you are drugged constantly in order to perform your duties, and if you try to quit your job your family is at risk of being killed. Most of us can’t really wrap our minds around this kind of existence. I hear a lot of people complain about their jobs, but if any of the conditions applied to a typical establishment, this would probably be a national outrage. It exists today however. These are just some of the horrors that real people face in underworld of human trafficking. Human trafficking is proliferating around the globe. Most people probably think they are unaffected by this new kind of slavery, but we cannot completely disconnect ourselves from it. It even occurs in our local communities.Weneed to be the pliers to break the chains of slavery today.

Maybe you have heard about human trafficking in the past. Maybe you think this is just another irrelevant message about an issue you don’t feel you can combat. Many people, whether out of ignorance or apathy, falsely believe that the dark world of human trafficking is somehow beyond their capability to fight.  Here is the truth, you can and should join in the fight against modern slavery. Is it not our responsibility as human beings to look out for one another?

What steps can you take to help those in need? ADVOCATE. Speaking on behalf of the victims worldwide ( a heavy portion of whom are children) is one of the biggest tools that can be used by every day people like you and I. EDUCATE others. More people need to be informed on the horrors of this terrible industry.  COLLABORATE. Use your skills to raise awareness of this problem. All of these things are crucial to ending the torment of the victims in this evil system of slavery. You CAN help! OneBread foundation is showing you the way. You can donate by shopping on Amazon or Groupon from the onebread website. http://one-bread.org