As our team of 8 women start their second week in Europe we'll post their email updates to date in a series of posts, so stay tuned. If you want these emails in real time let us know and we'll add you to the distribution list ... it's not too late! And you can check out their photos on our Flickr page.
Here's the first update:
[Gwen & Emma] We arrived safe and sound and on schedule in Berlin, after picking up the final member of the team, Britni, in London. Anna Armitage met us at the airport and welcomed us with open arms. Of course, the greatest challenge is always luggage, but somehow thanks to the younger members of the team (this is when being older pays off) it was lugged, lifted and handled several times, including walking up 4 and for some 5 flights of stairs to our rooms for the next 3 nights.
The adventure began in Vancouver at 9:30 on Sunday morning at The Great Room...
Meeting with MPs Joy Smith and John Weston and women from the Downtown Eastside at the Great Room
Sunday morning, July 24
From Idelette McVicker
“I’m honored to be a dot,” someone told Canadian MP Joy Smith while she was promoting her National Action Plan on human trafficking in Canada called “Connecting the Dots.”
Those words—connecting the dots—have firmly set the theme for our trip.
The first leg of our trip started in the Great Room on Sunday morning, where we gathered with MPs Joy Smith and John Weston and women from the Downtown Eastside for a circle time.
Gwen welcomed Joy and reminded us that we need both the Spirit of God and the spirit of tenacity that William Wilberforce embodied in fighting slavery in the eighteenth century, to do the work we are called to.
Joy Smith shared some of her story—her journey from Mathematics and Science teacher in Manitoba to the halls of Parliament Hill.
“I saw my first trafficking victim when I was a Grade 9 teacher,” she said, “but I didn’t know what I was looking at.”
When students began to tell of a pedophile in their area, Joy wanted to take action, but was told it wasn’t a school problem. She called the police anyway, but that ended her dream of becoming school principal. Instead she wrote a book called Lies my Kids’ Teacher Told Me which became a bestseller. Soon an invitation came from her premier to put an Advisory Council into place in every school. She spent the next three years doing that.
Joy ran for the Manitoba Legislation, was elected and became critic for justice and for education. She began to learn about the ways in which children were exploited in her province. She saw the work of the Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) unit and reminded us of the words of William Wilberforce: Once you know, you can’t say that you don’t know.
We were honored as some of our aboriginal sisters also shared their stories. Sandra, a Metis woman from Manitoba, told us how she had been abandoned by her mom at the age of six. She was the youngest of 13 children, spent time in the foster system and had also been sexually abused.
The thing that struck me was her words: “When you have no sense of belonging, you’re going to turn to the sex industry, because you want to be loved.”
She reminded me how we all have that very basic need to belong and to be loved.
I was also struck by the responsibility we have as ordinary citizens to be part of the political process. It’s not okay to be ignorant. I feel challenged to learn the system and to understand how we can bring change on a national level.
Our circle time brought together three parts of this picture: the role of government, the stories of our most vulnerable sisters and children, and the responsibility of us as ordinary citizens to make it a safe place for every person.
[Gwen & Emma] Following this time at The Great Room, we met for a 'send off' at Karen's house by our friends Michelle Miller, of REED (Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity), and Trisha Baptie, of EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating). Their challenge, really their encouragement, for us was to go in a posture of weakness and dependency, recognizing the North American image of power and privilege that we carry. Michelle and Trisha shared some facts about the countries that we will be visiting in terms of trafficking and sexual exploitation. They encouraged us to be aware of the systemic issues within each country individually. Are they destination or 'supplier' countries? What are the economic systems in place? How does the growth of capitalism in newly democratic nations influence sexual exploitation within a country? Recognizing this is a global issue, it also helps us better understand the areas that we live and work in. Again, we are hoping to 'connect the dots.'
A beautiful meal was prepared and served by Barb, a dear friend of ours, in Karen's backyard complete with fresh broccoli and lettuce from the garden.
Gerry and Pat, long time friends, packed us and our bazillion bags in their 15 passenger van and dropped us at YVR... and here we are. Hello Berlin!
