I Can't Be Silent

Greetings to everyone!

I sat down to read tonight, but was suddenly inspired to write another update. So much happens in a short amount of time, and if I don’t write about it, I forget it. Maybe it is old age!

I believe the last time I wrote to you, I was telling you exactly what I was going to be involved in while here. I mentioned teaching about human trafficking, helping with the child-headed households in Masiphumelele (Vulnerable Children), teaching English, and hosting other YWAM teams who want to work in the high school. So here are a few stories from my involvement with these projects. Things have definitely picked up and are now full on!

Human Trafficking- In the past two weeks I have taught Traffick Proof in two different township schools here in Cape Town. My first few classes were in Masiphumelele High School. I taught 10^th and 12^th grade. Yesterday and today I was teaching to 8^th and 9^th graders at a school about an hour away. The response has been amazing. The students are incredibly receptive. I can just see their wheels turning as they are soaking in the knowledge. When the presentation is done, I ask them to help make others aware. I can see the pride for their communities well up inside of them as I encourage them to tell others what they have heard. I know they are beginning to mobilize and take ownership of their communities. This angers them, and they don’t want to see it happen where they live. Every time we present Traffick Proof to an at risk community, the reaction is the same. Every single group has had brushes with human trafficking, and they don’t even realize it. Here are some of the stories we have heard recently. This is the reality:

“Recruiters came to my high school to find models. They chose seven girls. Nobody ever saw those girls again.”

“In my country, a man will go into the hospital with a headache or something small. The family will get a call that he died. When they get the body back, it has scars on it from surgeries (in the chest and stomach area). We think they are taking the organs. It is happening here (in South Africa) to refugees too….”

“Many women from my village take jobs abroad. Only a few ever come back, but they won’t talk about how it was for them over there.”

“This man promised my friend a job in South Africa. When she got here, he tried to get her to marry a stranger. She got away, but now this man is chasing her and saying she owes him money for getting her to South Africa. Is that human trafficking?”

Human Trafficking is a vast and organized crime. It is growing exponentially. Right now the buying and selling of human beings (and their organs) is a $39 Billion dollar industry. It is modern day slavery, and there are more slaves today (sex slaves, labor slaves, etc…) than when slavery was legal! This is a horrific injustice. I know that this breaks God’s heart, and I cannot be silent.

Vulnerable Children and Teaching English- I have combined these two because I am really helping with both at the same time. I have recently been teaching English to the kids from our Vulnerable Children’s project. This has been both rewarding and frustrating. Getting the kids to show up has been very trying! They say they will come, but really we have to track them down every time. I guess I can’t blame them! What kid wants to do more schooling after school?!? But it is so important for them to learn some English. Today I had my first breakthrough as a little boy named Madise was able to recite the entire alphabet without having to look at the letters. He was suddenly motivated when I told him I would buy him a coke if he could memorize the whole alphabet! Ok, so that is not the best teaching tactic, and I am not proud of it! But really, it has been exhausting just getting the same kid to come twice. I figured if I could get this little guy to accomplish something and be proud of himself, he would come back for more…and probably more coke too:) Oh well, he was s proud of himself, and I was too. I am not sure he has ever felt a sense of accomplishment in school.

Well that is really the news for now. Also, I found out that I have to move out of my flat. It is a long story, and really no one’s fault. But maybe you could all be praying that I find another amazing place to live. The place I am living now has been such a blessing. It is perfect, and I am sad to go. But I know that God will provide, as He has in the past.

I hope all is well there. I heard there was more snow! Yuck! Hang in there. When I am freezing here, you all will be basking in the sun! Then you can rub it in! Love you all and appreciate your support, friendship, and encouragement. It really keeps me going.

Christina Rose Bacino :)