Day 4…Tension and conflict create space for growth

3/22/11

Today we started our day with a visit to International Justice Mission, a non-profit Christian organization whose mission is to secure justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. After an anonymous vote, we decided as a group to attend their daily prayer meeting, so upon arrival we jumped right in with that.  While observing the meeting, we learned about the current successes and challenges programs they are running around the world.  Afterward, we watched a documentary about IJM’s work and some of the experiences and views of victims of human trafficking, including labor and sex trafficking. We were then taken on a tour of the facility by two of the interns, one who works specifically to educate people like us about IJM’s mission and purpose. One unique thing we came across while on our tour was an exhibit they had set up for the Passion student conference. It highlighted different stories of survivors and how they were helped- some stories had a positive outcome while others were not so encouraging. After our tour, we had a panel of IJM employees share with us insights about their work and some of their experiences. We had the opportunity to ask questions and learn more specifically about IJM’s mission. They surprised us with free tee shirts, which were much appreciated additions to our wardrobe for the week.

During the evening, we all got dressed up to get ready for our dinner with UMD alums involved in the human trafficking field. We had a small set back in our schedule while trying to find the location of DASH (District Alliance for Safe Housing), but eventually we arrived there and were welcomed with delicious food waiting for us. Throughout dinner we honed our networking skills and interacted with our hosts, Marsha (director of Stamp), Suzanne Marcus, Christina Lagdameo, and Brad Mitchell. After dinner, we watched a video on how DASH was started and were able to hear directly from one of the survivors who joined us for the first part of the event. We then heard from Suzanne, Christina, and Brad about their specific work, their different experiences working with human trafficking and what got them interested in the subject. It was interesting how each of their organizations have very different roles in approaching human trafficking but also how they overlapped. Hearing directly from people who worked for the Federal Government exposed us to another aspect of anti-trafficking and the efforts against it.

When we arrived back at our hostel, we surprised Megan with a cake and celebrated her 22^nd birthday. Within minutes the entire two layered cake was gone and after all the laughter was out of the way, we headed upstairs for our group reflection. It didn’t take long before our discussion became very heated. Coming from different religious and cultural backgrounds, the group had a lot of mixed feelings about our visit to IJM and how they are an all-Christian organization. Some people felt excluded, since they would not be able to intern or work there because they are not Christian. After talking through it, we were able to see both sides of spectrum- on one hand it seems exclusive to hire only employees from one faith background, but on the other hand we saw how they all connected on a deeper level through the same faith. We also talked about stereotypes of men and women perpetuated by our cultural and how they play into the realm of trafficking. We identified the media as one major source that carries out these stereotypes and how it has a visible impact on the mindset of today’s generation. One thing we struggled with was self assessment and asking why we’re here. We want to make sure we are here for the right reasons and not just for our own benefit. At the same time, we want to make sure we take personal time to step away from this heavy issue because otherwise it can become too much to handle.