International Justice Mission...in Thailand

Not too long ago, I found out about the International Justice Mission. Justin Schneider a friend and co-worker of mine who works for CitySquare's Legal Action Works law firm. In the last month or so, Justin was chosen to do a legal fellowship with International Justice Mission at their field office in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The fellowship lasts 12 months and starts in June.

Once we found out about their trip, Imtiaz Haiyoom, our Director of IT at CitySquare, jumped into action and called several of us at CitySquare together to start helping Justin and his wife, Angela, raise the funds needed for their trip. What has resulted is a an excuse to get a lot of cool people together who want to, simultaneously, help good people fulfill a mission that will have an amazing impact.

On Saturday, May 7^th from 7:00-10:00 p.m. we will be hosting a fundraiser for Justin and Angela. The event will be held at 511 N. Akard. You can see more (and RSVP) on the Facebook page here: Let's Get 'Em to Thailand. We want you to come, too!! We have quite a diverse group of friends so I am sure that whoever you are and whatever your interests, you will meet some cool, new people...and/or bring your own friends so that we can meet them as well!

Here are some of the facts I found out about IJM:

The International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.

Because of IJM, in the last four years:

• More than 2,000 children, women and men have been freed from slavery
• More than 800 women and children have been freed from forced prostitution
• More than 300 individuals have been arrested for trafficking-related offenses
• Hundreds of widows and orphans have had stolen property returned to them
• Thousands have received their entitled documentation of citizenship or elevated legal status

Justice is important to me no matter where it is. After watching the above video and reading about IJM, I was nearly convinced to apply to the organization to be a social worker in one of their locations...and I would, except that for now I know I am needed here. I am so thankful to know there are the Justin's and Angela's in the world who can and are willing to work in the IJM arena. Fighting injustice takes all kinds of careers, fields, and people all over the world.

In addition, here is what I think is super-awesome about Justin, Angela, and the amazing people I work with at CitySquare: I love that immediately, when Imtiaz heard about it, he automatically started figuring out ways to help. I love that our entire "committee" of people planning this fundraiser work for CitySquare or other non-profits. I love that each person on the "committee" understands their own organization's financial constraints, yet are still dedicated to the justice of people everywhere...so much so that they're willing to give up money themselves to see it happen (and those of you who are familiar with non-profits understand people in the non-profit business are not working with bunches of disposable income). I love that in my conversation with Justin asking him if he was concerned about the large gap between what they have raised and what they need, he explained to me without missing a beat or adjusting any kind of facial expression that, if needed, he and Angela would cut into their savings to make it happen.

Please come join us.

However, if you can't come, but would like to support Justin and Angela, you can either go here: http://www.ijm.org/getinvolved/internshipsupport, click on "support an intern/fellow," then choose "Justin Schneider"

OR

Go to http://bit.ly/CitySqDonate and choose "LAW Fellowship" from the dropdown menu.

If you would like to help by donating something cool to the silent auction we will have the night of the party, please let me know.

Let's Get 'Em to Thailand!

Angela and Justin:

Learning from Precious

Have you seen the movie Precious? If not, it's a must-see. But not just for a night out. Precious exists to pique our conscious. Read the book as well. The movie stays pretty true to the book, but the book provides even more insight.

I wanted to watch the movie because several years ago one of the teenagers were sitting in my apartment. We were having some kind of serious discussion and one of them mentioned that she had been sexually molested by her mother's boyfriend. One by one, the other girls spoke up...“Me, too…me, too…me, too…”

I had no idea what to do. We worked to try to get the most recent one to counseling but her grandmother resisted and her mother denied it had ever happened.

More recently one of them text'd me to let me know she was ok, but she had just tried to commit suicide. I couldn't believe it. She's in college and she had just told me how well she was doing! She explained that she had repressed her memories, but knew she needed to know. When her sister told her what all had happened, she couldn't take the reality. The residual of what happened when she was four or five years old still haunts her.

Just the other day when I was telling another young adult about my idea to have one of the girls I know speak about their situation in hopes of helping another young teenager speak out, she explained that she had also been sexually abused. She went on to tell me she knew of quite a few others who had been victims as well.

Why????????

I don’t understand! Where do these sick, sick men come from?? And why can’t we stop them??

I had heard one time that 75% of women…or maybe it was 75% of African-American women had been sexually abused. 75%! That’s 3 out of 4 women! And I would guess most times that abuser is never brought to justice because the women were too scared and unsure to tell when they were kids and by the time they became adults they felt like there was nothing that could be done. I've heard mothers say, "It happened to me and I'm fine so you will be, too." ...and they don't realize how it has manifested itself in so many other ways in their life.

As I read the book, I've been bothered even more. Precious didn’t know how to read until she was 16 and was, by chance, put into an alternative program. She thinks so little of herself because her mother always called her stupid and ugly. She was fat because of her mother's abusiveness toward her. She was raped not only by her own father, but she was also molested by her own mother.

I think about other kids I’ve known. I wonder what I *don't* know about their situations.

I think about a girl I knew who was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend for so long. I wonder about her sister. I wonder if that's why she was always a slow learner. I wonder what a pre-GED program and literacy program could have and could still do for her today.

I’m so happy that we finally have teen programs at Central Dallas. I’m happy that we have young adults working with the teenagers who have been in their shoes. They know what the teens have gone through and they can relate to them in ways I never could.

But I am not satisfied.

We have to do more.

I have known so many adults who graduated from high school who are illiterate. After watching Precious, I wonder now if some of their childhood situations may have contributed in a much bigger way than we realize.

We are doing what we can, on a small scale, with the elementary kids and the teenagers. But we need a program that works on literacy. We need a pre-GED program. We need counselors--not the school referrals that send kids to counseling but only allow them three visits...not the school counselors (because they only administer tests and aren't real counselors anymore) ...and not the fly-by-night counseling services that come through the inner-city neighborhoods to make a buck, take on clients for a limit time until their funding runs out, and without even having the counseling ethics to tell a parent or client that they will be leaving, they disappear.

We need more programs like the ASA, Teen U, the Library, and Digital Connectors. Programs that exist for the long haul. Programs that don’t disappear. Programs that have such dedicated staff who care about the future of the kids and adults in the community. Programs that offer solutions instead of just pointing out the problems.

We’ve got to do more. Not just in Dallas, but everywhere.

I don’t know what that is just yet. I haven't figured out what we will start next. But I know we’ve got to do more.