YouTube clip from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, about St. Bakhita’s day, 8th February, the International day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNGEnPpbT-k
Night time in any city is multi-faceted. Office blocks lie dormant, stores close for business, leaving an artificial neon glow along the streets, which draws our eyes to the merchandise in the windows and distracts us from the night-life which takes over from the daytime living.
Away from the shop windows and bright lights, the shady side-streets, back alleys, vacated city parks and travel hubs, are the dingy places where trafficked women, girls, men and boys must work, in a sex-trade that uses, abuses and disregards the concepts of human rights and dignity.
While attending Strategic Planning meetings in Palermo, Sicily, RENATE Core Group members joined Sr. Valeria Gandini and some of her colleagues on a night mission on the city streets of Palermo. Confident in their ministry and fully believing in God’s protection and presence with us during our journey, Sr. Valeria, Fr. Lorenzo and Maggie, a lay volunteer, spent several hours on a bitterly cold January night, with women and girls working on the streets.
Often the girls would smile and wave and walk towards us in welcome, as they saw us approach. This was our cue to stop, alight from the mini-van and engage with the girls, who warmly embraced us. Cigarettes were shared and served as a conversation-opener. Cups of hot soup and coffee were gratefully accepted to ward off the freezing night-time temperatures. Regardless of our cultural differences, our shared humanity made it easy for us to strike up a conversation and engage in talk about the weather, the work, our backgrounds and the possibilities for care for the girls. Clearly, many of the girls were comfortable with Sr. Valeria and her team. It was apparent that they felt safe and valued, regardless of their circumstances. The experience of unconditional love and respect carried with it a value far greater than that which money could buy.
In some instances, brief prayers were quietly said and as usual, contact numbers for the Centre were shared, in the hope that sometime one or other of the girls will be able to break the cycle and build a safe and secure future, free from the risks and threats of life on the streets.
At one of the locations which Sr. Valeria and her team regularly visit, it was surprising to find a complete absence of girls. Apparently, there must have been a sting which saw the disappearance of the entire community of girls, who had to retreat undercover. Fr. Lorenzo was all the more concerned for the welfare of the girls now undercover. To us it seemed infinitely better to be off the streets and indoors, away from the sub-zero temperatures, but Fr. Lorenzo explained that the girls were not necessarily safer off the streets, given his knowledge about those who controlled them….
On our night ministry with Sr. Valeria, Fr. Lorenzo and Maggie, we gleaned an insight into some of the happenings at night, for women on the streets. Because of the bonds that have been built with the women by Sr. Valeria and her team, through her emphasis on values which nourish life in all creation, we were able to speak with women who like all of us, are in search of a spirituality that emphasises the closeness of God and connects all of life.
Creativity, love and hope abound where the hand of friendship and possibility is extended. In RENATE, we endeavour to weave anew the threads of women’s lives, through compassion, encouragement, accompaniment, fostering self-esteem and building of life-skills which lead towards independent living.
Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.
5th February, 2017.
‘’They are just Children! Not Slaves.’’
On the 17th of November, 2016, to mark Universal Children’s Day (20th November), the organisations below, echoed pope Francis’ appeal ‘’…to adopt every possible measure to guarantee the protection and safety of child migrants.’’
This year’s International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons (8th February, Feast Day of St. Bakhita), places a special emphasis on Trafficking in Children and Adolescents. We remember children who have been trafficked and reflect on how we can help them. We remember their families and loved ones who are in pain and suffering.
The following are a sample of activities throughout the RENATE network and available on the RENATE website and FaceBook.
http://preghieracontrotratta.org/files/documenti/prayerEN.pdf
http://www.caritas.org/2017/02/invitation-pray-victims-human-trafficking/
Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.
Mercredi prochain nous sommes invitées à nous joindre à la Journée Mondiale de prière et de Réflexion contre la Traite des Personnes. Journée voulue par le Pape François selon la suggestion de l’UISM l’an dernier.
Cette année, l’accent est mis sur la Traite des enfants, nombreuses victimes de trafiquants et de clients en tout genre. Religieuses, nous avons répondu à l’appel du Seigneur Jésus et donné notre vie pour que soit respectée la dignité d’enfant de Dieu de chaque personne. Nombreuses sont les congrégations qui luttent ensemble : sensibilisation des jeunes et du public, demandes aux gouvernements, protection et soin des victimes… Nous faisons tout ce que nous pouvons pour elles, mais la tâche est immense, et elle ne s’arrêtera pas tant que la « demande » sera forte. Et cette demande, Dieu seul peut la vaincre, et convertir le cœur de ceux pour qui l’argent et le plaisir sont rois, convertir notre cœur de toute complicité, notamment par omission… Please click the link to read more: French members of RENATE invitation to Prayer- in honour of the 8th February, International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons.
Accion Social CONFER, Spain- Liturgy in honour of the 8th February, International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons.
JORNADA INTERNACIONAL DE ORACIÓN
“Enciende una luz contra la Trata”
8 de febrero 2017, Santa Josefina Bakhita
RENATE Core Group members and staff working on the RENATE Strategic Plan recently visited a ‘Primary Centre’ near Palermo, Sicily, which provides shelter and support to minors.
The centre, which is categorised as a ‘’Primary Centre,’’ is housed in a property owned by a doctor & leased to a local social co-operative. A non-profit venture, the centre offers shelter and support to minors. Currently the centre is home to fifty youths, who hail from the countries on the African continent, in addition to Syria and Bangladesh.
Each of the teenagers has arrived alone and frightened on the shores of Sicily, having survived perilous land and sea journeys, with memories of experiences and encounters that no human being should ever have to endure.
Some come to Europe looking for their families; some in search of a better life with money and work. Others come with the intention of tracing their family members who have moved on to other EU countries.
Please click here read the full report: Perspectives on a recent visit by RENATE to a Primary Centre for migrants, near Palermo, Sicily.
On the 3rd of January, 2017, the outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on all countries to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and said the most vulnerable victims are women, children and refugees caught up in conflict areas around the globe.
The Secretary General, addressing the 15-member Security Council during an open debate on human trafficking in conflict zones, said extremist groups from the Islamic State to Boko Haram and al-Shabab traffic in persons, especially women and girls, as a weapon of terror and source of revenue.
“We have to fight trafficking for the sake of the victims,” Mr. Ki-Moon said. “When we do, we will also decrease funding for terrorists — and make everyone safer.”
Mr. Ki-Moon, whose term as top U.N. official ended on the 31st of December, 2016, spoke the same day the Security Council unanimously approved its first-ever draft resolution on human trafficking in conflict situations. (See RENATE website, 6th January, 2017). The resolution seeks to strengthen the United Nation’s ability to counter the phenomenon and bolster the international community’s ability to respond to it.
Yuri Fedotov, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said the building blocks for fighting international human trafficking can be found in the United Nations’ Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocol on the practice, which was adopted by the General Assembly and went into effect in 2003.
He said trafficking victims have been detected in 106 different countries and territories worldwide. The good news, he said, is that 158 countries have criminalized most forms of the practice in line with the protocol.
To read the full story by Dave Bryan of the Associated Press on ABC News: Click Here
Adapted by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.
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