12/2/2009 8:37:00 PM Coffee house to help human trafficking victims
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Pauline Ollis, chairperson of the Women in Touch book club at Greenville First Assembly of God is one of the driving forces behind the Contemporary Coffee House fundraiser for Hands of Hope, which raises money to benefit victims of human trafficking.
GREENVILLE - By the year 2010, human trafficking is expected to be the number one crime in the world, surpassing the drug trade. So, a group of ladies from the Women in Touch book club at First Assembly of God in Greenville are trying to do something about it by holding a coffee house tomorrow, Dec. 4, and donating to proceeds to Hand of Hope, a program that works to aid these victims.
"There are over 30 million people in the world today used as slave labor, forced into prostitution, forced to beg, and that number increased by 1 million people every year," said Pauline Ollis, Chairperson for the Women in Touch book club and one of the driving forces behind their efforts. "These people do not have a high life expectancy, so that yearly number is actually much higher." She brought up a documentary that has been on CNN for the last week, regarding 30 Korean men who were told that for $11,000 they would be brought to America and given Visas.
"That was not the case. As soon as they got here, they were taken to a farm in North Carolina and forced to work for nothing," Ollis said. "After a while, they were taken to New Orleans and held in a condemned hotel, and since they weren't fed, caught pigeons to survive. One of them finally got away and alerted the authorities, but this just goes to show that this is a real problem, even here in America."
The average age of girls forced into the sex-slave industry is 12-14, and for boys, it's even younger, 11-13.
"At least 100,000 people in America are victims of human trafficking each year," said Ollis. "Huge numbers of people are promised things, then forced into slavery or prostitution. And the United States is the number one destination in the world for slaves to be trafficked to: our home is the number one demand for this supply."
The women in this book club have baked cookies and biscotti, and at the event, which starts at 7 p.m. Friday, will be coffee as well as hot chocolate, music, and a silent auction. The event will be held at Greenville First Assembly of God, 7219 St. Route 118, and anyone with questions can call (937) 548-5445.
"Joyce Meyer, the woman who is responsible for Hands of Hope, has a saying, and I agree with it," said Ollis in closing. "'Don't feel overwhelmed by the problem, believing it's something that you can't solve; believe that you can, know that you can... and it's time that we do.'"
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Posted: Wednesday, December 02, 2009
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