Human life is of the greatest value because we are created in the image and likeness of God. Life is a precious gift from God, meaning that, every human being, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, old or young, manifests the image of her or his Creator. A human being is created for a purpose and therefore anything contrary to this or that twists the purpose of God is against human dignity.
Human life is like a seed full of potential and is within each one of us. The potential elements have to be discovered, nurtured and worked on so that something beautiful and unique may be obtained. The potential is meant to shine our light, that is, life in its fullness into the darkness of sorrow and destruction. This implies that the human life is a process of becoming, it is something continuous. Poverty, disability, technology, age, education level, social status, other people’s opinion or any misfortune, does not diminish the value of human life.
Human trafficking is an illegal act of exploiting people for profit force, and therefore it blocks the development of the potential seed within the individual victim. The victim does not freely consent, or their consent is obtained through deception or abuse of power.
The political instability in our African countries, civil wars, poverty and natural disasters, make people flee their homes thus displacing individuals and families. Once forced to flee from their homes they experience hardships of all kinds, financial, social and psychological. These situations become easy targets for traffickers, the victims become vulnerable to all kinds of abuse and unfair treatment.
There are still some societies in Africa that devalue and abuse women. Discrimination and gender based violence to women and girls leads to unequal power and opportunities between men and women who are believed to be homemakers and child bearers. A parent may be willing to sell her daughter and this creates an opportunity for traffickers. Girls and women who still believe that they are unequal to men, will willingly leave their home and go to the unknown places where they are promised good life.
As Religious of the Assumption called by our Foundress, Saint Marie Eugenie to educate the youths and women, we feel it is of great concern for us to create awareness on human trafficking according to our reality. The youths working in our farm, the students of a nearby Teachers Training college and from the villages surrounding us, regardless of their religion, culture or tribe were invited for an awareness session.
The session was fruitful because the interaction and sharing was beyond our expectation. Their greatest joy was that regardless of their level of education, everyone was free to share. They were more aware of the identification of the traffickers fake promises, how to avoid the traps even when in financial crises, unemployed or far from their families and that human trafficking is everywhere, from big town to the rural villages.
We were struck by their openness and truthfulness concerning human trafficking. They were ready to go and share the knowledge with their colleagues. We promised to have an ongoing formation session.
Ignite your passion in fighting human trafficking of all forms and declare in a loud voice,
“NO MORE!!!!!”, then do something.
By Singa Chini Community- Moshi, Tanzania