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Sometimes things just hit you. Like, I can’t believe that I’ve got my first college auditions in nine days. My monologues and songs are ready to go. I’m hopping around with sunshine-swagger because I’m so excited, but I’m also so anxious that I’ve chewed about ten packs of gum this year, and considering that the year’s just started, that’s a lot. Speaking of which, I’ve got a trip to make to the dentist. I really don’t understand how I’ve got these cavities. I don’t eat candy. I bake cakes but I don’t eat them – it’s more of a vacuuming process. Anyway. (I was just joking. I give those baked things away.)
I’m also one step closer to becoming a vegan! This year, as part of my gradual transformation into plant eating dinosaur, I’m also forgoing chicken. That means that all actual animals are out of my system, minus fish. (Like I said, it’s a gradual process).
AND HURRAH for our GlobeChangers club’s progress in the battle against human trafficking – modern day slavery. Thanks to President Obama, January is now National Human Trafficking Awareness month. A lot of people don’t know that there are as many as 27 million slaves in the world today – forced into sex slavery, unpaid or seriously underpaid work, and inhuman living conditions. These slaves are men, women, and children – people like you and me!
I was really freaked out when I first learned about this in the ninth grade. I was seriously bullied in middle school, and abused in a Day Care (now shut down, yay!) when I was much younger, so I knew that people could hurt one another, but I didn’t realize the extent of the cruelty. At least I was able to go to school and had three good meals a day. At least I was able to go home to my family every night and sleep in a comfortable bed. I wasn’t being forced to wake up at dawn to fulfill my shoe-making quota for the morning before I could eat anything, to live with strangers and forget any dream I’d ever had of an education.
I thought that Abraham Lincoln Abolished slavery in 1860. (I also thought that Chris Columbus discovered America, but let’s not go down the ‘Lies My Teacher Told Me’ route). I’ve realized that it’s the job of our generation to Re-Abolish slavery. It is very real.
Something you can do? Post the blue heart on your Facebook, blog, or twitter, to show your support in the Anti-Slavery movement =) It is meant to represent the sadness of the victims and the coldness of the offenders.
If you feel so inclined *puts magic Harry Potter Imperius spell on you* (I realize the irony, trust me), hop over to our GlobeChangers Blog, globechangers.blogspot.com to learn all that you can about Human Trafficking, or unodc.org/blueheart. You could even check out fdff.org! All great resources ^^
Any questions? Contact me on Twitter, @ArianaTaveras
Get educated, Get moving. With the Power of One and The Power of We, we can and will make a difference.
