Some time ago I decided to start donating to charity. And I will be honest here. The reason I have decided to start donating was a little selfish. I wanted to feel more fulfilled. And one of the keys to being fulfilled is to contribute to something higher, outside of your own needs, without getting anything in return.

I started donating to the religious institution. They would periodically contact me, and I would write a check. One day I wanted to find out exactly where my money is going. And from doing a little bit of research I have found out that only a small percentage is going for helping someone or benefiting a certain cause. Apparently a big chunk of donation is going to make certain people richer.

And since I have felt a little unfairness in that formula and feeling a little bit like I would benefit from a donation more at that time, 🙂 I have stopped writing checks out to them.

When there is a natural disaster, I donate to the Red Cross for obvious reasons. But I always felt like I should have a permanent place I would donate to. The one that would feel right and fulfilling. A charity of my choice.

One day, I heard a story of a man, whose child was kidnapped, little boy, and was taken to human trafficking. This man became a part of an organization called Operation Underground Railroad, which assists governments around the world in the rescue of human trafficking and sex trafficking victims, with a special focus on children.

Their team consists of former CIA, law enforcement as well as other highly skilled professionals who have been trained on identification and extraction methods to fight child trafficking.

I still don’t know the exact reason, but I have realized that I was drawn so much to this cause, that I thought I could physically feel the pain of these parents in my heart. Even though, nothing can come close to what a parent might experience when they lose their child. No parent should ever lose their child to any cause!

I started looking into human trafficking, specifically child trafficking, and came across extremely shocking facts. Apparently, the United States is one of the highest consumers of the child trafficking in the world.

Child trafficking is the most profitable business in the world. In any business, a product is usually sold once, sometimes twice as a second hand. But in child trafficking, the kid is being sold over and over again, while they are still breathing.

Child traffickers are taking a group of little kids, who are barely out of toddler age, and young girls to the beauty salons in the middle of the day to get them look pretty for clients. And some people, civilians, see this, notice what is happening and are just too scared to say something or to let someone know.

Babies and toddlers are also sold to sex slavery. And most of them don’t survive for too long… The animals who do this have no morals or values whatsoever.

Here is some shocking human trafficking statistics:

• There are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally
• 25% of them are children
• 75% are women and girls
• This is $150 billion industry worldwide

How are we letting this horror happen as a society??!! Why don’t we hear every single day about this on the news? How come the government is not all over this epidemic??!! Who else is getting a share from this besides human traffickers??

I can’t imagine what those parents are going through, especially mothers, when they turn around to reach for something in the store and their baby is kidnapped at this moment out of a stroller; when they are walking in the market with their toddler and turned around to find that their baby is not there… And most of these parents will never see their babies again.

Let’s rise and speak up about this. Let this subject not be in the shade any longer. The more vocal the society is about this, the more pressure will be put on the government to get involved and do more about this.

Human trafficking is something that could be fought with the help of each one of us!!! We can help by not ignoring this horrific issue. Start noticing little things. Report unusual and suspicious activity to appropriate instances.

We can also help by being vocal and spread the word. Spread the word within your surroundings. Educate kids regarding child trafficking. Educate parents regarding this as well.

Last, but definitely not least, we can help by donating to this meaningful issue. Whatever you can contribute, every single dollar will help. These organizations are not just helping to rescue kids from sex trafficking, but they are helping these kids to recover. Most of these kids need the help of professionals to get back to a normal state of mind. They have been raped, beaten, tortured, torn apart inside and outside for a long time. They can’t just return to normal life in a heartbeat without the help of professionals.

These kids live in savage environment, somewhere in the basement chained, so they don’t escape. The thought of helping at least one child to escape and to survive should be a significant enough motivation to get involved and help.

This is the organization I have chosen to donate to: http://ourrescue.org

But there are a lot of different anti human trafficking organizations out there. If you want to get involved and choose another organization, please do your research and make sure this is not a scam and that it is a legitimate anti human trafficking organization.

Parents, humans, let’s join our forces and protect the kids, not just our own, but all the kids in the world!