Monday, July 27, 2009

One.

There are two questions I am often asked: “Is the abolition of child sex slavery possible?" and “ Is the restoration of victims of child sex slavery possible?” The magnitude of the problem begs this question. There are millions of predators, millions of victims, and billions of dollars in this story. There are some days, after hearing the latest horror story, or reading about the latest rapist who was given a light sentence when that question arises in my own mind, but I remember the question can never be viewed through millions of people, but only through the one child.

After you have seen the one, danced with the one, buried the one, the millions are there, but not as an insurmountable mass. The millions suddenly have faces; you begin to see them as individuals. This seeing takes faith because once we see the face of the one child instead of the millions, there is a call to action and responsibility. This can seem frightening, but the beautiful things is; the weight of the millions will not crush you but the face of the one can change your life, and you in turn can possibly change theirs.

The one is where we must always begin. The one is worth the risk, the time, the tears, the heartbreak, and the celebration. The one is who changes the world.


with joy,


Desirea

2 comments:

Lumière et Verité said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lumière et Verité said...

Wow, this reminds me of a blog post I made on MySpace last year. I was feeling very depressed due to this issue and other sufferings in the world, but would not give up because, like you said, even IF slavery never got abolished completely, at least the people that were prevented and that got rescued make the striving so much worth it. Even if it reached just one child!

Thanks for the encouragement to those who struggle with feeling the weight of this too much.

And this needs to be read by those who see our striving as pointless because they dismissively say "Why? Slavery will always exist, what's the point of trying?"

-Celine