Archive

Archive for March, 2007

Pictures

March 26th, 2007 No comments

Make Contact – Make a Difference

March 25th, 2007 No comments
Categories: Faith, Politics Tags: ,

Fair Trade Chocolate in the US

March 25th, 2007 No comments

Check out all the US Fair Trade Chocolate sellers at:

http://www.transfairusa.org/content/certification/licensees2.php#cocoa

Categories: Faith, Politics Tags: ,

Human Trafficking

March 20th, 2007 No comments

A definition:

“Trafficking in human beings” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime (Palmero Protocol)

The scale of human trafficking

Men, women and children are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders. Trafficking affects every continent and most countries.

Due to the hidden and illegal nature of human trafficking, gathering statistics on the scale of the problem is a complex and difficult task. There are no reliable national or international estimates as to the extent of trafficking. Figures are usually counted in the countries that people are trafficked into and often fail to include those who are trafficked within their own national borders. The following statistics may represent an underestimation of trafficking, but are the most credible and frequently quoted.

  • At least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide. Of these 2.4 million are as a result of human trafficking. A global alliance against forced labor, International Labour Organisation, 2005
  • 600,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year. Approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors. US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2005
  • An estimated 1.2 million children trafficked each year. UNICEF UK Child Trafficking Information sheet, January 2003
  • The majority of trafficked victims arguably come from the poorest countries and poorest strata of the national population. A global alliance against forced labor, International Labour Organisation, 2005
  • Trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are caught in the trap of slavery. Anti-Slavery
  • Human trafficking is the third largest source of income for organised crime, exceeded only by arms and drugs trafficking. UN office on drugs and crime
  • It is the fastest growing form of international crime, already generating 7 billion dollars per year in criminal proceeds. There are even reports that some trafficking groups are switching their cargo from drugs to human beings, in a search of high profits at lower risk. UN office on drugs and crime
  • People are trafficked into prostitution, begging, forced labour, military service, domestic service, forced illegal adoption, forced marriage etc.
  • Types of recruitment; include abduction, false agreement with parents, sold by parents, runaways, travel with family, orphans sold from street or institutions.

[from www.stopthetraffik.org]

BG-ONE: Voices For Justice // Update

March 19th, 2007 No comments

We held our first organizational meeting for the upcoming BG-ONE event at Broadway UMC and things seem to be coming together nicely. We have decided to label this event as “Voices For Justice” and will work with the theme “Come Together.” While the overall focus is injustice, there will be some elements addressing racial reconciliation. Additionally we will be partnering with the official One Campaign in a more official way.

A Mission Statement has been developed for our work: We seek to educate our community about local and global injustice, encourage our community to take action that will change this injustice, and build a community of activists united to make injustice history. Beyond raising awareness, we are also seeking to raise money to donate to local and global aid organizations including financing part of Kaleidoscope’s trip to New Orleans.

Schedule: We will meet on Wednesdays starting March 28 and will run until April 25. The actual event will be at 6:00 at Broadway UMC (1323 Melrose St). The April 25 date will be a rehearsal at Broadway and we will set up and practice the afternoon of the 28th.

Involvement: The primary artistic elements will be coming from the students in Kaleidoscope. We will be teaching classes in Hip Hop, Poetry, Art and Band. The technical arts will be handled primarily by adults and outside of the Wednesday sessions.

How can you help? Once again we will need your support and your assistance.

If you are available, we would love to have you join us on Wednesday nights to help and participate with the classes. Even if you don’t have a particular “skill set” we would love to have you connect with the students. Additionally, we need help with the technical arts aspect of the event (Rick?? Ron??). That would include videography as well as editing and compiling elements.

If you bring special talents or passions to the table, we would love to include that. Last time we found that some of the most successful elements were those that were not planned, but that were incorporated along the way. We are wanting to include more outside involvement in this event that can take place outside of the Wednesday Night gatherings. Specifically we talked about including artistic pieces from the community and various congregations around Bowling Green. We will need people to coordinate the art sale as well organize and lead setting up environment and displays at the church.
We have a rough outline of what the event will look like. Of course this is open to change and will evolve.

  • Prelude / Intro (Video)
  • Opening
  • Call to Worship
  • 8 Goals Video
  • ONE (hip-hop performance)
  • Racial Reconciliation Creative Piece
  • Dialogical Sermon
  • Making the Band Original Piece
  • Offering (Man on the Street Interview??)
  • “Waiting on the World to Change”
  • Conclusion (Communion?)
  • Closing Performance – Come Together

Please contact Ben Kickert or Gary Hook if you have questions.

BG-ONE // Voices Against Poverty

March 7th, 2007 No comments

Organizational Meeting Tonight!!

Hey folks, we will be meeting at Broadway UMC to discuss upcoming plans for our upcoming Voices Against Poverty Showcase. We will meet in the Video Cafe at Broadway. You can get directions here.

We will be continuing with the focus on the ONE campaign and the Millennium Development Goals, but the theme this time will be “Come Together.”

The preparation sessions will run from March 28 through April 25 with the showcase on April 28th at Broadway. We are in need of people to help organize and lead. If you receive this email it is because you either were involved in the first U2charist or you are a part of Emergent-BG. Either way we would love your help. Please feel free to forward this to anyone else who would like to be involved.

If you have questions I encourage you attend this organizational meeting on Wednesday or to contact Gary Hook or Ben Kickert. We will be sure to keep you posted on developments.