"Refugees are amongst the most vulnerable people in the world to human trafficking. They have no security, and no identity. No one knows where they are... so if some of them go missing, no one will know." - Phil Hyldgaard '' Greece is known as the center of trafficking in Europe. Human trafficking refers to the illegal trade of human beings, mainly for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation. With thousands of refugees in Greece, the risk of human trafficking in the area is at a critical level. Across Eastern Europe, the average age of a trafficking victim is 12-years old. At every point along the refugee journey, children are particularly vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation. Traffickers have also been known to take advantage of the highly populated refugee routes in order to move their victims into destination countries throughout Europe. In the time that it takes for a refugee to rinse a shirt, or simply consolidate their belongings, a family member could fall victim to modern-day slavery. Statistically, it happens every 30 seconds. - A21 - I knelt down and held you, there were rocks flying less then ten feet from us. Your daddy was out in the fight. Your mother was crying. She ran to the high wire fence to try to get a glimpse of your father among so many of the men who were throwing rocks and running around with metal pols. Your eyes went wild when you lost sight of your mother. You had fear like I have seldom see in the eyes of a child. You stood beside your baby bro and started to sob uncontrollably. I held you and thought of my bro who was out there somewhere in the fight too and part of me wished he would be a kid like you again and I could hold him and keep him safe. Yet most of me was proud of the man he has become, brave enough to reach out and risk his own safety for the safety of others. - You are always everywhere at once. Sneaking food. Trying to get into the staff room. Down at the police station. Playing soccer. I gave you so much cloths because you would literally destroyed them within two days. Your eyes are bright and you trusted no one. But one day you came running up to me with fingernail polish and your eyes were shining as you motion for me to sit down. We both sat in the dust, I was loving the fact that you were so happy and you were beyond proud of the fact that I let you paint my nails. You looked at me for approval, your eyes asked "Do you love me? ".. I wish you knew how much you are loved kiddo. - Girl, you are so tinny but incredibly strong. Your eyes are huge and full of determination. I watched you ride a rusty bicycle, the back tire is just the metal frame. I watched as you drove over someones shoe and went flying. For a moment your eyes showed emotion but then you jumped up ran over to the shoe, picked it up and threw it with all your might up onto the roof. You glared at it for a while then you smiled like you had just overcome the world and picked up your bicycle and started over. Your eyes shining with the excitement, but also dark with determination that this life is not getting you down with out a fight. - You have beautiful messy hair and you aren't more then two years old. You have the most adorable cheeks and you smile at the world around you unaware of the reality. Your chubby little feet walking around in the dust and old orange pealing that are among rocks that were thrown by angry hurting men. You were playing on the path by a tent with your older sister. Your face was dirty and your red hair matted from all the dust. As I watched you I saw myself. You and your sister were sitting together laughing and playing with a phone. And I rememberd doing the same thing and I wonder where you will be at my age. Will your eyes still be shining? Will you know that someone loves you so much that he chose to die for you? - You stood in the food line with your mother who was holding your younger sister. You are so small and gentle yet so tough. I came up to you and asked to hold you. But the look in your eyes told me that you did not trust me. You ran and hid behind your mother who was sitting on the sidewalk with a look of lostness in her eyes. When she saw you smile it brought joy but it was only for a fleeting moment. You hid and watched me for a long time and I had to wonder what you story is, you come all the way from Nepal looking for a better life and now you play with sticks and empty water bottles while hundreds of people who are looking for meaning and longing for answers surround you everyday. - Your name is Miracle. You were strapped to your mothers back sleeping peacefully. You are living through one of the largest humanitarian crisis yet you are at peace with the world, with your ear up against your mothers back. I wonder if you can hear her heart beat? And I can tell that she loves you and is risking her own heart beat to give you a better life, to give you a future. Soon you wake up and try to hide your face yet you can't help but smile and your big dark eyes shine as you blink up at the sun. - You stomped your feet and screamed in my face for a cup of hot "Halib''. Your eyes screaming for love. Longing for security... - You seldom smile. You have big brown eyes and you look at me from below your long eyelashes.Your eyes don't show emotion yet you are longing to be noticed. I held you and sang " Kendie loves you." and for the first time that day you put your head back laughing, your eyes shining. Soon you fell asleep in my arms. - Your mother was taken to the hospital and you along with your three other siblings were left with us. I stayed in the staff room and colored with you for a long time. Your eyes were full of question and the only English words you knew were " Mama Hospital." and "beautiful". And you repeated that over and over again. We colored butterflies and flowers and for a while you would forget that there was a care in the world and you would smile and point at the picture and say ''Beautiful'' but then I would see it go over your face and you would say " Mama Hospital." - You were in a tent solo. You aren't more then fifteen years old. Incredibly young and vulnerable. You tell me that you are traveling with your brother and you are from Somalia. Your eyes are emotionless yet you look at me full of questions. You smile and tell me you don't speak my language but the look in your eyes say more then a thousand words. - You were in a fight yesterday, kiddo you are so small. Your legs are so skinny and you were so scared. The other kids were so mad but you were the one who walked away with a busted lip. The kid that was yelling "beep you." I wish you would also have noticed that he wasn't angry at you he was just asking to be loved. I noticed you crying and sitting solo against the high wall..I went and sat with you in about half and inch of dust. Although you wanted to be tough when I put my arm around you and held you all those walls came down and for the next hour you let yourself be the seven year old kid you are. You would have fallen to sleep in my arms if that other kid wouldn't have come and thrown rocks at you. You hid under my arm, and that is when I realized how small you are and how big and scary your world is. You had clean streaks running down your face from where the tears had washed away the dust. Your mother brought you to me because you had scraped your knee and it was bleeding. You hid behind your mothers skirt and looked at me with big eyes. I smile and sit down with you. I remember being a kid and scraping my knee, I know it hurts. I loved the way you looked at your mama with pride over your new band-aid..... - These are only a few out of thousands. Only an handful out of the hundreds of children I have seen... You don't have to be at a refugee camp to reach out to others around you. ........................................................................................................................... '' - Children don’t let the darkness of the world overshadow its beauty. They don’t make judgments. They just try to love—whatever and whoever stands in front of them. You’ve seen this in your own littles, who live with awe and wonder as their daily companions—picking up a rock to examine, planting a kiss on the crease in your forehead, staring at a hawk overhead, beaming a sudden smile at a stranger. And you know what? Almost always, the stranger smiles back. For a split second, our little one’s unconditional love brightens someone’s world. Children start out this way, but often something happens. We know, because it most likely happened to us, too. Worries crowd out wonder. Selfishness crowds out sacrifice. Longing for more crowds out love for what is. Problems crowd out people. '' - Ann Voscamp.
2 Comments
Karla
6/7/2016 09:03:26 am
Kendie, this is powerful! Thanks for telling their stories.
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Connie
6/7/2016 11:15:06 am
I sit here, comfortably and safely holding my baby, and I choke up. Thank you for sharing and letting us feel the pain, smell the dust, and love those people with you.
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