Imagine seeing a flyer in church one Sunday inviting you to a special concert by an African boys choir. Proceeds from the concert go to the boys' village to help build new schools. You go to the concert, pay $20 for your ticket and donate another $100 after you hear their incredibly beautiful voices. You go home feeling good from the wonderful music and knowing that you've helped poor people in Africa get a new school. Or did you?

Most people know about some forms of slavery happening across our planet today. We hear about the children weaving carpets, the women and girls sold into the sex trade, and once in a while we hear about a bizarre case like the Long Island New York couple who kept a couple of servants in their homes as slaves. But, do any of us understand the massive amount of slavery happening all over the planet?

The boys choir in this case came from a village in Zambia. Their story is told in a groundbreaking book called Slavery Today by Kevin Bales and Becky Cornell. Through this short and easy to consume book, you learn about the history of slavery and the modern forms of it - who suffers under it and who profits from it. You also learn things you can do about it.

Interspersed among the facts and figures are real stories of real people. Noi from Thailand, Given Kachapa from Zambia, and Raju from India represent just a few of the terrible stories with happier endings made possible by people like us - caring enough to do something about slavery! 

The royalties from the book go to Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan. 

I encourage folks to buy this book and also consider combining it with the DVD I'm about to describe.

To quote one of the most inspiring young people I've ever heard speak, "I'm only 12 years old, but that's no excuse for not doing something about this." This was Craig Kielburger, a young Canadian who founded Free the Children. Watch his amazing story on a DVD as he travels to India to learn about children living in slavery, documents their lives, and then returns to Canada to launch Free the Children, an organization that has had incredible success in freeing children from slavery. 

As Craig says, none of us has an excuse to allow slavery to continue without doing something. It can be as simple as making sure that you only buy fair trade coffee or that you look for a "Rugmark" certification on a persian carpet for your home. Or, you can jump on a plane like Craig did and personally free someone from slavery!

The proceeds of sales from this DVD help Free the Children continue its great work.

• It Takes a Child - The Craig Kielburger Story
• Slavery Today
• The Carpet Boys Gift 

NOTE: Craig Wiesner is on the board of MicahsCall and is also co-founder of Reach And Teach, the peace and social justice learning company.

 

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