Emotional.

Confusion: We arrived at HIPS with no knowledge of what their mission is; we didn't even know what HIPS stands for. The community partner spokesman, Anthony, explained to us that their mission is to support, provide for, and value individual choice. At HIPS sex work is treated as any other profession that requires support and they provide it. Anthony described the various programming and gave us a brief account of the preventative health measures that HIPS provides to sex workers. When we began our service, many of us were confused about how some of its programs affect the community. 

Inspiration: We created a lesson plan over the past month to teach the seniors at Thurgood Marshall Academy about human trafficking. We began with a fun activity to get to the know the students and to familiarize the students with us. The students had not begun their human trafficking unit so we introduced the topic by creating a "Root Cause Tree." The roots of the tree represent causes for human trafficking and the branches represent the effects. We were extremely impressed by the students' knowledge and creativity when approaching the issue. They discussed many roots and causes that none of us had thought about and we seemed to have learned from them just as much as they learned from us. We went on to breaking up into small groups and discussed stories that we created related to victims, traffickers, and law enforcement. We had an engaging discussion with the students about hotspots, bystander intervention, and human trafficking as a whole. Being a part of this experience made us feel importance of educating others and spreading awareness about human trafficking. 

Appreciation: Many of us were looking forward to dinner after a long, tiring day and we were lucky enough to have Nikki, a UMD alum, treat us to a nice dinner at "The Heights." Courtney, the AB director and Megan, an AB alum, joined us as well. Many of us had great conversations with them and the other participants. We ended dinner with dessert and heartfelt thank you to Nikki. It was nice break from PB&J (meat for Kristin because she's allergic) sandwiches. 

Eye-Opening: Reflection today was heavy. People were vulnerable to the group and were vulnerable to themselves and we are grateful to be a part of this experience. Although it was difficult, everyone came together to express the emotions that coursed through the day. I doubt that there was a single person who left the circle unmoved and we thank each member of this group for allowing themselves to step out of their comfort zone. Many of us learned that we have a lot to learn and we are just at the beginning of our journey. 

Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous. Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change. 

-Brené Brown

Tricked and Courtney's House

Salutations everyone. This is Katherine and Zach reporting live from the church choir room. We're here to tell you about our amazing day learning about sex trafficking.

To start off the day, we split into two groups. Our group, the cool group, watched a documentary called Tricked, which contained interviews and footage surrounding survivors, traffickers, "johns", police department, and families of those trafficked. The video shed light on a serious issue that is not talked about as much as it should be. It also gave people a new perspective on the depths of the issue, exposing outrageous concepts such as the Player's Ball. Afterward we held a discussion where we further looked into the insights provided by the survivors. During this reflection, we also discussed ways we can expand on this knowledge in order to take further action.

The next stop was at Courtney's House, a drop-in safe house for survivors of sex trafficking. There, survivors typically of a Latino or African American descent aged between 12-16 come to have a safe space and eat a nice home-cooked meal. In order to help the transition between their past life and their future life, they are given new clothes and hygiene products if needed, as well as a welcoming environment with support groups. We helped by cleaning the entire house, including everything from the offices to the courtyard. Phylicia, the program coordinator, explained to us a little bit about how Courtney's House runs and how prevalent human trafficking is within the local area.

Today was very much eye opening. We were able to see firsthand the effects of human trafficking within the local area as well as learn about the effects it has had on others across the country. We had such a productive and wonderful day and we can't wait to educate students tomorrow!

Free the Slaves and Solidarity Center

Day 3

Hi! Geoffrey and Chloe here. Today, we went to Free The Slaves and The Solidarity Movement. The goal of going was to learn more about what they do to help combat human trafficking.

Free The Slaves

We first visited FTS, an organization focused on human trafficking globally – in 6 countries so far. As service we wrote appreciation letters to Rabbis to thank them for their donation and increasing awareness in their respective communities. Although tired, the team thoroughly enjoyed the documentary and their drive to end human trafficking. To me (Geoff), the way FTS tackled the problem is extremely unique in the sense that they partner up with local NGOs in the different countries instead of a top down approach. For Chloe, the Executive director, Maurice Middleberg’s family history of enslavement in concentration camps in World War II made a huge impact on her.

The Solidarity Movement

Second place that visited today was more focused on worker’s right and issues on labor trafficking. Our speaker from the organization was Neha Mistra. She was a former lawyer and now is the Senior Specialist on Migration and Human Trafficking. She inspired the group with her speech of how labor trafficking affects everyone but sex trafficking has more awareness in the political and social media.  Her viewpoint on the issue from a judicial perspective painted a viewpoint that most don’t think about when discussing about human trafficking.  Her detailed recount of how workers are moved across countries using legal visas were extremely shocking. Her optimism for equality of all in this world is refreshing change of tone when discussing about modern slavery.

We’ll leave you with this statement from Neha that really stuck with us: “There is always more than two choices, always push for a third!”

Day 2: Loaves and Fishes and Exploration in DC!

Hi! It's Richa and Samarth bringing you a daily update of our AB experience! We started the day bright and early at 6 am after a night of sleeping on the church auditorium stage together. After we got ready and ate breakfast, we headed downstairs to the church kitchen to help prep a meal for the church's program called Loaves and Fishes, dedicated to providing meals for the hungry in the DC community.

Our job for the day was wide ranging. Prior to our guests arriving,  we started in the kitchen, helping cut vegetables for the stew, breading and baking chicken, frying and seasoning plantains, cleaning dishes and tables and plating the food. As guests arrived, we served them coffee and iced tea while providing conversation and company. As lunch time approached, we began to distribute the plates of food to the guests and further engaged them in conversation. One of the guests we talked to spoke about her experience as a civil servant. When we introduced her to the purpose of our AB experience, she shared information about her view of human trafficking, giving us insight about the pros and cons of the Violence Against Women law passed in Congress that applies to trafficking in a way. Speaking with her gave us a new perspective of how human trafficking does not have to be part of a large network and can occur as smaller exchanges. All of our team members expressed their enjoyment and satisfaction with volunteering for this event when we briefly reflected afterwards. Some had insightful conversations with the guests and others played card games, all leading to a great atmosphere to be around.

After the event had concluded, we boarded the metro and went into DC to explore the many offerings of our nation's capital. Based off the interests of the team, we split into groups to tailor to those interests. Some went to the Washington Monument and World War II memorial to relax and enjoy the pleasant weather and others went to the National Botanical Garden to take in the beauty of nature around the globe. Even though most of us had been to DC many times in the past, taking time again to appreciate the location we will be volunteering throughout the week helped us gain a deeper understanding of DC's culture.

When we returned back to our place of stay during this trip, we all gathered to enjoy a wonderful meal and reflect on the successful and impactful day.

Dearest Reader,

Day 1 went great. We shuffled into our infamous white van and made our way to the metro station. The trip was going great before it even started. Liam broke his phone screen while we were waiting for the metro, and we all had more stuff to carry than we could handle! But on a more serious note, the pre-trip meetings kickstarted our relationships, as we already had a basic understanding of each other's personalities. This allowed our van and metro rides to run smoothly. When we arrived to the church, we split off into two teams: one team went grocery shopping, and one team went to a local library to plan the lesson for Thurgood Marshall High School. We all met up again afterward as the drowsiness set in. After some group-oriented, team-building whatever-you-wanna-call-'ems (and some much appreciated free time/rest), Sam and Richa prepared a lovely carbo-loaded dinner. As they brought out the food, 70+ people flooded the area where we planned to eat. We improvised! Thirteen college students crammed into the church choir room for an intimate gathering full of laughs and spaghetti sauce splatters.

Next came our reflection time. None of us knew what to expect. Some of us (i.e., the Global Communities kids, woot WOOT) had already known each other a little better than most, but we still weren't prepared to get as personal as we did. The effects were profound. People opened up about their more personal experiences and thoughts, and we all experienced a much deeper connection. It was the first step towards becoming more of a family.

Then we went to bed. The stage floor was extremely uncomfortable. I'm talking rock hard. Jordan brought a mattress. We were all envious. However, our collective company made for a very enjoyable close to our first official day. The reflection period was instrumental in our newfound closeness. We expect great things to come!

-Liam and Jordan