A Simple Transaction

keep-calm-and-sponsor-me

It’s a simple transaction. I promise to ride over 500 kilometres in a week and you promise to sponsor me so that young girls can escape the horror of an abusive past. Do we have a deal?

Childhood should be a time of innocence, yet for millions around the world it’s a time of abuse, exploitation and despair. It’s impossible to imagine the horror a young girl experiences when she’s stolen from her home then raped a dozen times a day by different men to make money for someone else.

Human trafficking enslaves about 27 million people around the world. That is more than the population of Australia. Of these modern day slaves the UN estimates 79% of them are caught up in sexual trafficking. According to “Save the Children” at any one time across the world, around 1.8 million children are being abused through prostitution, child pornography and sex tourism.

I took a trip in December last year to Bangladesh and India to see the excellent work being done through SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets. I was so amazed at the work that is being done to bring hope and healing to young women who have been rescued from sex trafficking that I wanted to do more to help shine some light into some very dark corners of our world.

What I saw on my trip was young women, some very young, who had been sexually exploited and sold into prostitution but who are now growing in confidence as they learn to trust again and develop life skills that will give them a strong foundation for life ahead. Girls off the Streets is giving them a future and importantly, letting them know that they are truly loved.

Morning Cafe Ride for Hope

Next month I’ll be leading 98five’s Morning Cafe Ride for Hope. The ride will involve more than 20 cyclists riding over 500 kilometres from Albany to Perth. As part of the event I’m raising money for SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets. My personal fund raising target is $1500. To reach that goal I need 15 people who are prepared to donate $100. Can you please consider being one of those people? You may even be in a position to give substantially more.

Of course I understand that not everyone can afford to be so generous so please consider giving whatever you can. What can you give? Five dollars? Ten dollars? Fifty dollars? The need is desperate and any donation of $2 or more is tax deductible.

If you’d like to make a difference in the lives of young girls who desperately need your support, simply visit our fundraising page and choose my name from the drop down menu as the participant you’d like to support.

Let me thank you in anticipation of your support.



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Shining Light into Dark Corners

human_trafficking

Childhood should be a time of innocence, yet for millions around the world it’s a time of abuse, exploitation and despair. It’s impossible to imagine the horror a young girl experiences when she’s stolen from her home then raped a dozen times a day by different men to make money for someone else.

Human trafficking enslaves about 27 million people around the world. That is more than the population of Australia. Of these modern day slaves the UN estimates 79% of them are caught up in sexual trafficking. According to “Save the Children” at any one time across the world, around 1.8 million children are being abused through prostitution, child pornography and sex tourism.

I took a trip in December last year to Bangladesh and India to see the excellent work being done through SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets. I was so amazed at the work that is being done to bring hope and healing to young women who have been rescued from sex trafficking that I wanted to do more to help shine some light into some very dark corners of our world.

What I saw on my trip was young women, some very young, who had been sexually exploited and sold into prostitution but who are now growing in confidence as they learn to trust again and develop life skills that will give them a strong foundation for life ahead. Girls off the Streets is giving them a future and importantly, letting them know that they are truly loved.

Morning Cafe Ride for Hope

In October I’ll be taking part in the Morning Cafe Ride for Hope. The ride will involve more than 20 cyclists riding over 500 kilometres from Albany to Perth. As part of the event I’m raising money for SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets. My fund raising target is $1500. To reach that goal I need 15 people who are prepared to donate $100. Can you please consider being one of those people?

Of course I understand that not everyone can afford to be so generous so please consider giving whatever you can. What can you give? Five dollars? Ten dollars? Fifty dollars? The need is desperate and any donation of $2 or more is tax deductible in Australia. (Donations are still welcome from anywhere in the world.)

If you’d like to make a difference in the lives of young girls who desperately need your support, simply visit our fundraising page and choose my name from the drop down menu as the rider you’d like to support.

Let me thank you in anticipation of your support for this vital program.



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Ride for Hope 2013

RideforHope

In 2009, seven Perth cyclists pedalled from Perth to Albany, a distance of over 500 kilometres, raising awareness and funds for Cancer Council Western Australia. Since then the ride has become an annual fundraising event organised by Perth radio station 98five but something is different this year.

I took a trip in December last year to Bangladesh and India to see the excellent work being done through SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets. I was so amazed at the work that is being done to bring hope and healing to young women who have been rescued from sex trafficking that I wanted to broaden the scope of the annual ride. That’s why this year participants have the choice of continuing to support the very worthwhile work of Cancer Council WA or to free women from a past of sexual slavery through SIMaid’s work.

What I saw on my trip was young women, some very young, who had been sexually exploited and sold into prostitution but who are now growing in confidence as they learn to trust again and develop life skills that will give them a strong foundation for life ahead. Girls off the Streets is giving them a future and importantly, letting them know that they are truly loved.

Back in the saddle

This October I’ll once again be taking part in the Morning Cafe Ride for Hope. The ride will involve more than 20 cyclists riding over 500 kilometres from Albany to Perth. As part of the event I’m raising money for SIMaid’s Girls off the Streets. My fund raising target is $1500. To reach that goal I need 15 people who are prepared to donate $100. Can you please consider being one of those people?

Of course I understand that not everyone can afford to be so generous so please consider giving whatever you can. The need is desperate and any donation of $2 or more is tax deductible in Australia. (Donations are still welcome from anywhere in the world.)

If you’d like to make a difference in the lives of young girls who desperately need your support, simply visit our fundraising page and choose my name from the drop down menu as the rider you’d like to support.

Let me thank you in anticipation of your support for this vital program.



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How can you help Girls off the Streets?

I wrote recently about my involvement with Girls Off the Streets. As I said then, I’ll be traveling to Bangladesh and India to see the work SIMaid does to stop trafficking and sex slavery while transforming the lives of young girls rescued. My role will be as a storyteller, communicating the need online, on radio and to churches back here in Australia.

If you want to find out more about how to help the millions of girls, many quite young, who are raped each day to make money for others, there are a couple of events you can attend.

Firstly, you can be at Thornlie Church of Christ in Spencer Road at 6:30 this Sunday evening when, together with SIMaid Education and Development Officer Kieran Johnson, I’ll be talking about our upcoming trip.

The other event is on Saturday evening the 10th of November where you can hear Omar Djoeandy, SIM Australia Executive Director, and catch up with Kieran and me. That evening begins at 7:00 at St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Shenton Park. Details are in the poster above. Click on the image for a closer look.



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Girls off the Streets


No funny, quirky post today but I’m hoping that you’ll give me a few minutes so that I can tell you about a huge issue.

Every day millions of girls, many quite young, are raped to make money for others. They’ve been kidnapped and forced into sex slavery.

Human trafficking enslaves about 27 million people around the world. That is more than the population of Australia. Of these modern day slaves the UN estimates 79% of them are caught up in sexual trafficking. According to “Save the Children” at any one time across the world, around 1.8 million children are being abused through prostitution, child pornography and sex tourism. In the UK there are 5,000 child prostitutes. 75% of them are girls.

In December I’ll be traveling to Bangladesh and India to learn more about the Girls Off the Streets initiative through SIMaid. I talked about the upcoming trip on my radio program with SIMaid representative, Kieran Johnson. You can listen to our chat by clicking the play button on the audio plaer at the bottom of this post.

In Bangladesh there are approximately 500 000 children living on the streets due to poverty or abuse. Many girls who live on the streets are sexually exploited.

The Indian Government states there are 2.8 million people prostituted in India, but human rights groups claim it is more like 15 million. 200 girls are entering into the sex trade every day with 80% of them doing so against their own free will.

I’ll be traveling to both countries with SIMaid to witness the work they do to stop trafficking and sex slavery while transforming the lives of young girls rescued. My role will be as a storyteller, communicating the need online, on radio and to churches back here in Australia.

I currently need to raise money for my travel costs (around $3000) and if you’d like to contribute please email me via my Contact Page so that I can let you know where to direct your money.



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