Thirty Pieces

Human trafficking. We’ve heard about the problem but few of us see a real human face in this nightmare. Now I have. On my last trip to Singapore I met a woman from Indonesia. A few years ago she lived in Jakarta, was married and had a young child. Her husband left her. Without support she scrambled for work. Along came a “friend,” someone she had known for many years, promising to get her a job as a maid in Singapore. All the arrangements were made and “Jane” (we will use this name because she is at risk with her real name) took the flight to Singapore. The man who met her at the airport took her passport, conveyed her to an apartment and told her that there was no job as a maid. Instead, she would be a sex-worker required to “earn back” all the money he spent for her to get to Singapore. Her quota was 150 men per month. Five a day, every day, doing whatever they wanted. And if she didn’t perform, he would make sure that her son in Jakarta would be harmed. Alone, without a passport, she was essentially a slave. Locked in her room until it was time to “work,” she became a creature of the street, threatened when she didn’t make the quota and afraid to try to escape. No one cared. The police tolerated the enterprise, turning a blind eye to the human trauma. It was just “business.”

Eventually she met one of the members of the church that walks these streets and with great care reached out to one of the women. I am glad to report that “Jane” has been delivered from this prison, although it took some time and caused what psychiatrist Jonathan Shay terms, “moral injury,” as you would imagine. Her son is safe. She is now serving as a teacher in a program called “The Children Under the Bridge.” These are the children of women forced into prostitution, children who are otherwise left to fend for themselves under a bridge in Jakarta. “Jane” has become the mother they no longer have, providing education, safety and food.

Thirty pieces was the price of betrayal a long time ago. Today the betrayal continues. The “friend” has recruited more women with the same scheme. Now I am asking for thirty redeemers. I am asking for thirty of us to provide for “Jane’s” efforts with these children. She needs rent money for herself and her son. She needs educational materials. She needs food to care for these orphans of abuse. She needs thirty of us to give $20 a month (or whatever you can) for the next two years so that she can be a rescuer and redeemer. Now you have a human face of trafficking. Now it is real.

If you want to help, please let me know. I am setting up a separate account just for this project. The money will go through the church that rescued her from the streets. It can’t go directly to her since that puts her life at risk in Jakarta, but all of it will get to her by other means. You can email me or call if you want to help. Thank you.