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Update - 11th July 2009
In June Paul changed jobs and is now working for Compassion Australia, a holistic child development and child advocacy organisation, as well as one of the recipients of the proceeds of his book, ‘Looking for Hope.’ Paul’s new role is National Director of the Child Advocate Network and National Director Child Advocacy Campaigns and Education. Paul, Kirsten and Emmanuel have now moved from Brisbane to Newcastle, NSW to take up this role. ‘I’m incredibly excited about what’s ahead in this new season working at Compassion – pushing deeper into advocating for children around the globe who are living in extreme poverty.’
For more information about Compassion, log onto www.compassion.com.au
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Anita's Story - 18th Jan 2009
In December 2008 Paul went back to Mumbai to visit some of the Anti-Sex Traffiking projects that the book ‘Looking for Hope’ is helping to fund. He met some amazing people there, including Anita, who he met and interviewed in June 2008.
Jeevan Asha (Life Hope) is a Salvation Army run drop-in centre in Mumbai’s Red Light District, which has been funded by Australians and part of the proceeds from Looking for Hope also go towards this project. Its aim is to rescue minors and children from a life of possible prostitution, to help with the educational needs of children of prostitutes and to show them a life of hope and future. The Drop in Centre also provides counselling for women on issues such as self care, HIV/Aids education and to help women come out of the work they have been forced into. Since Jeevan Asha began in 2004, the team have come into contact with over 6,000 prostitutes, they have referred 42 children at risk onto other NGO’s in Mumbai, and have rescued 38 children from prostitution.
Anita was sold into sexual slavery in Mumbai from Nepal at the age of 10 for 40,000 rupees ($1,000). She was tortured mentally and physically by her brothel keeper and was forced into prostitution. For the next 18 years, she saw up to 25 men a day and had very little freedom or hope for a tomorrow. She came into contact with The Salvation Army’s anti-sex trafficking projects and has now been freed from a life of prostitution after being given vocational skills training and assistance to leave the work and find employment in other industries.
Her two children were also rescued from the area and have been given a future that Anita could never have thought possible. Anita is a woman who has been given life and hope!
One of the biggest problem in Mumbai’s Red Light District is that many of the women would love to leave the work if they could, but they don’t have many other options. Many of them were sold or forced into sex slavery at a young age and so don’t have an education or other vocational skills. They need help to see a future, to be retrained and supported to leave the work of prostitution. The Salvation Army is working towards this end.
Paul Mergard
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Looking for a great Christmas present? - 2nd Nov 2008
Why not grab yourselves a copy or two of Looking for Hope – the ideal Christmas present. Not only will someone receive an awesome coffee table book, but you will also help fund the fight against human traffiking. Proceeds from the sale of Looking for Hope go towards The Salvation Army’s fight against Human Traffiking and Compassions fight against poverty.
Order now on the shop page and have an awesome Christmas.
Paul Mergard
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Paul has just returned to Australia after a week in Mumbai, India looking at The Salvation Army’s and other NGO’s anti-sex traffiking work. - 16th June 2008
Paul reports:
On Thursday we did an interview of a Nepalese woman who was sold into sex
slavery at the age of 11 (before that she was working as slave labour in a garment factory in Nepal from the age
of 9) and her story was mind blowing. We were able to record on DVD most of her story, including how she was
tricked into coming to Mumbai, about her first week in the Red Light District in Mumbai and what her life has been
like for the past 15 years or so. It has been amazing to see where she is at now, thanks to the work of The
Salvation Army who have given her vocational skills training and help set her on a path of hope and a future. We
also met her Son – he is living in one of the Salvation Army’s houses and the love between him and his mum is
amazing – such an amazing experience.
The past week has been mind blowing – because of the extent and size of the
Red Light District, because of the people we have spoken to and had an insight into their lives and because you
realise that there are some amazing organisations doing some amazing things to help restore life and hope where it
has been taken away.
Paul Mergard
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1.5 million signatures to Stop the Traffik - 16th February 2008
The Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, which this week brought
together 1,400 delegates from 116 countries to share knowledge and develop an international strategy to combat
human trafficking, called for greater awareness, more resources and coordinated action in the fight against human
trafficking.
At the Vienna Forum, the campaign Stop the Traffik, a global coalition of
over 900 grassroots organizations, presented UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa and Ricky Martin with a
petition signed by 1.5 million people calling for an end to human trafficking. The campaign aims to prevent the
sale of people, prosecute the traffickers and protect the victims.
Thank you to all of you who signed postcards and petitions and were part of
the 1.5 million!
Paul
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USA Awareness Campaign - 4th October 2007
Over the past 10 days, Paul has spent time in New York and Dallas, USA, raising awareness of human traffiking. In New York he was able to speak to over 130 of The Salvation Army’s
leaders on the issue of Traffiking and especially the Chocolate Campaign. It was quite amazing to see people
stirred up to do something about this modern day evil.
In Dallas Paul was able to speak at 3 different churches about Traffiking –
once again the response was amazing and hundreds of people were mobilised to make a difference.
Now back in Australia, Paul continues is fight to mobilise people to get
informed, change their buying habits with chocolate and strive to make children’s lives different!
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WHERE DOES ALL OUR CHOCOLATE COME FROM?
- 1st October 2007
COTE D’IVOIRE— THE CURRENT SITUATION ON CHOCOLATE, CHILD
TRAFFICKING AND SLAVERY
Cote d’Ivoire is a country in the west of Africa which produces more than
40% of the world’s cocoa crop.
In 2001 reports confirmed widespread child labour on cocoa farms Cote d’
Ivoire and hundreds of children being trafficked from nearby Mali. The conditions these children were working in
was characterised as dangerous and they were forced to work long hours. In 2002 it was discovered that 284,000
children were trapped in forced labour in the West African cocoa industry. The majority of these (200,000) were to
be found in Cote d’Ivoire. Many of these child labourers were discovered to have been trafficked from Mali,
Burkina Faso, and Togo.
Stop the Traffik is pushing the fight against this form of slavery – for
more information and to download resources, log onto http://www.stopthetraffik.org/chocolatecampaign/ and join in the fight against this evil trade.
Paul has been mobilising people in Australia and the USA over the past few
months to get involved in the fight against slavery in the cocoa industry by petitioning the chocolate industry to
give the traffik free pledge on their chocolate. We can make a difference to the lives of thousands of children in
West Africa – get informed and make a difference. If we change our chocolate buying habits and buy fair trade
chocolate, we can enjoy our treats with the knowledge that no slaves have been used to harvest the cocoa we are
eating.
Together we can make a difference.
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37 Girls rescued in India - 24th August 2007
One of the recipients of the proceeds of Looking for Hope will The
Salvation Army’s anti-slavery projects in India. Over the past year, The Salvation Army have been able to rescue
37 children from the Red Light District in one of India’s leading cities. The lives of these girls have been
transformed because they have been rescued from a life of prostitution and abuse.
The whole aim of the book Looking for Hope is to generate awareness of the
issue of human traffiking and to raise funds for The Salvation Army’s fight against Human Traffiking and the work
of Compassion Child Sponsorship.
It is great to see that lives are being changed because of the work of
these two organisations.
Is there someone you could buy a book for today?
Together, we can make a difference.
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Some facts about Human Traffiking - 13th March 2007
- In 1807 there were 4 million slaves. Today it is more like
12 million. (Unicef 2003)
- An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year
(Unicef 2003)
- 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked across international
borders each year. (US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2005)
- Approx 80% are women and girls (US Department of State
Trafficking in Persons Report 2005)
- Human Trafficking is the third largest source of income in
organised crime: second only to arms and drug trafficking (UN Office on Drugs and Crime)
- 50,000 people die every day because they are poor.
(Reality of aid 2004)
- A child dies every three seconds of hunger and preventable
diseases (World Health Organisation)
- The three richest people in the world control more wealth
than all 600 million people living in the world's poorest countries. (Christian Aid)
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The people behind the photos - 21st December 2006
Last weekend I went to Vanuatu with my now Fiancee (we got engaged in
Vanuatu) and apart from the excitement of getting engaged, on Sunday we did a tour around the island and had the
opportunity to meet one of the amazing faces behind one of my favourite photos.
I first saw Gabriel 2 years ago when in Vanuatu on holidays. We were doing
an island tour and while sitting in the bus, I looked over and saw Gabriel, with both fingers up his nose! It was
one of the moments. That image has brought lots of laughter, and on Sunday it was amazing to be able to laugh with
Gabriel and his family. I had a copy of the photo with me, and was able to show it to him, and also to get a new
photo with him.
Also, a few weeks ago I was in South Africa with some of our
team launching Hotel Chaplaincy South Africa - an outreach to Schoolies (or Matric as they call them) in
Plettenberg Bay on the south east cost of South Africa.
After our time in Plett, Paul Kurth headed back
to Phuthaditjhaba where I have spent a bit of time and have taken photos there which appear in 'Looking for Hope'.
Paul took one of my books with him to give to the pastors there, and also then had the opportunity to photograph
one of the girls who also appears in Looking for Hope!
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Happy Christmas - 21st December 2006
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy
Christmas and may 2007 be a year that sees an incredible difference made in our world in the fight against human
traffiking and poverty. We can make a difference, we can shine light in the darkness.
Thanks for all your support in 2006 - it is greately appreciated.
Paul Mergard
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The Ideal Christmas Present - 29th October 2006
Are you wondering what you are going to do about Christmas presents this
year? Why not buy your family and friends a copy of Looking for Hope. Not only will you be able to give them an
amazing Christmas present, but you will also be able to invest in the lives of children living in extreme poverty
and also women and children from around the world who are being trafficked.
And to make this even better, we are now offering a 10% discount on all
orders of five or more books.
Check out the shop here.
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What is human trafficking? - 6th October 2006
The United Nations defines trafficking like this:
'Trafficking in persons' shall mean the recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms
of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of
the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another
person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the
prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices
similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
Source: Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organised Crime (Palmero Protocol)
Put more simply trafficking can be defined like this:
Trafficking in people is the illegal movement of people, within national or
across international borders, for the purposes of exploitation in the form of commercial sex, domestic service or
manual labour.
Put even more simply:
It is slavery and exploitation
of human life.
Proceeds from the sale of 'Looking for
Hope' will go towards the fight against Human Trafficking.
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Darlene Zschech launches Looking for Hope at Unlimited
- 25th August 2006
On 25 August 2006 at the Brisbane
Unlimited Conference, Darlene Zschech launched Looking for Hope. Darlene shared her passion for young children and
her support of the book. She said the she doesn't endorse many things, but felt that this book was significant
because of the difference it was trying to make in the lives of children all around the world.
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Opening the shutter on injustice
- 15th August 2006
Feature article in Pipeline Magazine, August 2006 by Anna Thompson
Every now and then a book lands in your hand with the power to change your
life, or at least your outlook. This month, Salvationist Paul Mergard will release a book of photographs that is
sure to provoke a response from those who peruse its pages — a deep response to the tragedy of human
trafficking and poverty.
[more...]
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14th August 2006
On Saturday 19th August 2006, Paul Mergard's first
coffee table book will be launched at The Salvation Army's Unlimited Conference in Sydney.
The 64 page book is full of images of children from
all around the world, and highlights the work of Compassion and the issue of Human Trafficking.
Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to The
Salvation Army's fight against Human Trafficking and the work of Compassion.
The book will retail for $29.95 (AUD)
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Copyright © 2006-2009 Paul Mergard Photography
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