Thursday, September 24, 2009

Kavi The Movie


Kavi - The Movie from Gregg Helvey on Vimeo.


About a month ago, I attended a conference called the idea camp in Washington DC. While at the conference I was able to attend a screening of kavi. It's a movie about a family of modern day slaves who work as bonded labor in a brick kiln in India.

The guy who made the movie has been nominated for an Oscar for best short film. He won the collegiate academy awards. THe film is incredible, and I highly recommend watching it if you have the opportunity. I'd like to see it screened locally in Morgantown, but perhaps you could host a screening in your town as well.

While the film is fictional, the story being shared is all too common. There are over 27 million slaves in the world today. This is more than any other time in the history of humanity. Some are victims of human trafficking or forced into the sex industry as CHILDREN. Many are slaves who are forced to work on cocoa or coffee farms, or brick kiln operations. These are people just like us. THey are made in the image of God. Men, women, and children from families just like our own are living in a world without hope and without opportunity.

How does this happen? Sometimes people are sold by family members in order to feed the remainder of the family. Other times, people are tricked into moving to a bigger city to find 'career opportunities' where they can meet people. Often entire families are forced to work off a 'debt' that never gets cancelled.

It doesn't have to be this way. There are many great organizations that are making a serious difference in the lives of these people. They are eradicating poverty, rescuing slaves and bringing perpetrators to justice. Many of the people who are engaged in this issue are motivated by their faith. They are stepping out and striving to "Love their neighbor as themselves."

Maybe you've been sitting on the sidelines and wondering how you can get involved. Maybe now is your opportunity to step up and become an advocate. Support an organization that's making a difference in the world. Need help deciding where to start, feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line. I'd love to help you take the next step.

As you go through your day today, you might get cut off in traffic. Your order might be a little slow at the restaurant. Someone may not have smiled at you as you passed them on the street. Another person may have taken 22 items into the express line. As you encounter these obstacles, remember that in our very same world, there are people who walk for hours daily to get drinking water, who can't afford a car or a trip to the grocery store, who are trapped in slavery and need someone to be an advocate, to care about them.

Remember them. Please.

2 comments:

Kevin Bales said...

Thanks for a great posting. I understand how coming to grips with the size of modern slavery can leave people feeling overwhelmed. But there's an interesting paradox about the 27 million slaves in the world - yes, it is a huge number, the largest ever in human history, but it is also the smallest fraction of the human population to ever be in slavery. Likewise, the amount of money slaves pump into the world economy is big, around $50 billion a year, but it is also the smallest fraction of the global economy to ever be represented by slave labor.

The truth is that slavery has been pushed to the edge of its own extinction and working together we can tip it over the brink. I hope you'll visit and share our website - www.freetheslaves.net, and maybe look at my book on how we can bring slavery to an end in 25 years, it is called: Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves.

All best wishes,
Kevin Bales

Unknown said...

Hey Kevin,

Thanks for taking the time to leave the comment. I hope we are able to continue this great work too!