Better Way Imports

27 million.

That’s a number you should know.

It is the number of slaves in our world today. The number of people with faces, families, dreams, and stories that are forced into slave labor or human trafficking. If you think about it long enough, it is a very daunting number. 

 What can you do with a number like 27 million when you are just 1?

That is a question I have wrestled with for months. Last year, I had the unique opportunity to sit in on a week of training put on by the FBI and the Polaris Project and the local  Coalition Against Human Trafficking. It was a week of heartbreaking statistics and facts. Of numbers to awful to repeat. Of an industry making billions of dollars by buying and selling human beings. And it was a week of hope. Hope that these numbers can and will change. As the week ended, I was left with a lot of information, but not a lot of action. What could I do? As I have continued to wrestle with this, I have changed so much of my life. I am much more careful about where I shop and how I spend my money. I read as much as I can to stay informed on the topic and what is going on. I talk about it to anyone that will listen. But none of it felt like it was making much difference and so I left for Portland a few weeks ago frustrated and out of ideas.

Then I met a lady named Beth George who works for Better Way Imports. She started sharing with me the vision and mission of the organization and how I could get involved.  Better Way Imports supports women and organizations that are fighting human trafficking on the ground. They have created a way to market the products the women make and they provide jobs, education, childcare, and host of other needs to the women. The organizations they partner with teach the women a skill and give them the tools to make a life for themselves outside of human trafficking. Once the goods get to the US,  they partner with independent sales reps who they refer to as Freedom Fighters (fitting name).  These independent sales reps host parties and sell the goods made by the women completing the circle and doing something to help break the cycle and chain of slavery. 

I will be the first to admit, I am not a sales person. I have turned down countless offers to sign on as Mary Kay reps and the like. But I am passionate about fighting slavery.  And that is a hard battle.  How do you fight it? How can one person make a difference? I will tell you how. You can join me in supporting Better Way Imports. If you live close to me, come to one of my parties. If not, contact me through my blog and I will send you a catalog. The products are great gift ideas and in a wide range of prices and options.  The cost of a necklace or a card or a bag won’t break your bank and it will continue to provide a way for women to be rescued from slavery and brought into a life of freedom.  I am going to be a freedom fighter. Will you join me?