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Dear Jonathan,

Summer is over and kids are back to school. But not enslaved children. For them, each day brings a lesson in hardship and mistreatment. They have no schoolmates, no pep rallies, no recess. Just backbreaking work and beatings.

That’s why Free the Slaves invests so heavily in education as part of our Community Liberation Model. An educated child is less likely to be trafficked. A community with adequate schools is more likely to be slavery-resistant. Child slavery survivors who receive remedial education can catch up with their peers and resume a normal life.

Education is like a vaccine for slavery.

We hope you’ll take this opportunity to teach a child. It’s one of the most important ways you can fight child slavery. And, as we conclude our summer-long Doubling Down on Freedom Campaign, you can double your impact. A generous foundation is matching all contributions to Free the Slaves dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000.

On behalf of the many children that our programs educate in Asia, Africa and the Americas, we share our deepest thanks.

With gratitude,
 
The Programs Team
Free the Slaves 

Dear Jonathan,

You may have seen in the news that the situation is tense in Haiti, where Free the Slaves operates a field program in partnership with Beyond Borders. We thought you might want to hear the latest news from David Diggs of the team.

It’s been a difficult year in Haiti, and it hasn’t gotten easier. 

The country moves into a second week of protests, there’s a continuing gas shortage, and paralyzing inflation. Frustrations with the nation’s elected leaders have become explosive. 

Roadblocks and the lack of fuel leave many on our staff with no choice but to travel by foot to do their work and to sleep in one of our local offices. Thankfully, our offices all rely on solar power, which allows most of the office work to continue.

But because we care greatly about the safety of our colleagues, there have been days when we have had to ask specific teams to avoid any travel and to do their best to work from wherever they are.  

We are very fortunate to have such an experienced team that has navigated many challenging periods and done heroic work in response to natural disasters.

It is never an easy decision to ask them to put their own safety first because of how committed they are to the people and causes we serve. 

There’s a Haitian saying that my colleague Freda Catheus, who leads our work on Lagonav Island, often repeats in moments like these:

Se pou ri ak moun ki gen kè kontan, kriye ak moun ki nan lapèn.

Laugh with those who are happy, mourn with those who mourn.

We hope you will join with us in prayer and solidarity, in this turbulent and uncertain period for Haiti.

Thank you for your ongoing concern and support.

The Programs Team
Free the Slaves

Dear Jonathan,

Free the Slaves is thrilled to announce that a courageous advocate for the rights of women and children has joined the organization as executive director. Bukeni Tete Waruzi has helped put a Congolese warlord behind bars, has helped women trafficked into domestic servitude in the Middle East, and has served as a tireless human rights champion with American, European and African organizations for more than 20 years.

“I have chosen to take action and dedicate my life to fighting for justice for victims and survivors everywhere in the world,” Waruzi says. “It is essential for peace and accountability, and to make the world a better place for everyone.”

Waruzi has documented human rights abuses, implemented advocacy campaigns, conducted training workshops and made public presentations in 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his home country, he formed the grassroots nonprofit group AJEDI-KA/Child Soldiers Project to confront the widespread enslavement of children by armed militias. He videotaped evidence that led to the imprisonment of a notorious warlord. In Kenya, Waruzi served as a program manager for the Porticus Foundation, overseeing projects on human rights, civic engagement, education and climate change. He served as executive director of Watchlist in New York, an organization that protects children in conflict zones. And he has served as a senior program manager in New York for WITNESS, a group that empowers victims worldwide to collect evidence that brings perpetrators to justice. Waruzi has made presentations to the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and the Children’s Caucus of the U.S. Congress.

“I am very excited to announce the selection of Bukeni Waruzi as the new executive director of Free the Slaves,” says Daniel Elkes, chair of the Free the Slaves board of directors. “With his experience, talent and leadership capabilities, I believe we will be able to propel the organization — and indeed the anti-slavery movement as a whole — to a new level. I look forward to what we will be able to accomplish together.”

"We are so thrilled to welcome Bukeni Waruzi,” say Carolyn Long and Timothy Patrick McCarthy, board members and co-chairs of the executive director search. “From an extraordinarily diverse and talented pool of applicants from across the globe, Bukeni emerged as the clear choice to lead our historic organization into its third decade. In addition to his truly exceptional record of achievement on the front lines of human rights work over the past generation, Bukeni is a visionary leader, strategic movement builder, and passionate advocate who has risked his life to liberate enslaved people and bring their oppressors to justice. Bukeni represents the very best of a rising generation of 21st century abolitionists working to end the ongoing scourge of modern slavery. We are honored to join him in this work."

"I am so happy to welcome Bukeni Waruzi as the new executive director,” says Evelyn Chumbow, a Free the Slaves board member who is herself a trafficking survivor. “I sat down with him during the selection process, and I believe he will bring new and amazing ideas to help sharpen the work that Free the Slaves continues to do."

Waruzi will lead Free the Slaves, one of the world’s most widely-known and respected anti-trafficking organizations, as it approaches an important milestone. In 2020, Free the Slaves turns 20 years old, at the same time that the U.N. Palermo Protocol and U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act also turn 20.

“I am honored to lead Free the Slaves at this critical moment in the history of the modern abolition movement,” Waruzi says. “There are many challenges facing the movement, and millions of people are still enslaved. But we have an opportunity for greater impact by pushing for systemic changes, effective support for victims and survivors, and improvement of social practices that allow slavery to exist.” 

The Free the Slaves board of directors would like to express its thanks to Gina Reiss, who has served with distinction as managing strategic consultant during the organization’s leadership transition. 

“Gina has demonstrated exceptional leadership and professionalism,” says Elkes. “We are thankful for all she has done, and are grateful that she has agreed to continue to work with us to both ensure a smooth transition as well as to set up Free the Slaves for continued future success.”

Dear Friend,

As the new executive director at Free the Slaves, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the values that motivate me in the historic struggle to end slavery forever. They are values that drive all efforts to foster social justice. I am certain they are things that you value too, because freedom and dignity and acceptance and self-determination are universal values.

I grew up in a small town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where thousands of children were enslaved as soldiers at mines to generate money for warlords. I am thankful that my parents were able to send me away to university. When I returned home, I dedicated my life to serving others. I helped put a Congolese warlord in jail, I’ve helped women enslaved as maids in the Middle East, and now I am helping my colleagues at Free the Slaves to liberate entire communities from slavery around the world.

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am thankful for the opportunity to lead one of the best-known and most-effective anti-slavery organizations in the world. As the holiday season unfolds over the next few weeks, you will be hearing from our courageous front-line activists about the many ways in which their values change lives.

And of course, we value your support. It makes our work possible. Together, we will make history.

With gratitude,
 
Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director
Free the Slaves

Dear Friend,
 
Today is the most important day of the year for social justice. Millions of people will contribute to organizations that make the world a better place. I’d like to take a quick moment to explain what you can accomplish by donating to Free the Slaves on #GivingTuesday:
 

1. #GivingTuesday gives health. Traffickers don’t care about the health of people they enslave.  We ensure that the people we liberate receive proper medical treatment in freedom.
    
2. #GivingTuesday gives nutrition. A nourishing breakfast, hearty lunch and wholesome dinner are distant dreams for people in slavery. They are typically fed just enough to stay alive to work another day. Donating to Free the Slaves is like putting food on the table for some of the world’s most deprived families.
    
3. #GivingTuesday gives education. There are no classrooms at the mines, plantations, fish camps or sweatshops where children are enslaved. Their schooling stops the moment slavery starts. Freedom and schooling change the trajectory of a child’s life.
    
4. #GivingTuesday gives equality. Traffickers thrive when women’s rights aren’t respected, when gender-based violence is ignored, when girls are denied education, and when people of different races, tribes, nationalities or social status face systemic discrimination. Your support of Free the Slaves changes these social dynamics.
    
5. #GivingTuesday gives dignity. Traffickers steal more than a person’s labor and wages, they attack a victim’s basic humanity. The slaveholder’s goal: force people to give up hope. Our message to those in slavery is simple: rewarding work and a fulfilling life are possible once again. By helping the enslaved understand and exercise their rights, we help people regain control and respect.

 
Your #GivingTuesday donation to Free the Slaves changes the conditions that allow slavery to persist. This systemic change leads to lasting freedom for victims and the vulnerable. I hope you will take a moment on this #GivingTuesday to take a stand against modern slavery.
 
With Gratitude,
Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director
Free the Slaves
 

Dear Friend,

Every child has the right to grow up in a safe environment that provides opportunities for a decent future. It’s a fundamental value, self-determination. Unfortunately, thousands of children in Ghana are denied this basic principle of fairness. Instead, they are trafficked into fishing slavery.
 
Our Growing up Free program in Ghana, supported by your contributions, provides enslaved children with a chance to be children once again, by liberating them from brutal mistreatment on fishing boats and returning them to nurturing environments. Gabriel is one of our success stories. 



At age 10, Gabriel was sent to live with his aunt and uncle after his mother fell seriously ill. However, soon after arriving, Gabriel's uncle began to force him to work as part of the family fishing business. With little rest or nourishment, Gabriel was forced onto Lake Volta as early as 3:00 a.m. He was often ordered to dive underwater and untangle fishing nets. Then, after a full day’s work on the boat, Gabriel was forced to work on land, mending nets and hauling equipment. Gabriel was abused both physically and verbally at the smallest provocation. He recalls that “my master sometimes tied my hands and neck and beat me.” Gabriel and many others in child slavery feel trapped and robbed of their youth. 
 
Gabriel and another boy decided to escape the abuse. When they arrived in a nearby village, a local leader alerted our Ghana partner organization, International Needs Ghana (INGH). At the INGH shelter, Gabriel was able to reclaim some of his lost youth, through schooling and psychological counseling.
 
Gabriel was reunited with his mother, and she has received livelihood support to grow her porridge business and support all her children. Gabriel was enrolled in an apprenticeship program to become a welder so that he can support his own family in the future.
 
Your contributions make success over slavery possible. Forgotten children are redefining their futures for themselves, reclaiming hope.
 
We hope that you will help us continue our vital work for the children of Ghana by making, renewing or increasing your annual contribution to Free the Slaves during our End-of-Year Universal Values Campaign.
 
Many thanks,
 
The Programs Team
Free the Slaves

Dear Friend,
 
There are few places on earth where it’s harder to stand up for human rights than Haiti. On this year’s Human Rights Day, we’d like to share an update about our courageous front-line activists there, who continue to fight child slavery even in times of national crisis.
 
Anti-government protests — some violent — have been growing worse. They’ve limited the provision of medical care, exacerbated food and fuel shortages, and reduced access to drinking water. More than two million children have been unable to attend school. Demonstrators are protesting against corruption and inflation. One analyst notes they not only want a new president, they want to “change the system of governance and the economic system that has gone along with it.”
 
Part of that system is the widespread exploitation of children as household slaves. Thousands are sent every year by impoverished rural families to work as domestic servants in the city. Parents hope their children will be well fed and educated, but many are brutally abused instead.
 
That’s why staffers in our United to End Child Slavery program with Beyond Borders in Haiti continue their work despite the current danger and hardship, braving civic unrest on the streets and sleeping in their offices at night.
 

 
Here’s why they do it:
 
“I've always been driven by a desire to rebel against injustice: children who are trapped in child slavery, women who are victims of violence at the hands of men and are denied their human rights.” — Freda Catheus
 
“As a survivor of child slavery I am compelled to do all that I can to fight against this practice so that no child ever suffers what I did.” — Christnel Brivard
 
“What gives me great satisfaction in my work is knowing the number of children freed from slavery and protected from abuse and neglect.” — Sonel Joseph
 
Your support makes their work possible. We hope you will value their determination by making, renewing or increasing your contribution to Free the Slaves during our Universal Values 2019 End-of-Year Campaign.
 
“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”  — American writer Audre Lorde
 
Many thanks,
 
The Programs Team
Free the Slaves 

Dear Friend,

It takes resilience to live in rural Nepal. Mountainous terrain and a lack of roads limit access to healthcare and education. Caste systems and violence against women and children create socioeconomic disparity. Dependence on agriculture and tourism limit the national economy. About 25 percent of the population lives in poverty. Many children are forced into slavery.

Dear Friend,

It’s a simple concept, and a universal value: acceptance.
 
“He who is different from me does not impoverish me — he enriches me,” wrote the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
 
But in the Dominican Republic, a lack of acceptance fuels modern slavery. Haitian immigrants and people of Haitian descent are the country’s poorest residents. They are discriminated against in Dominican society and in the legal system. Many are not citizens — including children born in the Dominican Republic — and are not accorded full rights. They endure forced labor slavery on farms, at construction sites and in tourist resorts. 

Dear Friend,

Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once observed that “the future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.” At Free the Slaves, we dream of a future where everyone is free from slavery.

Roosevelt believed in that dream too. Freedom from slavery is near the top of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which she helped shepherd through the United Nations 71 years ago this month.

Making that dream come true is challenging. Our front-line teams are helping residents fight for freedom in communities where poverty, corruption and discrimination make it possible for slavery to persist. Our work is grounded in the values that support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We not only liberate the enslaved, we change the economic, political and social systems that make people vulnerable.

Dear Jonathan

The year 2020 brings several important anniversaries. It’s the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Palermo Protocol, the landmark treaty to confront modern forms of slavery worldwide. It’s also the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the cornerstone for America’s governmental programs to combat human trafficking. And:

We were born in the early days of the new millennium as a small collective of dedicated activists committed to alerting the world about slavery’s global comeback and to catalyze a resurgence of the abolition movement. Free the Slaves exists to help finish the work that earlier generations of abolitionists started.

We’ve grown over the years, and now help those in slavery escape the brutality of bondage. We help prevent others from becoming trapped by traffickers. We help officials bring slave holders to justice. We help survivors restore their dignity, rebuild their lives, and reclaim the future for themselves, their families and their communities.

Ultimately, slavery will end when you take action. We’re building a movement for social justice, and that takes everyone doing their part. During January, which is Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month in the U.S., we hope you will join us join us in spreading freedom worldwide.

1. We free slaves. We’ve liberated more than 14,000 people so far. Many more need help.
2. We prevent slavery. We’ve trained more than 650,000 vulnerable villagers how to protect themselves, their families and their neighbors from traffickers.
3. We bring traffickers to justice. We’ve trained police worldwide, and we’ve filed cases that get police to conduct raids that liberate the enslaved and incarcerate their traffickers.
4. We protect children. More than 25 percent of slavery victims are kids. Our child rights strategies help parents and communities safeguard their youngest and most vulnerable members.
5. We protect entire communities. We identify specific vulnerabilities that put people at risk, then help people make their village slavery-free and slavery-resistant.
6. We create lasting freedom. We help survivors with counseling, education, skills training and microcredit so they can remain free after they break free.
7. Freedom creates social progress. Research shows that people in liberated communities enjoy better health care, nutrition, education, government services, civic participation, gender equality and economic opportunity.
8. We create a freedom dividend. People in freedom get paid for their work. Slaves do not. When people start earning money again, they boost their local economy.
9. We take a holistic approach. Our community-based strategy does more than liberate the enslaved. It changes the conditions that allow slavery to persist. Systemic change ensures sustainable freedom.
10. You can trust us. We rigorously monitor our projects and publish our results to ensure we’re getting the job done in hot spots around the globe. Your contribution is not a gift, it’s an investment. We make sure that it generates results.
11. We educate and mobilize. Our front-line teams ensure that community members learn about their rights and then band together to demand stronger rule of law to free those in slavery and better social services to prevent slavery’s spread. Collective action is the key to community-wide protection.
12. We speak truth to power. Our policy advocacy work inside the U.S. has strengthened American law and increased funding for anti-slavery programs at home and abroad. Our work at the United Nations is ensuring that civil society organizations have a seat at the table in crafting global anti-slavery projects.
13. We’re building the movement. Our annual Freedom from Slavery Forum convenes anti-trafficking activists from organizations big and small to share best practices, coordinate action and strengthen our collective voice.
14. We’re scaling-up. Our Community Liberation Initiative is helping large international development organizations to integrate anti-trafficking activities into a wide range of aid programs that are already at work in communities where slavery is a persistent problem.
15. We’re cleaning up the global economy. We’re championing legislation that requires corporations to cleanse their supply chains of forced labor – all the way down to the production of raw materials from mines, farms and fishing fleets.
16. Ending slavery is the right thing to do. It’s morally wrong and it’s against the law. Period.
17. Ending slavery is the smart thing to do. Imagine putting $150 billion into the hands of impoverished and vulnerable people. That’s how much traffickers profit each year. Ending slavery is a great investment to address global poverty.
18. Your donation makes a difference. Our strategy to free entire communities, rather than individuals only, accelerates the spread of freedom.
19. You can make history. Early abolitionists successfully outlawed slavery, but they didn’t eradicate it. That’s our generation’s job, to end slavery for everyone everywhere.
20. Freedom is the best gift you could ever give. Imagine the impact you can have on the trajectory of child’s life, or the stability of an entire family, with a donation to Free the Slaves.

We’ll keep you up to date on events during 2020 as our 20^th birthday year unfolds. On behalf of our founders, board members, partners, and staffers around the world, our gratitude for making a difference by making Free the Slaves one of the world’s most widely-known and respected anti-slavery organizations.

Dear Friend,

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”

Author William Faulkner’s thoughts about the value of standing up and speaking out capture the spirit of our policy advocacy program at Free the Slaves. Liberating the enslaved will not, in itself, end slavery. We must also advocate for legal, political and social change.

That’s why we need your continued support. We’re building a movement for justice to bring freedom to everyone, everywhere.

Your contribution supports our advocacy work on many levels:

• ON THE FRONT LINES: We help community residents band together to stand up for their rights – including tougher law enforcement, better services so survivors can restart their lives, and development funding to reduce vulnerability in remote and impoverished villages.
• IN THE U.S.: We push for stronger laws and increased funding. Working in partnership as co-chair and secretariat for the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, we’ve successfully lobbied Congress to improve the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and resist budget cut proposals from the White House.
• AT THE U.N.: We represent civil society on the Global Coordinating Group of Alliance 8.7, the U.N. effort to end forced and child labor. We’re fighting for greater involvement and funding for nonprofit groups worldwide.
• ACROSS THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT: We convene the annual Freedom from Slavery Forum, where activists from organizations big and small gather to share best practices, chart strategy and strengthen our collective voice.

Dear Friend,
 
Today is World Day Against Child Labor, a time to reflect on the fact that millions of children toil in harmful and hazardous jobs. Many are forced to work by their families or by traffickers. Many are beaten and whipped into submission.
 
That is what happened to Kofi* in Ghana. The photos of the mistreatment he endured are disturbing to see, but we are sharing them with you today as vivid reminders that child labor is child abuse.

At six years old, Kofi was sent onto the fishing boats of Lake Volta. His job: bail water from the bottom of leaky canoes. He did not go to school, he was not allowed to play with friends, his childhood had become a dawn-to-dusk ordeal of nonstop work. When he resisted, Kofi was subjected to severe physical and emotional abuse.

"Most of the bruises you see on my head are a result of the paddle used on me most times," Kofi said. The scars on his back and chest are from being whipped with wire. Sometimes Kofi was tied up inside his house. He was denied food if he refused to work.

Fortunately, Kofi's situation came to the attention of a Community Child Protection Committee that Free the Slaves and our Ghanaian partner organization helped establish in a nearby village.

These committees educate community members about child rights. They also serve as neighborhood watch groups to identify and report cases of harmful child labor and trafficking.    
 
Kofi was quickly rescued by police. His stepfather was arrested and sentenced to pay a heavy fine or serve a term in jail.
 
Thanks to your contributions to Free the Slaves, Kofi is now safe. But unfortunately, many more children need help. We hope that on this World Day Against Child Labor, you will continue your support.

With gratitude,
 
 

Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director | Free the Slaves

*Kofi is a pseudonym used to safeguard the child's identity  

Dear Friends,

I'd like to share some important and inspiring news from our program in Haiti. There's a deep sense of community spirit among Haiti's slavery survivors. That's why the Adult Survivor Network has stepped forward to be part of the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the call went out for seamstresses and tailors, a team of 30 survivors formed to sew 4,000 masks and assemble 2,400 hygiene kits. They are being distributed in Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and La Gonave Island.

"This initiative is a good one," says Jacqueline, who was enslaved as a domestic servant as a child. "If every organization thought like this, I believe that the coronavirus would not spread too much."

The masks are sewn using instructions from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The hygiene kits include buckets with taps, soap and chlorine for washing hands and sanitizing household items. Information on social distancing to prevent COVID-19 transmission is included.

COVID-19 testing and treatment is extremely limited in Haiti, especially in impoverished and remote regions. That means prevention is a critical front-line defense. The United to End Child Slavery program, run jointly by Free the Slaves and Beyond Borders, is adapting field activities to meet the most pressing needs caused by the pandemic. This also includes providing food, seeds for community gardens and activities to address the growing risks of gender-based violence during periods of extreme social stress.

We hope that you continue to support Free the Slaves so that our innovative programs in Haiti and other slavery hot-spot countries can assist vulnerable communities during this time of extraordinary need.

With gratitude,
 
 

Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director | Free the Slaves

Dear friend,

I hope that you and your family are healthy and safe during these difficult times. I am reaching out to you today to share about how the Covid-19 global pandemic is affecting communities where slavery makes people especially vulnerable to disasters and financial shocks, and how Free the Slaves teams are adapting.

Now, more than ever, we must confront the forces of discrimination and disenfranchisement that are worsening under the societal stress caused by the worldwide medical and economic emergency. Crises cause spikes in debt bondage, forced labor and human trafficking. The depth and scope of the current crisis will cause devastating and long-lasting effects on those who are vulnerable to enslavement.

Free the Slaves team members have been adapting our rights-education and community mobilization field programs to be of service even though in-person meetings aren't possible in many places.

HAITI: Our teams are distributing 2,000 hygiene kits in rural areas, and continue one-on-one case work with the 220 people in our poverty alleviation program. The team is working with U.N. officials to ensure that anti-trafficking activities are integrated into international assistance.

GHANA: Free the Slaves staffers are working to ensure that child rescue shelters have the resources they need to protect and serve the slavery survivors who live there. Some children will have to remain in the shelter longer than usual, because returning them to their homes isn't safe. Field teams are teaching social distancing and proper handwashing techniques where small group meetings are still possible.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Our team is advocating for their rights of Haitian immigrants and those of Haitian descent. Government aid is not reaching them. The team is using WhatsApp to communicate health and safety information via cell phone.

INDIA: The notorious brick kilns that enslave workers have been closed by government order. But forced labor continues on farms. Training of government officials on India's laws to outlaw slavery has gone virtual. Just before India's nationwide lockdown, 21 people were liberated in a police raid.

Our teams continue to plan for the global pandemic's consequences, including when debt will force many families into slavery. Traffickers with false promises of lucrative work abroad will target impoverished villages.

For 20 years, the Free the Slaves commitment to liberate victims and protect the vulnerable has never wavered. I hope that you can continue to support our mission in this historic moment. Your financial contribution in these critical times will help us to continue the work of ending slavery.

With gratitude,
 
 

Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director | Free the Slaves

Dear friend,

The countries where Free the Slaves works (Ghana, India, Haiti, Nepal and Dominican Republic) have not reached peak level in the COVID-19 pandemic. But it is affecting them all, directly or indirectly. And we know from experience that every crisis has an aftermath.

Our commitment to victims and the vulnerable is continuing and adapting to local realities. Staff teams and partner organizations in most Free the Slaves countries have been forced to curtail field work in villages and neighborhoods to protect staffers and the community members they serve. In Haiti, we are distributing health information in villages where public gatherings are still allowed. Even where community education and mobilization work is on hold, case work support for individuals continues.

Our staffers are also preparing for a surge of grassroots activity as soon as the pandemic passes. Previous natural disasters such as droughts, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes have taught us that the aftermath always includes a spike in human trafficking.

I was in India just two weeks ago, visiting a village that Free the Slaves has helped become slavery-free and slavery-resistant. I could feel the bond we had built, the bridge to freedom that happens when communities with resources support communities plagued by modern slavery. We must not let that bond be broken.

Of course, at the moment everyone is understandably focused on their own health, their families, their coworkers and their communities. But thinking ahead, we will need to pull together again to help those in slavery. The socially, politically and economically disadvantaged always suffer worst in a crisis.

I will keep you posted with situation updates and plans for the future. For the latest news, you can follow our field updates on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Please reach out to us at info@freetheslaves.net with any suggestions and concerns.

With gratitude,
 
 

Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director | Free the Slaves

On this special Tuesday, people around the world will come together to celebrate generosity and make an impact. We hope you will share some love this holiday season with individuals and families going through tough times, including those trapped in modern forms of slavery around the globe.

At Free the Slaves, our goal is to create a powerful movement that brings the injustice of modern slavery to an end. Can you make freedom for all your goal, too?  

Give the Gift of Freedom and Equality

Traffickers thrive when women's rights aren't respected, when gender-based violence is ignored, when girls are denied education, and when people of different races, tribes, nationalities or social status face systemic discrimination.

The links between trafficking and racial bias are not always visible, but they are undeniable.

Race and discrimination are risk factors for trafficking, and they often determine the treatment women experience when they migrate to seek work. People of color are often treated as a servant underclass in other countries.

Racist ideology and racial, ethnic and gender discrimination contribute to the demand for desperate migrants who can be exploited. Your support of Free the Slaves helps change these social dynamics.

For the Sake of Freedom, Please Donate Today

Can you imagine fighting for your freedom at a time like this? The global pandemic has made trafficking worse. People trapped in modern slavery need your help, especially on a day dedicated to transforming the world.

With gratitude, 

Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director I Free the Slaves

Dear Friends,

Great news! Your generous contributions to our "Everyone Deserves a Mask" campaign earlier this year helped us deliver vital COVID-19 personal protective equipment and nutrition parcels in the Dominican Republic, just in time for the Holidays.

Our Dominican Republic partner, Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas (MUDHA) promotes gender justice and human rights in communities where people of Haitian descent live. These villages are plagued by modern slavery, in part because of racial discrimination against people of Haitian heritage. They have been left behind by government programs to protect the public from the coronavirus.

Your support has helped these communities at an especially vulnerable time. MUDHA was able to provide masks, sanitizer and essential food staples to 79 households, helping 323 individuals.

Dear Friend,

I have hope as we approach the year-end holidays, and I hope that you do, too. With the many challenges we face in promoting equality and universal freedom in the world today, what brings me hope is the optimism I hear from slavery survivors and their families around the world.   

Will you continue to support the Free the Slaves mission to help the enslaved break free and stay free?

Freedom is contagious. When one person breaks free, they inspire the next person to take their own first step. When one community becomes slavery resistant, the next village follows their example. Freedom is a powerful force for justice, equality, dignity - and hope.

"I want to educate my kids and motivate others to do the same so at least the next generation does not lead to a life like mine," says Soni, a trafficking survivor in India who now runs her own community vigilance committee (CVC) to help neighbors resist human traffickers who lure people into slavery with offers of loans.

Your continued investment in Free the Slaves makes dreams possible. Please renew your contribution today.

Free people have the possibility to shape the trajectory of their lives, and the future of their children. It takes courage and perseverance, but freedom has always been worth fighting for. That's why I have hope that our fight to end slavery will be successful.

The staff and global partnership network of Free the Slaves hope that you have a happy year-end holiday season, and we thank you for your continued support.


With gratitude, 

Bukeni Waruzi
Executive Director I Free the Slaves

PS: Temporary changes to the tax code because of the COVID-19 pandemic allow U.S. individuals who do not itemize to deduct up to $300 of charitable contributions in 2020. Those who do itemize can deduct up to 100% of their income.