The unheard stories in each of us

The New York Times did a feature article on Jacob Deng Mach, who, as a child, was one of the Lost Boys from Sudan sent to live in Georgia by the government to escape the violent shootings and attacks from the Sudanese civil war but had a difficult transition into civilized American lifestyle. Not only was the mentality and value critically different, but society didn't accept him as easily as they could have. While he went through military training, his officers often threw up their hands in exasperation and expressed their frustration at Jacob's struggle to follow orders.

For a time, this had a palpable effect on Jacob that presented a different kind of pain than wandering around Africa without a real home or family, a different kind of pain than living on one meal a day for 10 years, being chased by lions, or hiding from the shooters who made it impossible to live a single day with a sense of safety. It came from the dull, hollow, hopeless feeling that gnawed at his stomach whenever he felt alone, which was pretty much all the time. It came from the cold glances of people who judged before they listened, the people who gave up on him before they saw what he was capable of, the people who labeled him before they knew him.

This is an extreme case in which the story of the past is unfathomably disturbing, but deep down we each bury our past and feel the sting when people judge us without knowing our past. It is becoming increasingly difficult for immigrants to adjust to societies because people are becoming more and more closed in and unwelcoming to those who are different from themselves. But if we've learned anything from history, we'd know that this only creates harm. We fail to realize that intolerance harms not only other people, but ourselves as well. We lose the opportunity to learn from their stories, to connect our past with those of other people, and to contribute to the community by advocating diversity, unity, and equality.

I hope for the day when we can realize that everyone has a story, and that this makes us all equal rather than giving us the right to judge.

A look in the shadows of Cambodia

CNN recently wrote a feature on sex trafficking in Cambodia. Following the stories of survivors, the reporters traced all the way back to the mothers in Cambodia who sold their daughters into sex slavery. The motives were mostly simple. Poverty is a everywhere in some towns of Cambodia that continues to drive people to make rash decisions for the promise of money. When a family falls into debt that they cannot pay, they do anything for even a little bit of money, even if it involves giving up their own daughters to voluntarily be raped by men.

This scars the victims for the rest of their lives. Knowing that their mothers are in the car outside, voluntarily allowing them to be molested and physically abused by two or three men a night has a huge effect on the victims' sense of self worth. These mothers have to stoop so low and get their daughters to take such a low place that it's horrifying what people would do for a bit of money.

The article introduced organizations such as Agape International Missions, which rescue and rehabilitate victims of sex slavery, and described what they have done to prevent the issue. It ends on a hopeful note, talking about how the victims now have hope for a beautiful future in which they can pursue their own dreams so that they can provide for their family in ways that don't require them to harm themselves in any way.

Yes, slavery does exist in the 21st century. People do anything to survive and make ends meet, even if it is at the expense of their own dignity and the rights they have as humans. That's why I think this feature article captured something so important, so necessary. The media needs to step in and become the voice of the victims and their families on this issue that is so gruesome and dark that it's left in the shadows of countries that participate in sex trade.

It's time not only to bring these secretive, in-the-shadows issues to light, but also to start proposing ideas on how to get involved to end them.

The freedom of a blogger

The first amendment allows freedom of speech to every American citizen. There is a question of to what extent, because posts on social media can be potentially harmful, especially if it's not the truth. But to what extent can the government censor these "non-truths" without taking away the freedom completely? How would they go through every single blog post looking to see if things are true or not? What if they keywords they search for are not used in the context they're looking for?
If we were to put governmental interference and regulations on these blogs, there will come a point where people will begin to argue that they cannot post anything anymore. It will become too powerful and begin to censor things that don't need to be censored. People will lose what voice they have to speak up against governmental actions. This voice is what makes the will of the people known. It's what allows people to influence the world around them, to react to the world.