The Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids are called to expose the truth about modern-day slavery and advocate for substantive laws that protect victims and hold accountable all who facilitate and enable human trafficking. We cannot stay silent when so many are in pain.

There is a sociological and economic truth of the deplorable worldwide industry in human trafficking. For purposes of slave and sex labor, desperate men, women, and children are drawn into a vortex of degradation. We denounce the consumerist mentality by which human beings are turned into mere instruments of satisfaction and profit.

Our congregation collaborates with several national, state, and local groups to raise consciousness, expose, and end human trafficking. During January 2018, National Awareness Month for Human Trafficking, the public is invited to attend these programs hosted by the Dominican Sisters response team. Three programs are being presented on successive Thursdays at 2:00 pm in Dominican Center at Marywood.

    • Thursday, Jan. 11, 2:00 pm   Film: The Price of Sugar
      About the Film: On the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic, tourists flock to pristine beaches, with little knowledge that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians are under armed guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, most of which ends up in US kitchens. Cutting cane by machete, they work 14 hour days, 7 days a week, frequently without access to decent housing, electricity, clean water, education, healthcare or adequate nutrition. The Price of Sugar follows a charismatic Spanish priest, Father Christopher Hartley, as he organizes some of this hemisphere’s poorest people, challenging the powerful interests profiting from their work. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate, at what human cost they are produced and ultimately, where our responsibility lies.
    • Thursday, Jan. 18, 2:00 pm  Film:  Kavi: Child Labor in India
    •  About the Film: Kavi is an award-winning, Oscar-nominated short feature film available in the UK through Dalit Freedom Network. Kavi is about a young boy in India who wants to play cricket and go to school, but instead he is forced to work in a brick-kiln as a modern-day slave. Dissatisfied with his fate, Kavi must either accept what he’s always been told, or fight for a different life even if he’s unsure of the ultimate outcome. Kavi gives an insight into the reality of life for millions of Dalit children in bonded labor in India today.” A discussion will follow this short film.
    • Thursday, Jan. 25, 2:00 pm Presentation by Christine Albertini entitled Partners Worldwide: Ending Poverty, Creating Opportunity

 

Contact: Sister Brigid Clingman, OP or the Reception Desk at Dominican Center at Marywood (616) 514-3325

Learn  more about the Justice Ministry of the Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids.

Programs at Dominican Center