Literature

Jawaharlal Nehru once said, We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell (Williams, 2009). This statement is discussing the new free country of India in 1947 when dreams were still alive. Despite the greatest of dreams, some of the realities plaguing the country are living nightmares, and above all, children cannot freely dwell. There is an existing problem in the world today with illegal human trafficking. Many people do not even know this is an issue however, in recent years, there have been numerous accounts of young women in Nepal and other remote areas being sold into slavery and taken to India.

In Sold by Patricia McCormick, a young Nepali girl reaches a breaking point when she is visited by an American. Throughout the entire novel, she does not lose her spirit to live or her will to survive. She does not know whether to trust him or not however, his relief efforts are relentless to save these young women. She does not know English, and it is hard to communicate with him, thus adding to her cause for concern. In the end, though, with the efforts of a non-profit relief organization she runs towards her freedom saying the little English she knows her name, her age, and where she is from (McCormick, 2006).  Although illegal child trafficking is a key issue that needs to be focused on, there is a much deeper issue at hand. It is extreme poverty that forces these families to abandon all reason and send their children away for a little sum of money. The conditions of the slaves are harsh. Lakshmi says, Tonight when Mumtaz comes to my room, she sees that her strap has left raw sores on my back and neck, arms and legs. So she hits me on the soles of my feet (McCormick, 2006). It is unbearable to know a little thirteen-year-old girl is enduring these conditions right now because her family does not have food to eat.

The target audience consists of individuals looking for a cause to donate to or to act on, immediately. In recent years, there have been novels written, such as Sold, as well as an HBO special called The Red Light District to shed light on this growing epidemic. There are small accounts of child prostitution in Slum Dog Millionaire also. The audience age ranges, but young adults can be a key target since the people interviewed are typically between the ages of nine to twenty. The target audience can also be adapted with additional means of getting the message out about this issue such as songs or videos. What ever the means, there is a great effort to document these accounts and share them globally.

The solution for child trafficking is somewhat costly because it involves a task force in the country to save them and resources to take care of them after they are saved, but there are ways to raise funds to assist with the problem. There are currently many non-profit organizations that are raising awareness and funding for this specific issue. Although this solution is costly, there are less expensive efforts to stop the underlying cause of these incidents. For starters, there are many charitable organizations such as www.freerice.com that are enjoyable games for young people to practice basic skills and raise funds for impoverished countries. As seen with the efforts in Haiti, there should be funds that can directly connect to peoples needs in poverty-stricken areas during natural disasters such as the monsoon. Lastly, there should be education resources for those living in remote areas, like Nepal. Young people from America can teach basic English skills to these children and create an alliance with them. This would be a life skills lesson for Americans, plus, the children in these areas would not be taken away from all they know with no means of communication. As Nehru says, as long as there are tears and suffering, our work will not be over (Williams, 2009).