Stop Trafficking! August and September 2015 Newsletters

August 2015

Awareness  : 

• 2015 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report
• Criticism of TIP 2015
• Victims of Exploitation (Personal stories from various countries)
• The Link Between Extractive Industries and Sex Trafficking
• Modern Slavery as a Tactic in Armed Conflicts
• United States Self-Critique
• Global Call to Amnesty International: Do NOT Legalize Pimps, Brothel Owners and 'Johns'

Advocacy    : 

• 2015 TIP Report Tier Placement
• TIP Heroes

Action         :

• Educational Video on Human Trafficking
• Progress Report from the Office of Victims of Crime

Click here for the August Stop Trafficking! Newsletter

September 2015

Awareness  : Demand for Services: Exploitation and Trafficking

• U.S. Sales Crews
• 'I Didn't Know'
• 'Human Harvest'
• Hospital 'Laundering'
• Medical Professionals & Human Trafficking
• 'Soft'Core' Porn and a Child's Brain
• September Summit: Fighting Sexploitation
• Clothing Industry: Argentinian Sweatshops
• Film: 'The True Cost"

Advocacy    : 

• Polaris Advocacy for Victims of "Sales Crew' Abuses
• Lawyers' Role in the Fight Against Human Trafficking
• Update on the 2015 'Dirty Dozen' List

Action         :

• Polaris 'Sales Crew' Actions
• Clothing Industry Actions
• Ask Twitter to Change Course
• #PornFreeWiFi
• Dancing Lessons
• Stop Putting Porn in Front of Kids!
• Cosmopolitan Campaign

Click here for the September Stop Trafficking! Newsletter

A Welcoming Place

Our Provincial House in Middletown, RI, welcomes Cluny Sisters from the Province of the USA & Canada and from around the world. This summer among the many who came were (l-r) Sister Margaret Nellieakennul from Ghana, West Africa to do Mission Appeals, Sister Yannick Saieh returning to the Province after 6 years in Haiti, Sister Maria do Ceu Mendes, taking her summer holidays from Hamilton, Ontario Canada and Sister Luke Parker, Provincial welcoming all who come to the 'heart' of the Province. This small gathering in little Rhody characterizes the diversity of our international, missionary congregation and the diverse ways in which the sisters serve.

Sister Margaret is from India and serves in Ghana in the remote village school of Domeabra. Sister Yannick is Haitian and will be establishing a new Cluny community in Norwich, CT in the fall. Sister Maria is administrative secretary for the Portuguese parish of St. Mary's in Hamilton, Canada. Sister Luke, American, serves as Provincial. We rejoice in the 'Cor Unum et Anima Una' that is ours. All are welcome in this place.

Sisters Visit Associates in West Virginia

Following Sister Margaret's visit to New Hampshire for mission appeals, Sisters Mary Patrice, Eugenia and Margaret embarked on a road trip to West Virginia to visit with the Cluny Associates. Here is the story, told by Sister Mary Patrice:

Our West Virginia Trip

Sunday, June 28           

We drove to Allentown, PA – stayed at Comfort Suites, across the street from Dorney Amusement and Water Park. The free hot breakfast was amazing!

Monday June 29

We made the 7 hour trip to Saint Barbara’s, Chapmanville,  without any problems…except for  the fact that Sophia on the GPS lost track of us several times through the mountains. We finally arrived at our destination around 6:00 pm and were greeted by Cathy Marino and Kathy Mounts. They had thoughtfully prepared dinner for us: stew, homemade cranberry bread and iced tea.

  

Tuesday, June 30... Click here to follow the rest of the 5 day trip

Stop Trafficking! Newsletters June and July 2015

June 2015

Awareness  : Labor Trafficking

• Exploitation of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates
• Death Toll Rising Among Qatar's 2022 World Cup Workers
• Qatar: Neglect of Domestic Workers
• "Migrant Workers' Rights on Saadiyat Island in the United Arab Emirates: 2015 Progress Report" 

  The report is available at:  http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/uae0215_ForUploadR.pdf

• The Push to Assure Conflict-free Minerals for Electronic Production

Advocacy    :

• Global Human Rights Advocates Call for Domestic Worker Reforms

Action         :

• Survivors Speak of Exploitation
• Trafficking in the Garment Industry
• The Real Price of a Cup of Tea

Click here for June's Newsletter

July 2015

Awareness  : Dirty Fingers: Our Electronic Gadgets and Human Trafficking

• Child Trafficking: Forced Labor in Mineral Mining
• Enough Project: 'Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets - Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012'
• Facts and Figures About Child Labor

Advocacy    :

• Nine Things You Need To Know About Conflict Minerals
• U.S. Flight Attendants Seek Mandatory Training to Spot Human Trafficking
• Truckers: Eyes on the Road
• Vigilance: 75th Anniversary Bike Rally
• "Does Your Hotel Know?" - a call for hotels and travelers to be aware of sex trafficking
• Credit Card Companies Sever Ties with Backpage.com

Action         :

• Nintendo Still Uses Conflict Minerals
• Book: 'The Witness Wore Red'

Click here for July's Newsletter

A Cluny Vocation Story

Sister Margaret Nellieakunnel, SJC

   For my parents, out of eight children I take the sixth position. Out of five girls, three became religious in three different congregations. We all had the privilege of studying in a convent school.

   As a child, I had a desire to be a missionary. When I finished school, I wanted to enter religious life but I did not know where to go. I did not want to consult anyone, even my sister who was already a religious, thinking that they would be a block to the path God wanted me to follow. Those days I prayed to God ardently to show me the way. In my prayer I told Him boldly that whomever I met first, I would join that congregation. By the grace of God, the first religious I encountered was a Cluny and I am proud to be a Cluny today!

   As a Cluny, my life was not a bed of roses. There were many obstacles planted along the way, but God helped me to overcome them all.

   Though I wanted to be a missionary, I didn’t know the full implications of being one. Five years after I was asked to go to Africa, seeing God’s Hand behind it, I gave a positive answer. However, I felt the pain so intensely that I shed tears every time I had to say goodbye. I was making a leap into the darkness. When I reached Gambia, West Africa, I was like a fish out of water. It took me one year to surrender myself fully to God. Thirty years later, I am still here.  I consider myself to be more African than Indian, blooming where I am planted.

   As I write these lines, I am in the United States for Mission Appeals. This is my second visit in three years and I am happy to meet so many good, generous people. I am a proud daughter of Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey and part of the Cluny family.

Cluny's Congregational Feastday!

Anne Marie Javouhey, Liberator of Slaves, 

sculpted by Marius Marzetto for the parish church in Cluny, France.

The measure for loving God is to love God without measure.

Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey Letter 665

As we join together in celebrating 

Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey,

may you be inspired to share 

her Charism 

of freedom and liberation

in new and creative ways.

May you do a little good 

wherever

God’s Will leads you

so that the joy of the Gospel

may spread,

and all people may one day

love God and others

without measure.

RENEW Dinner Gala

 

Evangelization Matters!

 

Congratulations

RENEW International

RENEW held its 16^th Annual Dinner Gala at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, New Jersey on June 4, 2015.  Sister Luke, Provincial of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny and Cluny sister, Sister Marie who is on mission with Renew International and spearheads their Renew Africa program, attended the Gala.

Renew International fosters spiritual renewal in the Catholic tradition by empowering individuals and communities to encounter God in everyday life, deepen and share faith, and connect faith with action.

We would like to add our congratulations to the three receiving awards this evening. Their story of faith and service and the way they connected faith to life is very inspiring.

    Gala Honorees: 

Sr. Mary Flood, O.P., M.D, PH.D

President’s Award

 

Tom Higgins

Spirit of Renew Award

 

Mario Paredes

Msgr. Thomas A. Kleissler Award

 

Follow the link for more information about RENEW International

 http://www.renewintl.org/