We think we can save the world or we do our little bit

Bangkok Post - Sex workers waiting outside a bar for customers.

Human trafficking is a central issue in our work at Caritas.  I do not underestimate the priority we should give in addressing this evil.  To put it in perspective, human trafficking is the modern day term for what we called slavery in the past.  Slavery does still exist and it is pure evil. 

The prupose of my writing is not to pursue a line of advocacy but to approach the issue based on my work experience in NGO world and on reading an article in UCAN (Catholic Asia News). 

The article clearly states that why women here do this is to fulfill their duties to their family.  Sex work is the only way they see to "rescue their families from poverty".  This is based on the strong local cultural forces placed on children to personally look after their parents and family.  This responsibility remains very real and becomes a burden for many when the children themselves are poor or lack resources for a livelihood.  The article concludes with:
"Sleeping with strangers and risking abuse should be a woman's last resort.  Society must do everything it can to equip women with the necessary tools to realize their full potential. If it fails to do that, it has no right to pass judgment." 

Then there is my little world wherein this is a major issue that demands a response on the part of the Church.  My response seems to focus on meetings, discussions, trainings and producing documents.  All is very needed in the overall process but I wonder where is the actual hands on action happening, finding it frustrating thinking to myself - Let's get on and do it! 

In the midst of all this, the reality sinks in when I remember how a missionary priest doing great work here faced a huge dilemma in his place of mission in a port and industrial centre in southern Thailand.  He was made aware that underage Burmese females were being used as sex workers in the town.  He pleaded to me - "What can I do?"  The dilemma was that he was a foreigner in Thailand and the local trade was being run by the police.  As foreigners, our voice is limited.  If the priest spoke out too loudly, he faced being moved out and having his mission closed.  This would mean that all the good work being done would be stopped while the local sex trade would continue to flourish.  There is no black and white here.  Evil is evil but any response on the ground is being made in a murky world that is very grey. 

In my line of work, some practitioners may be seen from the outside as saving the world.  The reality is that we just do our bit as best we can and keep doing it, hopefully better and better.  We can't save the world, nor is that our responsibility.