The future is freedom.
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Schools Built
Children Educated
Coming to Freedom
People Freed
It is hard to believe, but slavery today is at epidemic proportions, despite being illegal in every country. These are real slaves by the harshest definitions: people forced to work under threat of violence, without pay, and unable to escape. They are trapped in brothels, factories, mines, farm fields, and restaurants. More than half are women and children. Despite real progress, slavery often remains hidden and on the margins of public concern.
Slavery doesn’t look much different today than it has throughout history. In northern India, entire villages are enslaved—men, women, and children are literally controlled by another human being and held against their will, generation after generation. They are caught in a cycle of debt bondage slavery, and it's because they are not educated.
Most of these slaves don’t understand that they are enslaved. They believe they “owe a debt” to their slaveholder, who may have given their great-grandfather money for medicine or a sewing machine. These villagers, who neither read nor write and do not know their legal rights, are easily manipulated into thinking they must continue working for a landowner who never pays them and whom they can never repay. And it’s illegal.
People in some of the poorest parts of the world have literally become "disposable."
As shocking as it sounds, there are more slaves today than at any time in human history. Dr. Kevin Bales, the world’s foremost authority on modern-day slavery (and our good friend and advisor) calculates that there are 50 million men, women, and children enslaved today. The reason? A lethal combination of over-population, poverty and corruption. This makes human life "cheaper" than ever before.
Slavery still haunts us for many reasons, including:
The good news is that there is no better time than now to make a real lasting change: no government officially sanctions slavery; no major economic engine or business is dependent on slavery; there is no one in the civilized world that would dare advocate for slavery; we know that education and empowerment can free people from slavery.
The foundation for freedom around the world is set, but now it is time to act. We believe the answer to true and lasting freedom lies in education and empowerment. Our Schools4Freedom program brings entire villages to freedom. Forever. And it all starts with one school.
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