Drew in Chiang Rai

Drew Persons is The SOLD Project's 'project manager' and originally from Chiang Mai. He went home for Christmas to visit TaWee, Cat (our first scholarship recipient, her story is highlighted in the short film SOLD:Cat), and attend the holiday party for the scholarship kids! There was a big Christmas party at TaWee's grandmother's house where Cat danced and narrated a play with her friends. Here are some pictures!

Drew and TaWee

Cat

Social Justice & Advocacy at Fuller: Rachel Goble from Fuller Theological Seminary on Vimeo.

SOLD at the United Nations

Hi Everyone,

My name is Drew Persons and I've been working for The SOLD Project for the past year and a half as their Thai language interpreter/Cultural Consultant/Project Manager.

A couple of months ago, a representative from Rotary International approached us with an invitation to participate in their UN Youth Day, held in New York City at the United Nations building. This annual event was created to inspire high school students to make positive changes in the world by connecting them with proactive organizations (like SOLD) that they can partner with and support.

I flew to New York earlier on this month and made a presentation about SOLD's education scholarship program on November 8th to an audience of 700 people. After I spoke, I was approached by many young people in the metropolitan area, all of whom were interested in joining The SOLD Project.
Overall, the trip was a huge success. Being invited to talk about ANYTHING at the United Nations when your non profit has only been around for a year is pretty incredible.

On a more personal note, the trip was significant for me because my #1 life goal, my loftiest dream, the most unreachable and unlikely honor I could think of, was to speak at the UN. It encapsulates everything that I stand for in terms of foreign diplomacy and effectively making changes. I still can not believe that SOLD made it possible.

It was SO rainy and cold.

The audience that I spoke to.

So don't EVER tell yourself that the #1 thing on your "things to do before you die" list is unattainable . I crossed mine off on the evening of September 8th and I'm only 22.

SOLD's First Film Festival!

We just got back from our first film festival experience with SOLD... and it blew us away. SOLD: Cat is a 15 minute piece that shows our hearts for prevention for at-risk children...

"The SOLD Project: Cat" is 6th out of 26 shorts as the audience award!

And this is just the beginning...



We also spent time with a couple of really amazing schools, IUPUI and the University of Indianapolis. It was a great sneak peak for the endless creative possibilities for the 2009 tour... spoken word artists, visual artists, and great bands. As you're thinking about how to pull together your own SOLD event in your community, we encourage you to be creative and involve local artists!

Keep Moving...

“If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. But by all means keep moving.” Dr. Martin Luther King

As The SOLD Project continues to move forward in our mission to create awareness about and ignite a response to child prostitution and sex trafficking, we must keep Dr. King’s quote in mind. It is never a full-on sprint, but often baby steps towards our end goals and desires.

Most recently, we are revamping our web-site… it will be new and improved in a few short weeks!
The organization is moving along beautifully… establishing our “Write to Freedom” campaign to keep children in school and out of prostitution, and setting up our Spring Tour!
The film has hired a new Story Producer to complete SOLD: Thailand and tell the stories of these children.

Thank you for being part of this journey as we keep moving…. whether running, walking, or crawling.

Back to Brokenness

Arriving in Thailand… a bittersweet feeling sets in. A country that has stolen my heart due to its beauty and culture, yet a country that breaks my heart due to the extreme injustice that occurs here. Round two of filming begins in one short week and there is much to do to prepare for the crew to arrive. I have mixed emotions as I prepare to enter back into the world of child prostitution and exploitation. Am I ready to enter into a place of brokenness again? As I sit and ponder this question only one answer rings true… I must. I must not be afraid of having my eyes opened, my heart left broken, and my head spinning with questions. I must. I must return home with stories that will tell the truth of these children’s struggles and with answers to help end it. I must. I must remain hopeful.

I will be broken and I will be inspired. I know no other way…

Supply and Demand

Human Trafficking is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It is the second largest criminal industry in the world today, just behind drug smuggling and recently having risen above arms smuggling. The selling of children for sex and is a HUGE business, and just like any other business it is driven by supply and demand. Supply, in the case of child sex trafficking and exploitation, is the vulnerable children. The demand is those who choose to pay for sex with these children. Following the simple rules of supply and demand we know that supply would not exist if there was not a demand for it. Child prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation would not exist if men and women were not traveling around the world to have sex with minors, purchasing child pornography, or supporting businesses that do. Demand creates supply. There are millions upon millions of children in high risk of becoming a victim of the sex trade due to poverty, genocide, war, lack of education, or orphaned… and there is a lot of work to be done to prevent, rescue, and restore these children (I won’t ignore that). However, the demand side of this problem is often overlooked. I have read that 25% of child sex tourists are US citizens. How that stat has been proven, I do not know. I would not be surprised if that percentage wasn’t a lot higher.
So now what? It is my belief that the demand side can only be stopped if WE (as in YOU and ME) begin talking about this issue, making it a household reality, and bringing the humanity back to this issue. These men and women who pay for sex with children do not see these children as human beings, but as objects. They may not even realize the damage that they are doing to a young life. I have met countless children in recovery from working the streets in Thailand and here in the US… there is hope, but it is a long and painful journey for them. My hope is that through our film and through educating others that this issue ends, but if that does not happen hopefully the men and women who are thinking about it will think again.
To understand more about the demand side and what the US government is doing about it, visit the Immigration and Customs Enforcement web-site.

I'd Love to Grab Coffee Sometime...

This week we’re hoping to bring home the importance of starting conversations about child sexual exploitation. From the beginning one of our biggest goals as been this: to make people aware of this injustice in our world and create a catalyst for conversation. A couple of weeks ago I was at coffee (go figure) with a mentor of mine from Westmont College, and he shed light on the importance of conversations within a family. His suggestion, specifically, was daughters approaching their fathers. If you are a daughter whose father travels to Thailand, or any foreign country on business… tell him about the sex tourism industry and ask him to advocate and protect the children of these countries. By bringing this issue into our homes, communities, work places and churches, we are bringing this issue into the ears and hands of those who are willing to fight against it, those who could potentially be the demand factor behind it, and those who, like us, will dedicate their time and energy to standing up against this. So I want to encourage you to be intentional: educate yourself on this issue so that you can be a resource to others as you initiate conversations. We’d love to plug you in, give you resources, and continue collaborating with you. Check out our “Learn it” page under “Movement” for resources… let’s get a conversation going.

Freedom

Every day I’m reminded how real this all is: and how easy it is to pretend that “it” is not really happening. That children are being bought and sold for sex. It’s an absolutely heinous crime that, like Rachel likes to point out, you just can’t argue with. There is no way to justify exploiting children, after all. It’s just not right. But it happens - and therefore, we have to fight it. We have been given freedom: freedom to fight for those that have been stripped of their freedom. This idea of being ‘blessed with a burden’ became a reality to me through a conversation with a young woman in the brothels of India a few months ago. She acknowledged my freedom, and her captivity, telling me that she “did not choose this life. Her life was not like mine. She was not free to come and go like I was”. With our freedom comes a level of responsibility if we choose to accept it: to advocate on behalf of the vulnerable and to find hope and healing in moments of darkness. This is a movement of people willing to stand for justice and fight for change in the lives of the vulnerable and the exploited, and we invite you to join us. We need you to join us. Together, we can make a difference.

SOLD: A Four Letter Word

The facts surrounding the child sex trade horrify most every person I have a conversation with. People are shocked by the rate at which it occurs, the fact that it exists in America, and that adult men & women are actually paying for sex with children. This is one social injustice that leaves no room for debate. Nothing justifies it, and there is no excuse to let it continue.

The SOLD Project is a documentary designed to educate people about the haunting reality of the child sex trade in Southeast Asia & the World, and to give them the tools to halt these atrocities. I founded The SOLD Project after learning about the brutal sexual exploitation of society’s most vulnerable people – children. Through The SOLD Project I have embarked upon a life altering journey that has led me to meet child prostitutes as young as 4 years old, as well as meeting many of the predators who feed off of their innocence. My life permanently changed through these experiences and I have committed my life to searching for a way to make a difference.

We at The SOLD Project have faith that the hope for positive change lives within all people. We can each be a part of restoring innocence and freedom back into the devastated lives of these child victims.

While we do not pretend to have all of the answers - we are on a journey toward finding them and with your involvement we can. Your comments and questions are welcome. Post your ideas. Share your dreams. We are in this together. We need you, but more importantly these children need you.