I’ve travelled to many developing countries – Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka – and without fail, the first real emotion I feel, after the first initial excitement and sensory overload as you walk through the airport, ferry terminal or border crossing, is guilt. Poverty is explicit. Dirty, hungry children; homeless families; destitute sick people; greedy tourists celebrating the cheapness of everything; crowded transport; foul, difficult, dangerous jobs. It’s simply not fair that some of us are born into privilege while others, through luck of the draw, are born into desperate lives. So I do what most of us do when we visit places of economic poverty – I give to beggars, I hope to pay too much for products and services, I donate to the occasional orphanage or charity that I encounter, I tip (this doesn’t come naturally to Australians!), I feed the stray cats, and return to Australia wondering what more I could do to make a difference in this unfair world. My small gestures are obviously nowhere near enough.
My friends Erica and Jim Bartle are inspirational. Motivated by the plight of young girls forced into prostitution in Cambodia, together with some of their friends, they created the JC Denim Project and teamed up with not-for-profit organisation Destiny Rescue to establish a business that is making a massive difference. Their campaign, Stop Traffick, endeavours to rescue young girls from the brothels of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. These girls, and some are as young as five years old, have been kidnapped or sold into sexual slavery. Through this initiative, the girls are returned to their villages, given a sewing machine, and taught to make high quality, bespoke jeans through Destiny Rescue’s vocational training program. The JC Denim Project jeans are sold in Australia through Jim’s organisation JC Clothing Co, and you can buy them at JCClothingCompany.com
In most Cambodian villages there is no electricity, so the girls use a foot-pedalled machine and heat their irons with hot coals. It’s more expensive to make the jeans this way, compared to in a factory, but it means each girl can remain in her home village. Jim says it’s not enough to rescue the girls from the sex trade – they need the chance to make a sustainable life for themselves. Yes, this grand idea is in its infancy and, as far as I know, up to nine girls have been rescued. It is worth it. I’m sure each of those fortunate girls would agree.
Watch this inspirational, amazing video by Brisbane filmmaker Annika Salisbury… Erica describes her husband Jim as her hero and she’s not exaggerating!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iTU7liwFF4I
