We were invited to attend The Pacific Trafficking in Persons Forum in Wellington in December. This was the second time the forum has taken place. It brings together the top organizations from the Pacific region working towards the elimination of human trafficking. This was a huge privilege for us and we got to mix and mingle with the best!

We débuted our human trafficking resource here and it received high praise from those attending. This is a huge encouragement for us, and a sign that we’re heading in the right direction. Close to 100 resource packs were taken by people attending the conference. This means that people from all over New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and even the United States have our resource packs in their hands to read over and share with colleagues. This is a great start for us.

During these two days, we formed some invaluable contacts and got to show off the results of our hard work. Key people working to eliminate human trafficking in the Pacific region know who The Préscha Initiative is, and more importantly, like what we do!

We know, we know, our website is looking a wee bit dated. It has served us well thus far, but it’s time for bigger and better things.

We’re in the process of getting a shiny new website designed. Once this is done, you’ll be able to find all the latest news about what we’re doing and you’ll even be able to download your own copy of our human trafficking resource pack!

For those of you who have been lucky enough to see the prototype journals, we know you fell in love with them and wanted to know how you could get your hands on one.

This is one of our projects that combines making the most amazing looking journal with learning about human trafficking. We haven’t forgotten about them, but good things take time!

We’re really sorry to keep you waiting, but we can assure you, they will come eventually, and they’ll be worth it!

We have been busily working on a human trafficking resource for secondary school teachers all year long and it is finally finished! You can downloading it HERE. This resource provides an overview of human rights, human trafficking and modern day slavery. We have designed it to comply with New Zealand’s level 5 curriculum requirements for social sciences.

Although targeted at years 9 and 10, this is the perfect introduction to human trafficking from a New Zealand perspective. This will be available on our website in the New Year. We ask that you’d keep an eye out for it and distribute it widely once you get your hands on it!

We are hugely passionate about education. There are still so many people that have no idea that this form of slavery still exists today, even happening in our own back yard. This puts people at greater risk as they have no idea of the tricks and deception used by traffickers. There is a huge need for the education of human trafficking in this country and we believe our human trafficking resource is exactly what teachers in this country need to get their hands on.

Earlier this year, Préscha was asked to join with Hagar New Zealand, ECPAT Child ALERT, and The Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit of the Salvation Army NZ to conduct research into human trafficking in New Zealand. There is very little information available and this makes it difficult to know where to focus efforts to stop it happening. The research has begun, but we encountered a few difficulties and so the remainder has been delayed until next year.

This is an exciting opportunity for us to be involved in, and an honour to work among the top anti-human trafficking organizations in New Zealand.

Get yourselves ready for...

The Préscha information pack provides an overview of human trafficking and modern day slavery. It is aimed at high school students but can be used by people of all ages.

This document has been created with the New Zealand high school curriculum in mind. We are currently working with teachers to get this ready so it will be easy to incorporate into a teaching environment. It is aimed at level 5 in the New Zealand curriculum which translates to years 9 and 10.

A pre-release version of the Préscha information pack was débuted at the BYM Northern Eastercamp 2011, so some of you got to get a sneak peek at this.

We hope to have the full version ready for you soon, keep your eyes peeled!

Prescha is going to be at Easter Camp - Mystery Creek this year. Whoop!!

We are going to be running a stall in the village that will be interactive with lots of human trafficking information, facts and resources for you to take away.

Our team will be there for you to talk to if you have any human trafficking questions or want to know how YOU can get involved. We look forward to seeing you there!

On a side note - have you thought about fairtrade easter eggs this year? Check out the Fairtrade website to see what you should be buying.

Andrew Kooman has once again used Art as Justice. He has skillfully written a play - SHE HAS A NAME - that tells of one of the greatest human rights abuses in a simple, stunning and effective way.

She Has A Name is a story about number 18 - a young woman who is trafficked for sex and a young lawyer who tries to rescue her.

The story was Inspired by an event in April of 2008 in which an abandoned storage container was found in Thailand containing 121 workers from Burma, 54 of them dead.

Andrew Kooman’s She Has A Name dramatically gives human trafficking a face.

Make sure you go and see this play if you are in Red Deer or Alberta. We love that Andrew is using what is in his hand - his talent and expertise to raise awareness of human trafficking. Big ups from us!

August 27
7.30pm til 10pm
Wintec Hub

corner Angelsea Street and Collingwood Street, Hamilton

$10

Prescha Charitable Trust is holding an educational movie night, which aims to create awareness around the issue of modern day slavery and human trafficking.

We will be screening the movie titled "Holly". This movie is about a man set out to rescue a 12 year old girl sold by her family and smuggled across the Cambodian border to work as a prostitute.

Tickets will cost $10 and will be sold on the night. (CASH ONLY)
Popcorn and information packs will be provided.

Hope to see you there!

The talented Annie Blackberry has designed a necklace exclusively for The Préscha Initiative!! Annie aspires to design jewellery that has a purpose. We were amazed that she designed a bird and cage which was coincidentally the symbol we had only just decided upon to be our logo.

Annie says about her newly designed prescha necklace:

"The cage represents the bondage that many of us live in. The bird is the hope that we can be free from this bondage. The cage serves as a reminder that what has happened to us will never fully go away, but in time, the bird, full of hope and dreams for the future will outgrow the cage and become larger and larger and the bondage (cage) will increasingly be minimised as healing takes place."

If you would like to place an order please email annieblackberry@hotmail.com 

Photo copyrite to The Smile Book. 1979 Shree Media Productions Pty Limited ISBN: 0 9595084 0 6