One Person Can Make a Huge Difference!

While waiting for my computer to get fixed I read a wonderful book called "Mountains Beyond Mountains." It is written by Tracy Kidder and is about Paul Farmer, M.D. I am so impressed by this book that I am already re-reading it. Paul Farmer is someone who does things outside the box. He believes that those who are poor should receive the same medical treatment as those who aren't. From the age of 18 years old he has spent his entire life helping those who are poor. It started in Haiti and is now all around the world. He helps run an agency called Partners In Health http://www.pih.org/ that has helped the poor throughout the world, especially those with multi-drug resistant TB and HIV. This story reminded me how one person can make a difference. He didn't do it alone of course he had the help of other M.D.'s and financial backers, but he had a vision and has worked tirelessly to make his vision come true. 

I couldn't help think about all of us who are helping to get the word out about child sexual abuse. How at times this is a hard topic to cover. How it is a hard topic for people in general, especially to openly talk about it. Then there are those of us who share our story, who bare our deepest pain in order to help those who don't know about child sexual abuse understand what it was like for us. Being able to do this for me has been very healing and has opened old wounds at times. The thing about experiencing such devastating trauma is that there will be triggers throughout a survivors life that will open up old wounds. Even if it has been years since the trauma was survived. I couldn't help thinking while reading this book, how wonderful it would be to have such an advocate for those who are victimized/survive child sexual abuse. To be able on a world wide scale to get the word out. There are several agencies who help with this R.A.I.N.N. http://www.rainn.org/ is just one of them and I truly appreciate the hard work all of these agencies do.

This book has only reinforced for me that the way to make change is to stay focused on the vision I have for this blog and beyond. That if I stay on topic and am willing to work very hard my story can help people. I have been thinking for a while about starting a non-profit to help educate people on child sexual abuse. I would love to be able to work with communities to insure that those who are working with children in their community, whether voluntarily or paid, are safe to be working with children. I am starting to get my vision for this down on paper and am scheduled to take classes on how to start a non-profit. I am also very excited because I am attending the Penn State Sexual Abuse Conference. I am also attending conferences that teach about the impact of human trafficking. Especially since the affect of both child sexual abuse and human trafficking are similar. Both of these situations cause children against their wills to be forced to do things sexual to a deviant adult. Both have long lasting impacts on the survivor. Both are horrible things for a child to have to go through.

I heard a story on the radio last night on human trafficking and it made me so sad to hear what these children go through. How isolating their lives are, how much they long for love, how those who are runaways left a home of abuse to only have the abuse continue. How many turn to drugs and alcohol to help them cope with the emotional aspect of the abuse. How many are locked up, beaten, and aren't allowed to leave their room. How the average life expectancy for a child who is human trafficked is seven years. Then I thought about those deviant adults who are willing to have sex with a child. How their deviant behavior causes terrible pain for these children. I recalled reading a story about a young man who had survived human trafficking. In his story he talked about the belief that the adults who have sex with a child are all pedophiles. He said that there were people who he had sex with that did so, because they were pushing the envelope of deviant sex. He called it their next high. That was eye opening and scary at the same time. Without these deviant people (whether pedophiles or not) there would be no need for human trafficking or child sexual abuse.

I am in the process of changing my career path and am grateful for those who have helped to make this happen, both good and bad. Knowing that I am going to be able to spend the rest of my career helping to protect children, and educate adults on child sexual abuse is, very humbling. Since I have made known my intentions of starting a non-profit I have had doors open for me. This includes the opportunity to purchase a piece of property to house the non-profit. People have made the commitment to donate their time, resources and energy to help get the non-profit off of the ground. I will be immersed in the world getting a non-profit off of the ground for quite a while. I am excited, nervous and challenged by this. I remain grateful to God for being steadfast in my life and for the opportunity to make lemonade out of the lemons I have survived. Blessings, Rosie