​ADVOCACY

2009
June
MICHELLE COMMENTS ON THE UNION RESCUE MISSION BLOG -weighs in on the Housing First Issue and makes comment of her work with the homeless in the Hurricane Katrina Zone
(Must scroll down)
http://urm.org/2009/06/04/housing-first-push/


2011
January
VICTORIOUS ME -BLOGGER BLOG
http://www.blogher.com/my-own-words-%E2%80%93-carmela-%E2%80%93-enslaved-child-prostitute-worldwide-advocate-against-abuse

THE SPACE BETWEEN US
http://victorious-me.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-my-own-words-carmela-from-enslaved.html

July
RECOVERING THE SELF MAGAZINE (PREVIEW IN EBOOK FORM) -TEASER/ORDER FORM
PARTIAL ARTICLE:THE QUEST-THE JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS
http://books.google.com/books?id=ApVFG2YVMhAC&pg=PT57&lpg=PT57&dq=michelle+carmela+saldana&source=bl&ots=ENk1cXIF4a&sig=wGN6zbY16hR6dUnBQAr-Xuu11jA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uUcQUub7M-SMyQHu5oAw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=michelle%20carmela%20saldana&f=false

September
WEKT-WITH TRAVIS OWEN BRYAN -MICHELLE CARMELA TALKING ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING, RHINO POACHING AND TRADE AGREEMENTS
http://www.wekt.org/

RECOVERING THE SELF MAGAZINE - IN LOVE THERE IS NO DISTANCE ONLY UNITY (A MEMOIR)
http://books.google.com/books?id=CY9eTTxbjAkC&pg=PT61&lpg=PT61&dq=onceuponaneden&source=bl&ots=DKpEXQLj5G&sig=rnJgOWx5FW0y9Wd2l3-vLoy9kng&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XIwhUr3uD-WsiQLszIAI&ved=0CFIQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=onceuponaneden&f=false

November
MICHELLE COMMENTS ON AN ARTICLE ON INTERNATIONAL CRY MAGAZINE
http://intercontinentalcry.org/dominican-republic-proposed-legislation-would-erase-indigenous-peoples/

2012
January
GREEN HERITAGE NEWS -HUMAN TRAFFICKING - INTERVIEW WITH A VICTIM TURNED ACTIVIST
http://greenheritagenews.com/human-trafficking-interview-with-a-victim-turned-activist/

OSCAP -Outraged South African Citizens Against Poaching -MICHELLE CARMELA ADVISING ABOUT CRIME SYNDICATES...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OSCAP/doc/268501726573857/

September
INSATIABLE (MOVIE) - Prostitute #3
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396594/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

TRAILER FOR INSATIABLE
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151016972586373

December 
GLOBAL DAY OF FREEDOM-Billed as Survivor and Prevention Expert of Organized Crime and Human Trafficking (their title for michelle not her's)
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2012/12/global-day-for-freedom-vs-human-trafficking-in-santa-ana/

THE GUARDIAN 
A COMMENTARY ABOUT P.E.I. ORPHANAGE SETTLEMENT OUTCOME
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2012-12-14/article-3140311/UPDATE%3A-Residents-of-P.E.I.-orphanage-share-$486,400-settlement/1

MENTION IN ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
http://oclatinolink.ocregister.com/tag/human-trafficking-survivors-foundation/

2013
January
FORSAKEN DREAMS DOCUMENTARY -Michelle describing Abuse, Human Trafficking and Exploitation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJKdvWhCanE

IN THE BOOTH WITH RUTH - RUTH JACOBS INTERVIEWS MICHELLE CARMELA FOR HER HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH SURVIVORS SERIES
http://ruthjacobs.co.uk/2013/01/05/human-trafficking-awareness-month/


LOVE THE WORLD RADIO WITH APRIL RITCHEY
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aprilritchey/2013/01/17/love-the-world-religious-mythologys-dualistic-dilemma

MENTION ON BLOG TALK ADVERTISING
http://mungey2.rssing.com/chan-3014685/all_p34.html

JOHN -THE FILM FACEBOOK PAGE
https://www.facebook.com/johnthefilm/info

March
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW - MICHELLE CARMELA GIVING HER STORY AND DISCUSSING LATEST PROJECTS
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/butterflydreamsabuserecovery/can-you-hear-me-now-by-annie

FIRST TEASER FOR JOHN THE FILM -MICHELLE CARMELA BEGINNING TO DESCRIBE THE DEEPER DISTURBING THINGS SHE WAS EXPECTED TO AND WHAT THAT ABUSE DID TO HER MENTALLY
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151318557801373&set=vb.316368741822342&type=2&theater


August
IN THE BOOTH WITH RUTH -MICHELLE CARMELA DISCUSSING SOCIAL MEDIA'S ROLE ON CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES
http://ruthjacobs.co.uk/2013/08/02/founder-of-once-upon-an-eden-and-survivor-of-extreme-child-abuse-michelle-carmela-gives-her-opinion-on-facebooks-issue-of-child-sex-abuse-images/

IN THE BOOTH WITH RUTH -MICHELLE CARMELA AND AIMEE GALICIA TORRES TALK ABOUT THEIR FILM "JOHN"
http://ruthjacobs.co.uk/2013/08/16/john-the-worst-story-never-told-survivor-michelle-carmela-and-filmmaker-aimee-galicia-torres-talk-about-their-new-human-trafficking-documentary/

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW -BLOG TALK RADIO - MICHELLE TALKING ABOUT HER MOVIE "JOHN" AND ADVOCACY
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/can-you-hear-me-now-annie-osullivan/2013/08/17/can-you-hear-me-now-w-annie-osullivan

SOUL SISTA RADIO  'THE ADVOCATE' WITH SUSAN SENGEZER
MICHELLE TALKING ABOUT HER CHILDHOOD AND THE DOCUMENTARY JOHN
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/soulsistaradio/2013/08/22/soulsistathur--elevate-the-advocate-womenontheedge




NON-ADVOCACY

 PETITIONS MICHELLE HAS SIGNED

https://www.change.org/users/237444


NETWORKING ORGS
TINY STARS

TINY STARS MALIBU
http://www.meetup.com/MalibuRoadWarriors/members/

IDLE NO MORE 
http://www.idlenomore.ca/89901

MENTION IN FLASHLIGHT  2013 
 "I truly and sincerely appreciate every effort to fight human trafficking. I'm so proud of my friends: Julie Cavanagh, Gia Ibarra, Puccinia Laveau, Aaron Cohen, Becky Steinkamp, April Ritchey, Michelle Carmela Saldana, Kiki Sala, Fabiola Alves Verissimo, Philip J Cenedella and many others Freedom Fighters. Keep up the AMAZING work!" 


ONCEUPONANEDEN.ORG MENTIONED ON PAGE GLIMPSE
http://www.pageglimpse.com/onceuponaneden.org

​In the Booth with Ruth - Interview Questions
 
 
 
How did you become involved in the movement against human trafficking?
 
 I am a survivor of incest, child rape, child labor and child prostitution, as well as extreme child abuse. I was also born and raised in a Mafia family. I grew up in the United States. America like every other country is a great country, and like every other country also has citizens that suffer greatly at the whims of others thus having their rights violated. 
 
After a 41 year history with this and sharing my story with the public for the past 26 years, I am thankful people are listening and the awareness is greater than ever before but honestly, as ungrateful as this may seem, the terms “Human Trafficking” and the other terms that have become politically correct irk me to know end. I have said it for many years and will continue to say it. “Abuse is Abuse”. Every one can relate to abuse. But Human Trafficking sounds so exotic it is easier to picture it in a far away tropical local than in our own back yard. And to say it is “Modern Day Slavery” implies that slavery ended in America when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation when in fact slavery only changed into a new format. It may seem that I am clouding up issues but in reality, Human Rights abuses take on many forms and affect every and all generations. The fact that the abuses I endured and so many others are still enduring has a fancy catch name that sparks attention lends me to ask: "Are we so brain washed by marketing that we have become jaded to caring for a person in need unless their need is given a name?" and "Now that Human Trafficking is the new buzz word and people are spreading the buzz word around really what practical impact is that going to have upon the children and their families to come?"
 
Slavery and Human Exploitation started when the first person realized they could manipulate someone’s misfortune for their own selfish gain. Human Exploitation will exist until the one of the last two persons dies or unless the world has a change of heart.


 
What draws you to support and advocate for people enslaved by traffickers?
 
I wish I could give you a noble answer. I am still a person crying out to be heard and helped. Basically I am in constant search for answers to my own personal questions and solutions to my own family’s issues. This brings me before many people who are also looking to do the same. We help each other. And when I have the opportunity to speak to the public, I am speaking for myself, my family and for my fellow victim survivors and survivor activists and their families. We are all in a constant state of healing. That includes our children. My children a few years ago brought it to my attention that since they were born that "My" story became "Their" story. My one son stated eloquently that child abuse is a holocaust upon the generations and the other stated that human exploitation is the scourge of all humanity. Was interesting to see that same sentiment stated in an article last week three years after my sons admonished me with their statements. 
 
What does your work involve?
 
In the early days going back twenty-six years ago, I shared my story in schools, churches, events, TV, radio and in written format. Later, I found myself helping people out of abusive relationships, and prostitution and even to leave organized crime. Then after a time, I came to network with organizations to develop community programs that helped promote community safety. These programs would decrease the potency of the atmosphere that allowed for prostitution, drugs and even domestic violence to thrive. 
For the past fifteen years currently, I have been advising organizations, NGOs and governments. I also stay in contact with victim -survivor and survivor-activists and their families listening to their needs and searching for solutions. Lately, the most intense work is   spending time with homeless women in Skid Row and hearing their stories, getting to know them, helping to meet needs, helping case workers see through the eyes of their clients who have been victimized. Domestic abuse, sex abuse, human trafficking/exploitation have such a direct connection with homelessness. Malnutrition runs rampant also. Once Upon An Eden works to address these needs. 


What legal improvements or changes would help to abolish human trafficking?



Well for starters the people who make the laws could actually follow them and hold THEMSELVES accountable to the laws they write. Local officials and education programs could make known access available to their citizens of their local, state and federal laws. Pardoning victims for the crimes committed under duress and or in self defense would be great. We are all breathlessly waiting the release of Sarah Kruzan. How many more people are in her shoes?  I would like to see rape charged with the same intensity as murder, personally. Gender neutral laws coordinating family law, rape/domestic violence laws and immigration laws need to be designed to address some of the complexities associated with such issues happening today. Trade agreements need to be read and understood by activists. Organized crime hides behind the trade agreements. Again, this links back to law makers. There are too many back door deals that take place under minding the anti-human exploitation laws being written and efforts and safety of advocates. Policies of the UN and EU and other global agencies also need to be examined for their promotion of atmosphere that permits violation of Human Rights by independent agencies outside of the UN and EU. Accountability and reform or abolition need to be expected as per outcome of the examination.  
 

For anyone else who wants to be involved, what can other people do to help?

Studying about abuse is a great help. But one cannot stop there. Awareness with out action is Apathy and Apathy kills. The actions do not have to be elaborate. Get to know one’s neighbors. Be involved in the neighborhood watch. Have block parties. Be more attentive to your child’s words, listen to their hearts and minds. Never stop seeing the world through the eyes of your child. Let your children influence you for the better. Share your heart and mind with your child. More eating around the table, more game night, more family fun nights, more dates with your significant other. Put the electronics away once in a while (hopefully more often). Use and encourage creativity and arts in your household. Shop locally more often. Avoid chain stores when possible. Understand we are the human family, not a bunch of races or nationalities. Please stop being shocked and surprised by reports of sex abuse. Please stop being in denial and coming to the side of religious leaders when accusations of sex abuse are made. Hold the institution and the person accused accountable if found guilty. Please do get to know and try to understand the issues that survivors face. Please do support organizations that strive to make the communities safer such as http://www.TinyStars.org (a non-government agency dedicated to working with US Federal Law Enforcement gathering evidence to prosecute extrememe human rights abusers) by joining their Bucket Brigade teams. Please recognize that boys and men are also abused. Please recognize there is a real against innocence, safety and well being. 





What are your plans for the future?

An internet radio program is about to be launched in March. Once Upon an Eden has partnered with Majestic Dreams Foundation to shoot a documentary which should be done by June. OUAE is in the process of designing training videos about human rights abuses, organized crime, and the needs of survivors and their families. We have partnered with anti-poaching groups in South Africa to come against human exploitation. We have also partnered with Leaderspeak to form a program for homeless Veterans which ultimately our goal is to form an army of men who will help fight human rights abuses. We have some gardening –community design projects that we are looking forward to implementing. And my auto-biography will be published this year. OUAE has also pulled together teams to address issues that survivors face. We are hoping to design laws that address these issues. Currently these issues are isolated and become "morals platforms" that pundits campaign on. We are hoping to help the public see how these issues interlink and affect their loved ones. This is exciting for us because the teams comprise organizations and individuals “out side” of the “human trafficking” community. Most exciting is the fact that many are men's groups. OUAE has also been asked by a men's group comprised of male lawyers and judges from India to help design  programs for the men of India in response to the riots that took place recently. 





Recommended websites/further reading: (these can be your own links or links you would like to recommend) 



Once Upon An Eden –www.onceuponaneden.org
                                Facebook.com/onceuponaneden2
                                onceuponaneden@groups.facebook.com
 

Relationships are as simplistic and complicated as the human species. Really, the information is so vast and fascinating it seems one could spend every moment of a life time and still not consume all the juicy delicious bits and pieces of information that exists about relationships. And there are so many “Rabbit Holes” to explore which loop and back track to one topic to another. Yes, relationships are uniquely fascinating as the human species. However, in all the reading what has struck me is this:
“Each relationship is a form of someone’s truth of reality –an extension and expression of one’s self.” MCS
A relationship is the process of Individual–Selves- joining together in a bond of unity or exchange as cells in a human being are joined in unity, merging as one organ or move in exchange carrying out their predestinated function for providing nourishment, cleansing or signally a need for nourishment or cleansing.
There are so many clichés that describe or explain the coming and going of people in our lives or the influence they have upon us.
But do these cliché’s really serve us? I don't know perhaps they do in some way. People are always trying to name and explain 
"So what is my reality?" I have to ask myself. Perhaps by the end of the article or reading of this edition of Recovering the Self I will have a better understanding of what my reality is for this moment in time.
"What kind of "Individual Self" am I?" Another question I cannot answer for myself. Hmmm. So on this journey of self discovery I trudge onward and upward (hopefully).
Then the words of my guru come to my mind. "Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, love your neighbor as yourself."
This is considered the greatest of all commandments for all the commandments are contained in this three tiered commandment of love God, neighbor and self.
Is this a commandment of love God first, then Neighbor and then lastly Self? What if loving Self was the foundation; then loving Self and Neighbor was a way to love God? How does this all work any how?
Is it possible to love God with one’s whole heart, soul, strength and mind and love one’s neighbor if one does not love one’s self? What does it mean to love one’s self? Why does the simple need to be so complex?! Grrr! Or does it? No. The simple does not need to be complex. Sometimes complexity is simple.
Just because the questions are piling up does not mean there are not answers. There are always answers. They are waiting like jewels to be found. So bare with me please as I try to find my answers and hopefully you will too. Perhaps we will forge a relationship while we are seeking the answers to these questions?
Loving one’s self is not a narcissistic personality disorder which one is being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity. (1) Loving one’s self is really getting to know one’s self as a person and making wise decisions with an attitude of thankfulness that 1/You are here alive at this moment in time; 2/you are a very good person; 3/You are created by Love, in Love, to be Love, to be loved, to be Love, for Love.; 4/therefore one’s self –the individual self- is a cell in the body of Love. 5/this makes you a part of a whole –Love, God, the human family.
It is said that the pure in heart will see the image of God. Look at yourself in the mirror. Look at the people around you. You have seen God. For each individual is an individual self (cell) carrying Love’s DNA – Love’s essence.
It can be difficult to believe the DNA of Love lives with in each of us when one has had a difficult or traumatic upbringing or is currently suffering through a hardship that torments the emotional, spiritual and mental core of one’s being. However, circumstances do not negate the Truth. Circumstances do make the Truth difficult to believe and more of a challenge to live but not impossible.



Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.”
Polonius: “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!
Laertes: Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78-82 (2)
Before one can be true to one’s self, one must know one’s self. Quite the challenge if one has not been encouraged to rest in the security of loving acceptance to get to know one’s self. Even more of a challenge when living has been nothing more than strategically surviving and fulfilling other people’s whims to the point of self negligence or through the veil of other people’s perspectives as a result of fulfilling whims. Not too many people have an honest relationship with themselves.  Courage, honesty, objective creative curiosity, integrity, trust of self, and compassion are required more constistantly and intensely than with any other interaction we might otherwise have with other people. Let’s face it no matter how hard one tries one cannot escape one’s self so it really is best to love thy self and to thy ownself be true. But this all requires building a strong relationship with one's self in other words establishing your core identity and how you will conduct or express your core identity in this world.
If someone asked you: “What are your favorite foods?” “What movies do you like?” “What music do you like?” “Would you rather go to Aspen, Colorado, or Paris, France, one day?” Would you be able to answer? Do you like the color red or the color purple? Do you like mangos? Who is your favorite author and why? What do you believe is your purpose? What are your life goals? What talents do you have?
Answering such questions demonstrates a sense of knowing one’s self. It also demonstrates not only a sense of self awareness but also self discovery and self acceptance. When one can answer confidently to his or herself that what one likes for their own personal reasons one is demonstrating self independence and self acceptance.
I used to have a problem answering these questions. Once when as an adult out on a date such types of questions as listed above were asked of me by a man interested in me and I could not respond because I did not know myself. He could not accept my explanation that those were all good questions that I could not answer. When asked Why not? I responded that as a child my likes and activities were imposed upon me, in my early adult years I only knew what boundaries I needed to set to protect myself, as an older adult, I was too much in the groove of crisis control and for all of my life I was in survival mode. So therefore, I allowed myself for most of my life to live under the cloud of other persons’ impressions of me for so long that I really lost the sense of myself as being a person worth knowing. I became robotic living on automatic. He, then, stood up, paid the bill and walked right out of the restaurant. His reaction really woke me up and I decided the next time when asked these questions by anyone, I would have answers. So I took the time to learn to get to know myself as a person. To my surprise, I learned I found myself interesting and enjoyed my own company.
It has taken me years to learn that I am a likeable person just on my own standing. And to my chagrin it still takes another person to explain myself to me sometimes. I still find myself having a certain disconnect with my own persona and myself as a person. Yet, my life is much safer than I lived years before and much more fulfilling in some ways. I am hopeful that the areas that have huge gaping holes and heartache will close up and heal up as I become more acquainted with myself and continue to make wise decisions with in the boundaries and vision I have set for myself.
The individual self that I am is a work in progress as I venture each day on the journey of self discovery. Each moment of discovery results in a bit more of healing and regrouping of me, therefore strength is gained each day. Most of the times these epiphanies are experienced when I am helping someone else go through a similar process as I am. What discoveries are you making? If something unpleasant is discovered, purpose –decide- to stop the activity that is lending to the unpleasantness in your life and exchange it with one that lends more stability and solidness in your life and character. What is beautiful about the command to Love the Lord Your God with one’s heart, soul, strength and mind and to love one’s neighbor as one’s self is that the result is self healing, lives changed, and a wonderfully gorgeous world created. All of this achieved through a wildly exciting adventure of being your authentic self, making wise decisions and living surrendered to the ways of Love.


Today, one would never guess, that I was suicidal most of my life and hated myself, people and God. It is still a challenge to be loving, kind and diplomatic. It is still a challenge not to be a hermit. I do love myself more than I have over the years but have found myself still in need of ridding myself of sabotaging actions. Everyday, is a challenge to live more intuitively and authentically; however, because I ask of no one what I myself have not incorporated into my own character, I am challenged to learn and live the lessons until mastered and absorbed into my being. This is my reality.

I still have a long way to go to embrace fully this relationship with myself. But one cannot divorce one’s self not even in death.  My latest ventures have me exploring and fulfilling childhood dreams that were long forgotten. The greatest pleasure has been helping other people gain a sense of wholesomeness in their lives as they overcome challenges.
​

​Hello thank you for granting my friend Chong Kim yet another outlet to expose human exploitation by way of sharing her personal survival story.  While many of the intricate details are very much similar there are also differences.  In my case, I was born into a mafia family severely abused emotionally,physically,mentally,spiritually/rituallistically; prostituted,endured incest and was used as a maid and nanny of my own siblings. All this took place in my childhood home under the "care" of my own biological parents.

A youth pastor from out of town gave me the ability to speak by introducing me to acting my emotions had release and by scheduling me engagements to tell the public my story I gained the sence of empowerment.  Still to this day as an advocate my efforts to help educate the public and helping people leave organized crime and exploitation and/or abuse over the past 25+ years are my own battle against the monster that still haunts me...and my offspring.

As a child I was expected and obediently enacted the undiscussable. My body serviced the whims nightmarish fantisies of countless adults who proved to be monsters in human form. Then in the morning I went to school if it was a school day. On weekends I was taken to make visits.
Gratefully there is so much that I don't remember. As obedient my body might have been for survival sake my mind and soul chose to rebel by not remembering somethings,blacking out at times and forming other personalities.  I turned on myself attempting suicide, cutting and attempting to run away. It took me years to let these survival tools go. My search for the resources to gain the empowerment to live led me into helping others in addition to telling my story publically. 

It has been nearly 26 years since I have been so viciously used and I still search daily for resources to help now not only myself and other survivors but our offspring and spouses as well. That is how I came across Chong.  She has been a great friend; someone I can vent to and express ideas. Also as a fellow survivor-advocate I understand the great personal battle that one endures almost everytime if not everytime one shares his or her story, then the scrutany that takes place as well as the personal "fall out" with friends, family and others we hold dear but have not dealt with their involvement or emotions.  For most of us a safe sense of family and family acceptance is a fantsy.

As grateful as I am to non-survivor actvists for their efforts,sacrifice, encounters and accomplishments fighting against what is now human trafficking...when a fellow survivor/survivor activist is given a voice of opportunity to share his or her story of surving the depths of hell it is then hope is restored that we may one day be free from the appetites of this hellish beast which is currently called "Human Trafficking".

Thank you for the opportunity to express my thoughts.

Michelle Carmela
Http://www.onceuponaneden2.weebly.com

​

SWEET REALITY
Michelle Carmela Saldana

“I am so glad to be awake!” she said crawling up onto my lap.
“So you had a good nap”? I asked, tweaking her little nose.
“Nope.” She replied most seriously. “Daddy I had a scary dream.”
“Tell me.” I replied
“Ok, Daddy, but I will need to hold you tight with all my might so you don’t get a scared.” And she did
“Close your eyes so you can see the pictures.”
With my eyes closed I saw the picture of every syllable she spoke…
“I was in mommy’s belly safe, warm, happy. Then for some reason I was gone.
Mommy was sad and you were angry. You both wanted me back but I was gone forever.”
“That will never happen, dear. Mommy loves you and you are right here.”
“There is more, daddy.” She whispered.
I closed my eyes again. And she said…
“I was playing with my friends. Then they told me they couldn’t play with me because I was different. I did not know what that meant. I was sad, lonely, confused, angry. I watched them as they left one by one and realized they are just like me –different.”
“Oh, Darling, I am so sorry!” I hugged her tightly.
“Daddy, it was just a dream. Please stop interrupting.” She scolded sternly.
“You and Mommy were fighting, then hitting, screaming and throwing things. Then you got a thing called a divorce and I had to go to school and back and forth between two houses. It was a lot of tiring exhausting work for all of us.
Then I grew up. I wanted to go to college school but we did not have much money. I went to a place called the military.  Soon the people there sent me to a place called war. I wasn’t sure why I was at war, but I was to fight and kill the other people who did not look like me. That was just about everyone there actually. “
“Oh, Dear. I am so sorry.” I said as I wiped away her giant tears from her little face.
“Daddy, when I was done, little kids like me was gone. So were their mommies, daddies, everyone. The animals were gone too. Animals were trapped in places that were so cruel or they were kept in animal jails called zoos. Those were the nicer places sadly. And even worse, Daddy, were what my eyes did see done to the animals roaming free in their own homes in fields and living in trees. They were shot with drugs, and parts of them cut away. When they woke up they were missing their legs, feet, and parts of their faces. Then they died, Daddy, broken, in pain, crying, alone.
“The sky was yucky. No one could breathe. Everywhere, people’s eyes hurt to see. They wore glasses, masks and machines.  The dirt was yucky too. The grass and water were brown. We were always thirsty, always sick, always hurting. “
My little girl and I held each other tight; each of us with tears in our eyes.
“Daddy, I am glad to be here awake with you and Mommy. I am glad none of those bad things will ever come true.”
As she buried her face in my neck, I did not have the heart to tell my baby girl, her nightmare was once my world. Instead, I held her tight, then pulled her back to look her in the eyes. “Mommy and I are happy to be here awake with you too. “

​

Permission for educational and resource use given to Ocean Gate Southern Baptist Church in Hawthorne by Michelle Carmela Saldana/ Founder and Director of Once Upon An Eden
 
 
The Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations, December 10, 1948, directly after the Second World War and represents the first global expression of Human Rights.
 
After the atrocities conducted in World War II were made known to the world the need to define human rights abuses and establish guaranteed international human rights. Representatives from all over the world with various cultural and legal backgrounds came together to formulate General Assembly resolution 217 A (III). Hailed as common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations; it sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. 
 
In 1941, in his address before the United States Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed in what is called his "Four Freedoms" speech: Freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom of want and freedom of fear were four basic freedoms that could never be legitimately abridged. 
 
Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has said he believes religious freedom “Whenever religious freedom is being denied, whenever religious freedom is being abused, it is like the canary in the coal mine. It is a danger signal that there are other severe problems in that society that are either present or getting ready to take place.” 
 
Indeed the events leading up to the Holocaust, civil liberties were taken away, shop owners and property owners who were Jewish were killed and arrested, more than 1,000 synagogues were set on fire. Once World War II began, the Jews were sent to ghettos and forced to work as slaves and the systematic "Euthanasia" started. At the height of the "Final Solution" thousands of people were killed a day in the "death factories".  
 
 
The attempted mass extinction of Jewish population was not the first in history against a people group or a religious group. In fact, an overview of Mankind's history will show various instances of mankind's cruelty towards his fellow man. Even in today's world we have seen what role religious intolerance plays in today's politics despite the adoption of the Declaration of Human Rights.
 
China: In 2007, the government of China passed a law making it illegal for one to reincarnate without the permission of the Chinese government as a means to curtail the influence of the Dalai Lama of Tibet. However, China is not completely against religion, just religious leaders that they consider divisive or a threat to the unity of the greater good of China. We must keep in mind that not only is a Dalai Lama a religious leader but he is also head of state for Tibet a position that the Chinese government would see as a threat. 
 
China: The book "God's Chinese Son" written by Jonathan Spense, follows the course of Hong Xiuquan who believed himself to be the Brother of Jesus and the second direct Son of God. In this belief he led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty. Establishing himself as the "Heavenly King," Hong Xiuquan established the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" which covered most of Southern China. The final death toll of the Taiping Rebellion was between twenty -thirty million people mostly civilians who lost their lives from starvation, exposure to the elements and through the "art" of war making it one of the most deadly conflicts in history. 
 
After reading this account of a part of China's history, I understood why China cracks down on various forms of religions. Although I am able to understand the reasoning the methods I personally can not condone and neither can the world under the the General Assembly resolution 217 (III).  It is estimated 500,000 people are currently enduring punitive detention without charge or trial or many without access to legal counsel or representation. People are tortured and killed for their faith in China even to this day. High risk of enforced disappearance, illegal and incommunicado detention or house arrest, surveillance, beatings and harassment are still very much a possibility in any peaceful citizen of China practicing his or her religion. 
 
Middle East:  After the uprising in Egypt, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a spiritual leader to the Muslim Brotherhood led the Islamic prayer services in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's uprising. While he asked the entire rally to bow in Islamic prayer, he also used his speech to reassure the Christian minority of their place in Egypt, telling the crowd that "in this square sectarianism died."  A  Coptic Christian in attendance said it was intimidating; another said the event could be seen as the Muslim Brotherhood taking a greater role in Egypt.
It was just this recent January, that a car bomb was set off near a Coptic church as the people were leaving the building, killed 21 people.  The official Muslim Brotherhood charter, amended in 2007, calls for the imposition of Islamic law in Egypt. Among other things, the charter, obtained by WND, states that non-Muslims cannot hold government positions and must pay to the state the jizya, or special Islamic protection tax. 
 
Iran:  The Baha-is, followers of Baha'u'llah (1844–1892), who Bahá'ís believe to be the most recent messenger from God are deemed as heretic in Islam.  Iran's largest religious minority and the location of one of the largest Bahá'í populations in the world, have been subjected to unwarranted arrests, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified executions, confiscation and destruction of property owned by individuals and the Bahá'í community, denial of employment, denial of government benefits, denial of civil rights and liberties, and denial of access to higher education. 
 
Afghanistan:  Shoaib Assadullah, 23, was arrested Oct. 21 in Mazar-e Sharif after he gave a Bible to a man who turned him in. During a Dec. 28 court hearing Assadullah was given one week to recant Christianity or face the death penalty.  Shoaib Assadullah has written in a letter smuggeled out of the prison which he is held stating, "My case is supposed to be sent to the court shortly, because the prosecutor has the right to hold a case only for 30 days... "The court's decision is most definitely going to be the death penalty for me, because the prosecutor has accused me under the Clause 139 of the criminal code which says, 'If the crime is not cited in the criminal code, then the case has to be referred to the Islamic Shariah law.'  Shoaib Assadullah also states "Not only has my freedom been taken from me, but I [am] undergoing severe psychological pressure," Assadullah wrote. "Several times I have been attacked physically and threatened to death by fellow prisoners, especially Taliban and anti government prisoners who are in jail."

Assadullah also says his mother died "from the grief" of her son facing the death penalty, and that he was not allowed to attend her funeral.

He concluded his letter, which was written to no one specific person, "I request that you follow my case."

International Christian Concern's ICC for short has asked concerned citizens to call the Afghanistan embassy in the U.S. (202-483-6410). The embassy's web address is www.EmbassyOfAfghanistan.org.
 
Europe:  Sharia Law has now become part of the legal system in Europe. The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. The decisions are enforcable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court. Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, realised that under the Arbitration Act of 1996 we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts. The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.” 
 
Under sharia's civil code, a woman's testimony is worth half of a man's. A man can divorce his wife by repudiation, whereas a woman must give justifications, some of which are difficult to prove. Child custody reverts to the father at a preset age; women who remarry lose custody of their children even before then; and sons inherit twice the share of daughters.
 
There has been much controversy about Muslim arbitration tribunals, which have attracted attention because they operate as tribunals under the Arbitration Act, making their rulings binding in UK law.
 
But sharia councils, which are charities, are equally harmful since their mediation differs little from arbitration. Sharia councils will frequently ask people to sign an agreement to abide by their decisions. Councils call themselves courts and the presiding imams are judges. There is neither control over the appointment of these judges nor an independent monitoring mechanism. People often do not have access to legal advice and representation. Proceedings are not recorded, nor are there any searchable legal judgements. Nor is there any real right to appeal.
 
There is also danger to those at risk of domestic violence. In one study, four out of 10 women attending sharia courts were party to civil injunctions against their husbands.
 
"In this way, these privatised legal processes were ignoring not only state law intervention and due process but providing little protection and safety for the women.
 
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof.
 
The tendency of societies or groups within society to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history. Moreover, because a person's religion often determines to a significant extent his or her morality and personal identity, religious differences can be significant cultural factors.
 
Religious persecution may be triggered by religious bigotry (i.e. the denigration of practitioners' religions other than those of the oppressors) or by the State when it views a particular religious group as a threat to its interests or security. At a societal level, this dehumanization of a particular religious group may readily turn into violence or other forms of persecution. 
 
The United States of America:  There are 59 major religions in the United States of America. The top thirty -four religions are decidedly of Christian denominations.  However, despite former President Roosevelette's declaration of the "Four Freedoms" which should not be abridged, one being of freedom of religion another freedom of speech, the federal government abridges the free exercise of religion in America by:
 
Regulating churches and other religious organizations through its tax laws.
Limiting religious liberty in the area of public and private education.
Forbidding non-denominational prayer in public schools and at educational ceremonies.
Excluding the Bible from school classrooms and from other school property.
Refusing to permit the religious displays on public property, such as Christmas and Chanukah. 



The American Indian Nations have made distinct and significant contributions in many fields, including agriculture, medicine, music, language, and art, and Native Americans have distinguished themselves as inventors, entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and scholars, local and national leaders, artists, and athletes. 
 
Yet the people of the American Indian Nations, still remain isolated on parched desert reservations which are plagued with conditions that are below acceptable santiary conditions. "They are dying from lack of heat, food and even water. They are dying from despair."....Our own indigenous people are among the poorest in the world. " States emphatically actor and activist Jay Tavare. 
 
 
You will recognize Jay in such films as "The Missing" directed by Ron Howard or "Cold Mountain" directed by Anthony Minghella.   In addition to being a distinguished actor, Jay is also a contributing writer for the Huffington post. He writes in the following article, posted Posted: January 28, 2011
 
"What our children learn about our nation's early history and our relationship with the American Indians is so loosely based on reality, it's actually more of a fairytale. Conveniently, our history books fail to explain the cost paid in human suffering and lives so the rest of us would prosper.
 
The first Indian reservations were concentration camps. While conditions on the reservations are somewhat different today, they are not better. Reservation life remains unhealthy and unsafe. The average American Indian man on the reservation lives just 46 years." 
 
"American Indian teens take their own lives at more than two times the rate of any other teen demographic in the USA, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
For centuries, American Indian culture has been attacked and exploited by our new dominant culture. Traditions, language and spiritual beliefs of so many of the American Indian nations are almost completely extinguished. Is it any wonder that the youth find themselves in an identity crisis?"   Indigenous people world wide sometimes, called the "First Nations" view their religion more than their culture or belief. Their religion is their identity - their core being. They are tied so closely to earth and to their god(s) as to have these ingrained and intertwined into their being.
 
There is a phenomenon in history called the "Stolen Generation" this is term to describe children stolen from their parents and communities forced to assimulate into the prevading culture and "become civilized." This happened in the Americas and also under the rule of the British.
 
Jay and many other people of American Indian heritage have put action behind their heart's cry for people in pain.  The organization "Adopt a Native Elder (27) a philanthropic organization started by Linda Myers and Grace Smith Yellow Hammer on a Navajo reservation over  20 years ago helps meet the needs of the communities elderly and helps perserve a cultural identity for the children.  Jay's own project, Adopt a Native Elder, Warming Hearts, raises much needed money for fire wood essential to the Navajo elders during the harsh winters.
 
 
Jesus said in Luke 10:27 We are to, "...love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." This scripture is also in Dueteronomy 6:5"  One of, or only time that Jesus and the religious leaders of his day came into agreement of the Jewish Law was this: upon all the laws Loving God, thy neighbor and thyself were what all the other laws rested and were also fulfilled. 
 
The book of James states, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  (James 1:27 NIV 1984)   This thought is at the core of every major religion. Why?  Because it is a matter of survival and of plain common sense. 
  
We are God made. We are not China made, American made, nor are we Made in Canada. We are God's handiwork. The Creator made us in his spectacular image. He is our Father. Because He lives we live. Each person living and breathing is a like a tile in a a gorgeous mosaic. The picture ever beautiful is ever changing yet at the core remains the same message.
 
Mankind was never given authority to dominate over Mankind. It may be my own naivete', yet I believe as systematic as persecution is we can also systematically change the concept of reality from that of what is placated to us to live the actual reality we were born to live.   What is this reality? A simple but challenging command really...
 
It would astonish and startle some to note that the Bible does recognize the existence of other gods. Jeremiah 10:11, "Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens."   Do we really need to prove which god is the Creator of heaven and earth? 
 
1. We are all descendants from the "First Man and First Woman" Does that not make us members of the Human Family?
2. We all bleed red when we are cut.
3. We all breathe the same air.
4. We all have souls clothed by a body. The soul needs the body to be here legally on Earth.
5. Every body needs a stable roof over their head, water to drink, food for nourishment.
6. Every soul needs love and appreciation.
7. Not one of the almost seven billion people on the planet were in existence during the time of the Universe and the World's creation. So it is foolish to insist we know the answers or all the answers to how we came to be. What we do know for certain is that we are all here. We are all here now.
 
Here and Now IMPLORES that we take care of ourselves and each other. Here and Now DICTATES us to use common sense - the wisdom that applies to us all. Here and Now DEMANDS we follow the commands of Creator/Father/God-Love. How you interperate God or demonstrate your worship (or non-worship) or your belief (or non-belief) is more so a reflection on your own self. It says ever so much more whether or not your views of religion and/or culture motivate you whether or not to help your neighbor in need. When we help our neighbor we help ourselves here and now. 
 
In Luke 10:25-37, Jesus gives the story of what is known as "the Good Samaritian." This is a story of a man who rescues another man that he finds beaten and left for dead. The injured man had prior been passed by two other people, a priest and a Levite, before the Samaritian has even found him. By Old Testament law the priest and Levite were forbidded to touch a dead animal or person. The Samaritian who roots stemmed from combing his worship of pagan dieties incorporated with Jewish law, did not have this stipulation. Does this justify, the priest and the Levite? Again, when we help our neighbor's we help ourselves. This parable was intended to re-inforce the point that we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, soul, strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said in verse 28, "Do this and you will live." 
 
My "Good Samaritians" came in the form of the Hari Krsnas who have based their beliefs on Vedic teachings and worship the god Krsna. I have a rare condition called Idiopathic Anaphylaxis. After a hospital stay in Gulfport, Ms, I needed a place to recouperate. The most ideal was the Hari Krsna Temple and farm in Carriere, Ms.  Here, I learned what temple life might have been like in the Old Testament and experienced some of the ways of India without having to travel thousands of miles away. Although, to this day, I can not begin to understand why they worship their god(s) by carved images (I am talking feeding, bathing, dressing, having festivals) and the many incarnations of each god, and the idea of re-incarnation. They can not understand that, I who have been in coma or have been clinically dead so often, does not believe in re - incarnation.
 
However, I have grown to love the Hari Krsna community as much as any other group of friends I have. We stay intouch, we pray for one another, I visit with them and they with me. No, I do not believe as they do, however, that does not stop us from understanding we are to love one another. It is not a matter of deciding to "agree to disagree." At the core of every major ancient religion, Loving God, one's neighbor and one's self is the core teaching.
 
In order to change the world we must first understand the need to change ourselves. (Matthew 7: 3-5 NIV)   The boldest proof of the possibility of God is a person who is living their life according to the words of Jesus. 
 
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the
Father's who sent me.  (John 14:22-24)  
 
People are also not appreciated enough for the effort in their life journey. It takes an incredible amount of strength to exist on this world even in a calm uneventful day - let alone a day full of stress and pressures. So realize every person you lay eyes on is a hero just for breathing. Take an interest in what it took for them to be here today. 
 
I have come to realize early in life that negative happenings do not care or discriminate against anyone. Hardships do not pay attention to a person's skin color. Natural disasters do not personally seek out people of different religions. War might happen with a particular race or religion fighting one another but we all pay the cost, we all grieve, we all become emotionally involved.
 
It is the same with working at your employment location. When you take on a job at a particular place of employment you understand that while you hold true to your own personal convictions, your are expected to put the project and company focus before your own.  You are also expected to get along with your co workers. This means agreeing to disagree having your convictions understood not by your words but more so by your actions and how you treat others.
 
Well for survival sake we need to be just as objective and non judgemental or non discriminatory as disasters. We need to be focused on the tasks on hand as much as we are on our job sites. 
 
What are the tasks on hand?  Luke 4:18 gives a concise summary of a list in Isaiah 61: 1-3. Luke 4:18 states, ""The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
  
 
 
THESE PRECIOUS WORDS  
(c) 1990 by Michelle Carmela Saldana
 (An excerpt from "Take Me Away" - A book of poems, essays and artwork of a child slave to be released in 2012)
These precious words
     That I hold here in my hands
My eyes do read
These precious words
     That my eyes do read
I hold here in my heart
     So my mind may believe
   These precious words.
 
These precious words
     That my mind believes
   Wash over my soul.
   Over my thoughts
   Over my actions
Have complete control
   So that others may see
These precious words living in me.
 
In the year 2008, it was estimated that 600,000 - 800,000 people were trafficked into the United States. It is estimated that there are approximately 23-27 million people caught up in human trafficking almost 75% are female children.  Here are some clues that may identify a possible trafficking victim:

• The person is always accompanied by another person who appears controlling and won't speak on his or her own behalf
• The person's ID and travel documents have been taken from them
• The person has no control whatsoever over his or her own personal schedule or money
• The person is always transported to or from work or lives and works in the same place
• The person can't leave his or her job due to a debt owed to employer/owner
• The person has injuries, bruises, appears depressed, scared or overly submissive

Human trafficking is a modern form of human slavery that hurts many people.
If you suspect someone is a victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888. (36)
 In the countries like Cambodia, Vietname, and India, child trafficking is seen as a way to ensure a better life for the children. Parents are approached by people they believe are well meaning and are convinced to giving their children over with the promise that they children will obtain a better life. In truth the children are sold to brothels or forced to work in the fields or become child solidiers. Just because a child is spared life in a brothel does not mean the children are not subjected to rapes and tortures and various abuses.
It is an intersting note that more than we realize Religious Persecution is one of the contributors of Human Trafficking. As churches are taken over or closed and villages pillaged family members are killed, kidnapped, separated from one another. People are forced to fend for themselves, if they are children they will almost certainly find the most willing people to take them in are members of organized crime and human trafficking circuits if they are not sent to schools that will "re educate" them. This scenario is played out in various forms in China, India and the Middle East when ever there is an uprising.  Every once in a while the captive will become a house slave, some of which are sent to the United States sponsored by a 'benefactor" that upon entry to the country will take away their ID and Passport and any proof of citizenship.  These are not people jumping the boarder illegally. These are people that were promised jobs only to learn they were told a lie, or cohersed into compliance, or children who are FOREVER changed, have no way of knowing how to get back to home, if they ever stay alive; a people without country, family or identity. These are people hidden in plain sight.
In many cultures and religions, sex abuse and sex trafficking as well as other forms of human trafficking are "protected" as part of the culture and religion. For instance under Sharia law a woman must be a virgin to marry. Children as young as two have been married or betrothed to men much older than sometimes the father of the child. The founder of the Islamic religion was infact married to a six year old girl and is said to have had the alleged first relations with her when she was nine years old. The Catholic church has had to pay out millions of dollars in restitution to victims and survivors of sexual abuse. On average the greatest percentage of sexual abuse among boys is reported to come from the Catholic church. The Vactican a country to itself, has its own authority to deal the allegations and proved cases of child abuse. Their answer often is to emphatically deny the charges or move people around, when the local authorities of other countries step in, they often help to stone wall the investigations than actually help prosecute the offenders.
In public shools sex abuses are on the rise, with either students committing the crimes or teachers having sex with students.
The impact religious persecution and human trafficking have on society is emphatically negative. Men and women whose identity is shaped by their culture and religion and sexual identity are shaken to the core and stripped of all security of anything they had ever previously identified with. Health problems from STDs, diseases from malnutrition and poor santitation, as well stress related diseases and conditions can harbor themselves in a person's body from childhood well into old age.
People seeking to live normal lives finding a lover, having children and their own bit of earth have to deal with the surreality that living a normal life often brings back the memories of the horrible experiences  and the reality that the emotions are tender and shredded raw making it virtually impossible and an epic struggle to live a normal life.
As a result in one human trafficking survivors case, she normal childhood illnesses, STD’s, endometriosis, cancer and the treatments, along with the scarring from the abuse which started at a tender age – prompted doctors to say she would never have children. The doctors were wrong about this but who could for see the health problems she would have even decades afterwards?” As an adult her Adrenal Glands are so adversely depleted and her bone marrow is inflamed and infected, her white cell count is constantly dangerously high, these ingredients cause her to go into coma or die from various allergen triggers which are continously random. All of this which is from the stress that she endured as a child to her teen years, and later when she married into an abusive relationship until her then husband divorced her yet still manages to torment her and abuses the children who are in his care due to her poor health. And her children who have endured watching their parents fight, their mother abused, their mother homeless and hospitalized many times over, have they themselves endured homelessness, abuse and have attempted suicide. 
This is only one woman's story. There are thousands more like it annually and the woman who lent her story is the author of this publication. She has for over twenty plus years helped to educate the public about child/domestic abuse, human trafficking and the influence of organized crime upon global society. 
Thank you for your desire for awareness and education. However awareness and education are merely apathy when not accompanied with action.
Please use the following list as aides to help yourself or your community... and for more information, please go to www.onceuponaneden.weebly.com


Thank you,
Michelle Carmela Saldana
Founder of Once Upon An Eden
What Is Human Trafficking?
http://www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/Issues/Trafficking/index.asp

Video Explaining Human Trafficking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZTN0TbsRYA
2010 TIP (Trafficking In Persons) Report
http://geneva.usmission.gov/2010/06/14/trafficking-in-persons-report-2010/Be Informed of the YOUR Human Rights The Declaration of Human Rights as adopted Dec 10, 1948
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fen%2Fdocuments%2Fudhr%2Findex.shtml&ei=mx1nTbnJCYWKlweJv-CBAg&usg=AFQjCNGJ0npihIK9otLax5ADtJzt6f3dog

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Introduction.aspx

The Declaration of Human Rights Video format
http://vimeo.com/1823335Acts and Laws Protecting Against Human Trafficking

US TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION ACT 2000
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/1049.pdf

PROSECUTORIAL REMEDIES and OTHER TOOLS to END the EXPLOITATION of CHILDREN TODAY ACT of 2003 (PROTECT ACT OF 2003)
http://www.state.gov/g/tips/laws/120170/htm

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2008
http://www.justic.gov/olp/pdf/wilberforce-act.pdf  

HR 972 TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/laws/61106.htm

DOMESTIC MINOR SEX TRAFFICKING DETERRENCE AND VICTIMS SUPPORT ACT OF 2010
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fow.ly%2F2jgUL&h=d76b9

MAP RATING EACH STATE IN THE US ON THEIR EFFORTS TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.polarisproject.org%2Fcontent%2Fview%2F297&h=61c35

JESSICA'S LAW
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/Sex_offender_facts/index.html

MEGAN'S LAW
1.) http://www.meganslaw.org/

2.) http://www.megans-law.net/

3.) http:/www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us

4.) http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/

NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING RESOURCE CENTER'S 24-HOUR TOLL FREE HOTLINE NUMBER 1-888-3737-888 ( Ms. Saldana tested the NHTRC hotline number herself. Real people answer the phone, friendly curtious, expedient)

NATIONAL DOMESTIC HOTLINE NUMBER ACCESSED FROM ALL 50 STATES: 1-800-799-SAFE(7233)
NATIONAL DOMESTIC HOTLINE NUMBER ACCESSED FROM ALL 50 STATES TTY: 1-800-787-3224
(Translated in 170 languages with aides of interpreter)

RAIN (RAPE, ABUSE AND INCEST NATIONAL NETWORK) 1-800-656-HOPE(4673)
(To find shelters call above number or go online at following web site)
http://www.womenshealth.gov/violence/state

NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE NUMBER: 1800-25-ABUSE(22873)

CHILD HELP USA HOTLINE NUMBER: 1-800-4-A-CHILD(422-4453)

CHILD HELP USA HOTLINE NUMBER TDD: 1-800-2-A-CHILD(222-4453)

 Entitites, Authorities and NGO's that are taking part in the erradication of Human Trafficking. *Strongly encourage that this link be used. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_traffickingSuggested measures to release your inner hero and help someone who is a survivor of slavery1. Be an educated consumer. If you can not refurbish, reuse, renew, repurpose items within your home, try purchasing at yard sales first or hold exchange parties with friends. If an item must be purchased,  then please, know where your item came from.2. Teach your child to think of the value of an item in not only the dollar price, but also, in terms of time spent to gain the item. As the child becomes older, you might want to include in her purchasing power education whether or not an item used child labor or slave labor to manufacture the item.3. If you can not grow and store your own food then, then purchasing from local farmers is the next best option. Purchase pre-made food items from farmers who use organic materials. Try when possible to avoid Genentically Modified Organisms. Try using home remedies before making a trip to the clinic, doctor or emergency room. Study about the local indigenous communities and do what you can to help them achieve their community goals. For instance in the United States, the American Indian Nations are very much misunderstood and their knowledge undervalued.4. Establish emergency funds for your family and household needs. Establish emergency plans. Each time a scenario is drilled, follow it up by a fun family time. Allow your child to contribute towards the preparations with her opinions, ideas and physical effort. Encourage you spiritual centers to have emergency preparedness plans. Make donations toward the effort.5. Celebrate the elderly and the children in your life. Celebrate and court your life partner. When speaking to people recognize in all your logic that you are speaking to the heart of everyone; so become engaged in the coversation. Look and listen with the intent to understand the people you meet. The elderly have life wisdom. Children being the present gifts that they are hold the promise of the future. Open them up, see the beautiful world they are bringing into fruition as a gift. People are not appreciated enough for their achievement of living – of being. Do not underestimate the power of a smile or kind word. Seek mediums of art to allow everyone, including yourself, to express your inner creativity.6. Keep yourself healthy.  Poor health often leads to strained/broken families, depleted finances, homelessness, crime and/or prostitution and sometiems drug/alcohol use.7. Keep yourself informed. Do not shy away from discussions about abuse or slavery. Keep a set of resource and hot line numbers just in case they maybe needed by you or someone you know. Religious centers and community centers should implement practical help strategies for single parents, latch-key kids and the elderly. When you can, as you can, volunteer.Permission for educational and resource use given to Ocean Gate Southern Baptist Church in Hawthorne by Michelle Carmela Saldana/ Founder and Director of Once Upon An EdenThank you for allowing me to be a part of your excellent endeavors. All of God's Blessings upon each and everyone at Ocean Gate Baptist Church from Michelle Carmela and everyone at Once Upon an Eden. 

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RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION LEADING TO SLAVERY AND EXPLOITATION
 religions of the world   http://www.zpub.com/un/pope/relig.html

hawaii history
http://www.gohawaii.com/statewide/travel-tips/history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hawaii

Let me brag a little bit on how awesome our Father is. God saw us through
another year. Whewwhh. What a journey that was!  Seriously people are not
valued enough for the wonderous artwork and the magnificant individuals that
we are. We are God made. We are not China made. American made. Made in
Canada. Even if one does not believe in God they must surely acknowledge
that they did not knit themselves together. God's handiwork is spectacular
from my point of view. You should all be where I am right now. What I see is
a gorgeous mosaic. People are also not appreciated enough for the effort in
their life journey. It takes an incredible amount of strength to exist on
this world even in a calm uneventful day - let alone a day full of stress
and pressures. So as you sit here listening to me and your mind starts to
wonder a bit and your eyes start to roam. I hope you are realizing every
person you lay eyes on is a hero just for breathing. And I do hope you take
an interest in what it took for them to be here today in this room with you
and I. More over I hope that awe and curiousity transcends to the market,
bus stop, school, office, traffick jam.

Lets pray.
Father in Jesus precious name. Thank you for being. Thank you for creating.
Because you are-all is. Because you had the courage to create-all exists.
Thank you father for creating us. Thank you for creating us and placing us
into our lives. Please teach us to be light in the darkness. Please give us
words to speak at the time needed. Please allow our words to have the same
impact as when you said, 'light be.' and light was. Light chased, confused,
confounded, overcame, over powered, tortured, tormented and pierced the
darkness. Father by the might of Holy Spirit we each here want to be like
you, we want to speak light and want to be the light in the darkness, so
Holy Spirit have your way with us all here today. Refine us with your
perfect love that casts out all fear.  Help us to grow up in your character.
Holy Spirit use us to impact the world with you-love. I pray in Jesus name
that anyone who has not encountered you father that they encounter your Holy
Spirit and experience the love that they have been yearning for which is so
far more deeper than they have ever known. You complete us Lord Father.
Thank you. In Jesus name Amen.

If you would please turn to the first hand out there...

THESE PRECIOUS WORDS Michelle Carmela Saldana

These precious words that I hold here in my hands my eyes do read

These precious words that my eyes do read
    I hold here in my heart so my mind may believe
    These precious words.

These precious words that my mind believes
    Wash over my soul.
    Over my thoughts
    Over my actions

Have complete control
    So that others may see
These precious words living in me.

I have been invited here to share with you some of my experiences of not
only Religious Persecution but also of Human Trafficking which I am honestly
more familiar with. Intimately familiar with. You see I am a survivor of
child slavery -specifically child labor slavery and child sex slavery. All
which took place here on the soil of the United States. And which has
underminded my life in many  ways - especially my health, and most
regretably my relationship with my children.  We will discuss this more
later.

First let us define *What is religious persecution?  *
* *
*According to Wikipedia...*
***Religious persecution** *is the systematic mistreatment of an individual
or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or
affiliations or lack thereof.**

We know religious persecution is wrong otherwise we would not be here.
Several years ago, I taught Spanish at a private Montessorri pre-school. In
my class. One child came from a family that had converted from Christianity
to Muslim. The parents even opened up and ran the only Muslim temple in the
area. One child came from a Jewish family. One child was the grandchild of a
Baptist minister. Lastly, another child from a scholarly atheistic family.
Four children from different religious upbringings. Not only were they of
different religious upbringings they represented the human rainbow. Yet,
they were best of friends on the play yard. It was a joy to watch them
interact. Sadly, the thought would creep in my mind from time to time...
When they grow up will this beauty be lost? Then I would pray that God would
nurture the relationship of these little ones well into their older years.

**The tendency of societies or groups within society to alienate or repress
different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history.  *
From time to time, I read the links in the internet taking notice of the
latest harrassment or oppression forced upon the Christian community hacking
away at our freedom of speach in America or the UK and EU. Worse yet in many
countries around the rest of the world it is Freedom of Life being erased
away with every person beaten or killed for their conversion to
Christianity.

However, we Christians can not play the "Woe is me" game. When in all
honesty the Christian community has also alienated and repressed different
subcultures. Namely what comes to mind is in our own history of America the
American Indian Nations who are still on reservations and are still going
through a silent genocide.









**
e.) We have no right as Christians to think we have the complete set of
answers to all of life's questions because we don't. We do have a
relationship to the One who does have all the answers. Jeremiah
33:3                                                                    And
we need to give other people room to teach us.                    The Bible
does acknowledge other gods besides Father God.
Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul strength and
mind, love your neighbor as yourself. Jeremiah 10:10 says

*“You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it
turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” ~ Anne Lamott*


**
*Moreover, because **a person's religion often determines to a significant
extent his or her morality and personal identity, religious differences can
be significant cultural factors.**
     From 2006 to 2008, I had been livining on the Gulf Coast as part of
Hurricane Katrina relief. In mid July, I was visiting with some friends
before returning to Los Angeles. Due to an Anaphylactic episode, I had a
hospital stay. Once discharged my friend that I was visiting welcomed me to
stay at her home. Once we realized I was going to need more care than she
was able to give and with her husband returning home from being overseas-he
is an oceanographer- I started calling the churches in the area that I had
grown relationships with. I knew they did not have an organized shelter, any
one of them. What I was hoping for was that someone would open their home up
like my friend did. Not a one did though and I understood why. The care that
I needed and the sensitivity of my immune system was a strain even for me.
At a loss as what to do. My friend suggested I call the Hari Krsna farm. I
did. They said they had room and were most welcoming. I called my pastor and
mentor and he said to go for it and learn all I could so I could let others
know how to build bridges with them.
     So with his blessings I stayed at the farm and did indeed grow
stronger. The food was excellent. The company pleasant.  And I learned
things about the Hari Krsnas and even about Jesus that I had never known
before, like there are two temples in India that were errected to worship
Jesus who they call Issa. And these two temples are some of the most visited
in India.
     I was surprized to learn how many people at this temple where I was
staying were former Christians not really in relationship as we say "born -
again" but they were familiar with Christianity because they were once part
of or active in their church. A few even former pastors or students of
seminary.  I asked them why they became Hari Krsnas to them it was logical.
They wanted to know what Jesus meant by "Many other things I have to teach
you, but you are not ready." They felt that the Krsna religion could help
them understand. Some said because in their brokenness, the CHURCH broken
them even further. These were reasons the American followers gave. One lady
from India, told me she was an atheist, she had a successful realistate
business and had no time for religion. "But one day she went to the temple
sat in on the class." She said. "Listening to the teacher, I now had answers
to questions that I did not even realize my soul was asking until that
moment. My life's questions were answered and my heart felt complete
listening to the teacher."  My response was, "That is the same feeling I get
when I read the Bible." We both smiled and just enjoyed the moment with each
other.
      All the while I stayed there, and it was several weeks. No one tried
to convert me. Instead they shared with me stories of the persecution that
they went through for their beliefs. Nearby was a Baptist church that had
invited me to guest speak from time to time. The pastor had his daughter
pick me up to speak at the church. Knowing I was going to the church, the
kitchen people had fixed me up a plate of sweets to give to the pastor and
his family.  They also fixed for me a snack. When I returned, I was just in
time for lunch at the krsna temple. As I was getting my lunch, I learned
from some of the 'devotees" that the Maharaja that I had met the night
before and spoke with that night about gardening was so touched by our
conversation that he quoted me during his lecture even to the point to
incorporate whatever I said into his teaching.
      The project that I am currently working on is called Once Upon An
Eden. Later when you have time to yourself, you may read about this project.
It is fully non-denominational and intercultural as well as inter-religious.
The hari krsnas I am happy to say, have been a huge help in not only my
health recovery but also in helping me to learn and understand many of the
ancient traditional methods of farming as they were then and even now with
modern twists.
     While I can not fathom why they are so devoted to tending to the needs
of the wooden statues. They can not understand why I can not. While for me
having a relationship with Father, Son and Holy Ghost is more than enough
for me. They find knowing the tales, dates of celebration and feasts of all
their gods as a joyous way to spend life and devotion. And overall they are
people of joy.
      My time at the temple let me see and understand what life in Jesus day
or the Old Testment must have been like. I wore Sari's, and beautiful
peasant skirts they call goppi skirts. And I ate meals that the receipIt is
a beautiful place. And the people do really live devoted and with such
respect that they take off their shoes before going into the temple. They
kiss the floor of the temple. They pay reverence to their teachers. Of
course they have their squabbles and differences like any other religion
and I was surprized to hear they even have denominations and fractions
within. Just like the other religions. But these were things that I noticed
that really caused me to ask God to be the best light of his presence in me
while at the temple. As a result these people who have earned a dear place
in my heart have given me so much respect and love in return.

*Religious persecution may be triggered by religious bigotry (i.e. the
denigration of practitioners' religions other than those of the oppressors)
or by the State when it views a particular religious group as a threat to
its interests or security. At a societal level, this dehumanization of a
particular religious group may readily turn into violence or other forms of
persecution..... Indeed, in many countries, religious persecution has
resulted in so much violence that it is considered a human rights problem.*
* *
Religious Persecution is nothing new.  Let us examine more closely *the
systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a
response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack there of. *

Over the years I have encountered many atheists who can quote the Bible
better than I or many other Christians. When I have asked them, "How is it
you know the Bible so well but you do not believe in the God it speaks of?"
The answer I often hear is that they learn the Bible as a tool of defense
against being "Witnessed to or at" so much. The critique I often hear from
individual atheitsts is that they want to be heard and treated like a person

and not a target or project. It can be surprising sometimes to hear how
intrenched and involved they were at one time in their church
community. Yes, many atheists do feel dehumanized by many, not all, but
many Christians and other religious groups.

As stated *a person's religion often determines to a significant extent his
or her morality and personal identity, religious differences can be
significant cultural factors.*  Religion and culture played a huge part
during the

*Religious persecution may be triggered by religious bigotry (i.e. the
denigration of practitioners' religions other than those of the oppressors)
or by the State when it views a particular religious group as a threat to
its interests or security. At a societal level, this dehumanization of a
particular religious group may readily turn into violence or other forms of
persecution.*
**
One man is infamous to this very day for his religious bigotry, When
religious persecution comes to mind do we not think of Hitler? When the
religious persecution is by another religion upon another or within
religious affiliations do we not think Radical Muslims or cults? When
religious persecution is by the State (meaning government induced religious
persecution) do we not think of again the Middle Eastern Cultures or China?

Would it be surprizing to learn that Religious Persecution is still
happening in America?


* Jesus said in John 10:10*

10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may
have life and have it abundantly.


English Standard Version
Again, *Jesus said in John 10:10 The thief comes to steal and to kill and to


destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly. *





Jesus was hounded and persecuted by the Pharisees and Sandhedrian who
claimed he spoke hereisay.  Jesus believed in the same books and scriptures
as they; however, his interrpretation and the fact that he did interpret the


scriptures and taught the scriptures having not the level of schollastic
achievement as they and teaching in a way contridictory as how they taught
and in a manner that empowered people made Jesus a threat to the religious
powers of that day.

*Jesus prayed in John 17:1-6*

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,  2


since you have given him authority over all flesh,to give eternal life to
all whom you have given him.  3 And this is eternal life, that they know you


the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent 4 I glorified you on
earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now,
Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you
before the world existed.  6  "I have manifested your name to the people
whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me,


and they have kept your word.



*John 14:22-24*

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest
Yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23Jesus answered and said to him, "If


anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We
will come to him and make Our home with him.  24 He who does not love Me
does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the
Father's who sent me.


Native American Indians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States


RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

 [image: Jay Tavare] <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare>
 Jay Tavare <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare>

Actor, Writer & Activist
Posted: January 28, 2011 02:20 PM
 BIO <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare/#blogger_bio> Become a
Fan<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/becomeFan.php?of=hp_blogger_Jay+Tavare>
Get Email Alerts <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/login/> Bloggers'
Index <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/index/>
 A Modern Day American Indian
Story<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare/our-true-american-indian-_b_808290.html>
First Article from Jay Tavare -Huffington Post

I couldn't make up a more gripping story than this. It's a disturbing tale
of one people's struggle against ethnic cleansing and cultural exploitation.
Not fictional violence played out on the silver screen like one of my
movies. Not a comfortable account of a remote holocaust far across the ocean
or centuries ago. This tragic saga is real life, here in America. And it is
happening now.

My name is Jay Tavare. I am an actor and writer, a storyteller in the modern
way. What I am going to tell you is a true story you might not hear any
place else.

The year is 2011. The place is the United States of America. The people are
the American Indians. Their plight... they are dying from lack of heat, food
and even water. They are dying from despair. All of this happens quietly,
like a closely guarded government secret.

You probably think I'm exaggerating, and that's understandable. After all,
our government gives hundreds of millions of dollars each year to other
nations to solve their problems... natural disaster, war, famine, epidemic
disease... you name the cause, and we finance it. So how is it possible that
our own indigenous people are among the poorest in the world? The answer is
simple. It is possible because we are ignorant.

This raises a more intriguing question though: Why and how we've been kept
in the dark for so long? And the answer to that is nothing more than
standard fare for any successful long term mass extermination effort --
indoctrination, historical revision and elimination of the "enemy".

What our children learn about our nation's early history and our
relationship with the American Indians is so loosely based on reality, it's
actually more of a fairytale. Conveniently, our history books fail to
explain the cost paid in human suffering and lives so the rest of us would
prosper.

Five-hundred-sixty-two American Indian nations survive today. I say
"nations" instead of "tribes," because that is what the original treaties
with the U.S. Government say. But the government has revised its
interpretation of those treaties so they can forget that each tribe is a
recognized sovereign nation; that their lands are likewise sovereign; and
that American Indians should have the same opportunities for prosperity and
happiness that you and I have. The result for American Indians is,
"recognition" does not include basic human rights.

The first Indian reservations were concentration camps. While conditions on
the reservations are somewhat different today, they are not better.
Reservation life remains unhealthy and unsafe. The average American Indian
man on the reservation lives just 46 years.

My film work has given me an unusual opportunity to learn what our text
books do not teach us about American Indian history and culture. I have felt
outrage, dismay and finally deep compassion for the plight of my people. But
my feelings don't feed hungry stomachs or warm cold bodies. I intend to make
a difference by doing something real! I searched hard for a place that I
could do this and I found *Adopt a Native Elder <http://www.anelder.org/>*,
a philanthropic organization that is very dear to me.

Adopt a Native Elder was born over 20 years ago when Linda Myers walked onto
a Navajo reservation. She asked if anyone would give her a rug to sell. She
would, she promised, bring the money back to them. Just imagine how the
Navajo elders must have looked at this white girl asking them to trust her.
But one elder stepped up and was eventually proven wise. Linda sold the rug,
returning all the money to the elder. And through that act of kindness Linda
Myers found her counterpart in the Navajo country, Grace Smith Yellow
Hammer.

My project at Adopt a Native Elder, Warming Hearts, raises much needed money
for fire wood essential to the Navajo elders during the harsh winters.

Today I finish with this urgent news. Soon I will make one of my regular
trips to the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico. They are dealing
with a horrific problem -- teens who are killing themselves in greater
numbers than ever before. Suicide is heartbreaking and the problem is huge,
but we will find a way to end it.

In my next post I'll talk about these things and more in greater detail.
Please share your ideas and comments with me. I look forward reading them.

And stay tuned... This is a continuing story!


*Follow Jay Tavare on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SacredPower *



 Jay Tavare <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare>

Actor, Writer & Activist
Posted: February 12, 2011 01:41 PM
 BIO <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare/#blogger_bio> Become a
Fan<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/becomeFan.php?of=hp_blogger_Jay+Tavare>
Get Email Alerts <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/users/login/> Bloggers'
Index <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/index/>
 Life or Death: Teen Suicide on American Indian
Reservations<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-tavare/suicide-american-indian-reservation_b_821639.html>

Second Article from Jay Tavare -Huffington Post

Teen suicide is beyond what most of us can fathom. No parent should have to
bury their children. I have done it in my films and even that much was
emotionally uncomfortable and draining.

[image: 2011-02-11-MountainGodsMescaleroApachereservationsmall.jpg]

American Indian teens take their own lives at more than two times the rate
of any other teen demographic in the USA, according to statistics from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of course, these numbers are
just averages, so on certain reservations the suicide rate is exponentially
higher. But calculating the numbers is easy. It's the reasons that are
harder to fathom.

Most are kids who do not have drugs or alcohol problems. Many come from
financially comfortable families, by Native American standards. And most
don't leave a suicide note, so their loved ones suffer the pain of regrets
and self blame without the relief of being able to know the true reasons.

Imagine a 14-year-old girl coming home from school and after putting her
books away, hanging herself. Shocking, I know, but this is what had become
commonplace on the Mescalero
Apache<http://www.mescaleroapache.com/area/history_and_cul.htm>
reservation
in New Mexico (map <http://www.mescaleroapache.com/images/image004.gif>). In
2009, they faced a true state of emergency when four teens committed suicide
and one attempted suicide in the space of just two
months<http://www.ruidosonews.com/>.


   - Fifteen-year-old Coloradas Mangas shares his stunning firsthand
   experience in this AP
story.<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36039795/ns/health-mental_health/>
   - Also read Coloradas' moving testimony before the Senate Hearing for the
   Committee on Indian
Affairs.<http://indian.senate.gov/public/_files/ColoradasMangastestimony.pdf>

   For some reason the truth about this crisis is seldom publicized by the
   mainstream media. Maybe we find it comfortable to believe that problems on
   the reservation are the same as ours in the mainstream. But the situation is
   more complicated than that.

   The American Indian nations are proud and independent people. They're not
   helpless and they're not seeking outside assistance. In fact -- and this is
   something we must take to heart in order to truly understand -- historical
   evidence strongly suggests that it's outside "help," in the form of European
   colonialism and religious missionary movements, that created this problem in
   the first place.

   For centuries, American Indian culture has been attacked and exploited by
   our new dominant culture. Traditions, language and spiritual beliefs of so
   many of the American Indian nations are almost completely extinguished. Is
   it any wonder that the youth find themselves in an identity crisis?

   Hearing all this, it's natural we want to help. But real healing has to
   come from within the Indian community. What we can do is become educated and
   empathetic. We can help by learning about and respectfully supporting
   programs founded by and for Indians on the reservations.

   The Mescalero Apache reservation has created their own suicide prevention
   youth program, Honor Your Life, headed by coordinator Jeremiah Simmons. And
   the recent news are encouraging: In 2010 there were no teen suicides on the
   Mescalero Apache reservation. Although kids still talked about taking their
   own lives, they didn't go through with it.

   Janice Merino -- who happens to be a direct descendant of
Cochice<http://www.snowwowl.com/nativeleaders/cochise.html>and a
beautiful generous soul whom I cherish dearly -- is a suicide
   prevention specialist for the Honor Your Life program. Janice says:

   "Its interesting because now we are mainly seeing suicide ideation,
   thoughts but no plans."

   This is a huge step in the right direction. I'm incredibly proud of
   Janice and everyone she works with. The things they accomplished in defiance
   of all odds and adversity are miraculous. Kudos to Janice, Jeremiah and all
   the precious people at Honor Your Life!

   Janice goes on to say:

   "Also the teen pregnancy rate has risen very high and parents are not
   talking to kids about sex. There have been more bullying issues in middle
   school. And of course drugs and alcohol issues seem to remain the same."

   These are things I'll talk about more in upcoming posts.

   Obviously, the greater crisis still looms, not just on the Mescalero
   Apache reservation, but over all of Indian country. Pine Ridge Oglala
   Lakota Sioux reservation of South Dakota is another tragic
example<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/us/09suicide.html?_r=1>,
   with a suicide rate more than three times the average for the rest of the
   nation.

   There are too many stories like these. But by learning the facts,
   remembering them and sharing them with others, you're a vital part of what
   happens next. The shift is coming!

   As the Apache say: G'u Z'u D'alsh ("Let all good things happen!")

   *(Photo by Jay Tavare. "The Apache reservation is surrounded by four
   mountains that are sacred to them. White Mountain is the one seen here.")
   *


   *Follow Jay Tavare on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SacredPower *

**

Orgs

Native Americans
 *Welcome to Adopt-A-Native-Elder <http://www.anelder.org/>*
www.anelder.org


stolen generation
http://reconciliaction.org.au/nsw/education-kit/stolen-generations/
 ******************************************************

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Hidden in plain sight
http://criminal.lawyers.com/Criminal-Law-Basics/Hidden-in-Plain-Sight-Human-Trafficking.html

stats for human trafficking
http://www.unescobkk.org/culture/cultural-diversity/trafficking-and-hivaids-project/projects/trafficking-statistics-project/data-comparison-sheet/

this is a video from thailand or orient
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7En-A1k1Ac&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7En-A1k1Ac&feature=related

“IN LOVE THERE IS NO DISTANCE ONLY UNITY”
Written by Michelle Carmela Saldana September 3, 2011
When I first found myself separated from my husband of almost ten years, it was a grave devastation. The depression that resulted so permeated and engrossed me that each time I closed my eyes even for a moment I wondered if I would wake up alive. 
I had been through so much devastation and trauma in my early days of life. Marriage suited me. Being a wife and mother was all I dreamed about as a little girl. It was all I worried about. I remember asking my mother at age sixteen while we were setting the dining room table for assurance that I could indeed one day be married even though almost all my childhood had been about beatings and rapes.  In my heart I was a virgin and in my mind I vowed that I would do my damnedest to protect my children from the pain that had been inflicted upon me.
But there I was just a week before Christmas in 2000, homeless, expelled from my home and informed that my husband was dovorcing me to pursuit other women. Just a few hours before, I was packing up the household to move to Mexico. We had so many adventures planned and our sons were to enroll in the top schools of the nation of Mexico conveniently located close to my now ex-husband's family. What was I doing at a shelter –homeless, about to be divorced, away from my sons and just days before Christmas?
If my adult mind could not make sense of the nightmare what would this new reality do to our young sons just eight and five years of age at the time? Thinking of this made me physically sick.
In hours I went from being a stay at home housewife and mother of two wonderful sons who to me shined like Super Nova or Quasars to a homeless invisible person lost among thousands in a place I had never been.
When I was 26 years old my now ex-husband informed me that he just could not see me as the woman he loved. He kept on talking and talking and each word was a knife cutting and slicing into me.  To make matters worse the day was rainy, thundering, the boys were down for a nap, it was a beautiful setting for romance instead in quiet whispers I did not hear sweet nothings whispered into my ear. I heard I was nothing to him being drilled into my heart. But I listened. And decided to stay married because I believed in the vows we said to each other on our wedding day.  And I did not want to bring such pain to my sons. So we agreed for our sons sakes that we would remain married in name.  My nightmare had come true. My husband did not want me because in his eyes I was tainted. In reality, he was cheating left and right and wanted to use the fact that I was abused as a child and had physical health problems as an excuse.  Then at age 29, he informs me that the medical bills which resulted from treating the remaining health conditions that I still had from the abuse I endured as a child were no longer his responsibility because soon we would no longer be married.   
Pay phones and the phone at the shelter’s office were the only instruments available at the time to stay connected to my sons to hear their voices, to hear their hearts. 
My sons even while so young were and still are my inspiration. Every day, we had adventures.   In the summer and afterschool on Fridays, we went treasure hunting or dinosaur hunting around Los Angeles. Using the city bus the boys were in charge of seeing we had food, supplies and we all managed safely through the concrete jungle to our final destination of either the Los Angeles Science Museum or the La Brea Tar Pitts. In the matters of treasure hunting we could wind up at any of the libraries or city parks. The boys never failed to somehow involve the bus driver or passengers into our adventures.  On rainy days we laid out a blanket in the living room and had dinner in the living room picnic style. The boys pretended an empty water bottle to be the roaring campfire which we gathered around while they took turns making up stories –sometimes acting out the scenes.
Most engrossing and intriguing were our quiet times. When asked “What are you thinking?” the depths of the topics discussed were astonishing. The insights that were expressed by each young man were amazing.  And when shared with adults in position to help, these two small boys managed to turn a gang infested school into a community center in less than nine months and they were not even ten years old.   Now barely a year later, their parents were being divorced, their mother gone away and they didn’t know why.  All they knew was mommy left and now daddy would take care of them. Well, with the help of the new women in daddy’s life.
It shredded me to the core to know these magnificent young men would be open to pain at such a young age because I had failed to protect them. The knowing other people (strangers) would be coming in and out of my sons’ lives influencing their values, and possibly changing their character, and posing the risk of danger wrecked me as much as it angered me. I more than resented the idea of my sons being in such circumstances that at best were uncomfortable awkward inconveniences and at worst made them fearful and possibly rightly so.  And with my health issues now escalated by depression and stress, I feared that if something happened to my sons I could do nothing to help them or I would die without their knowing me as a person and the fact that they were the apples of my eyes.
In the early days I made every phone call count. When I could call I listened to everything they said. Because my cell phone would cut out, we learned tobegin and end our calls saying: "It is good to hear your voice." A habit my youngest son started. He still says often, "In your voice I can hear your heart. It is good to give you my heart and you to give me yours. Good trade by the way." I am a thankful mom. At times they were in binds and danger that little ones should not be in. Like a babysitter’s boyfriend making them uncomfortable.  Not able to get through to their father that the boyfriend of the baby sitter was ogling our sons and making our sons feel dirty even though the boys said he did not touch them because of the protective tricks I had taught them. (I am an educator about abuse and slavery in the United States and I firmly believe every child should know how to defend themselves.) I called the authorities and immigration.  The man was deported; Immigration had found him to be a known pedophile and he was wanted in Mexico on related charges. I forget what happened to the baby sitter but I do know my sons went back to their original sitter who they had called “Abuelita” which is “Grandmother” in Spanish and knew they were  satisfied and safe.
    When my oldest son was ten he informed me by phone that he was going to military school because he wanted to be a soldier and defend the country and his dad had enrolled him. This was minutes before my shift at work was to start. I was confounded and did not agree with this avenue for my son’s education.  While at work I prayed holding back tears. What could be done? I was hapless. A client came to me and asked what was wrong. I told him. Right then and there he started making a few phone calls.  I took him to be disinterested in my dilemma and was embarrassed for being unprofessional in telling him my problem. When he was done, I proceeded to apologize. He put his hand up as to stop me quiet. Then my client informed me he knew the major in charge of the military academy where my son was enrolled.  He went on to say he called the major directly and asked him to pass over my son and not accept him.   That was on a Friday.  The next Monday, my son called to tell me his dad received a call that our son’s enrollment was withdrawn and his file was “red flagged.”  The major had expedited the request. My ex-husband also received notice in the mail. The relief in my son’s voice was heart breaking and breathtaking for it revealed the pressure of sense of duty this young child was carrying to be all things good for all people and the gladness he had to have the pressure removed could be felt.  “Please stay you. Enjoy being ten. And be your little brother’s big brother. Please. That is all the world needs. That is what your dad, your brother and I need.” I begged.  “I can do that mom.” He said gleefully.
There have been times when I have been able to be physically part of my sons’ lives. However, the times away have outweighed those times.  There have been many phone calls of homework done long distance, stories read and prayers said before bed via the phone. However, I would have given anything to be there in person as when they were younger.   For whatever reason my ex-husband did not want me to talk with our sons; often, he would grab the phone away and hang it up. So my youngest son came up with a code and we would talk code.
First there were phone calls and then the addition of My Space emails and chats.  As a gift one Mother’s Day my sons called to give me all their internet information: email addresses, passwords, social chat sight information and passwords to those. And my oldest son introduced me to his girlfriend over the phone. My youngest son that day asked me, “Mom, now that you have all this info will you ‘cyber-stalk’ me.” “I sure will.” I said firmly.  “Good, Mom. Because there are some scary and dangerous people out there.” The next day when I went on his page he had already put up a notice that sometimes I would be on his site because I had his permission to delete people. So the people on his My Space should be careful of what they say.  My oldest son was a different story.  More than once I told him to remove vulgarity from his account or I would report him to Tom the founder of My Space.  I reported him once. After that he listened for a while at least.  Seeing his determination to keep the shock value on his account, I decided these would be teaching moments for him. So I selected my battles carefully prepared my comments and would send him private messages.    To my joyful amazement, he toned his postings way down and became more expressive with his words.  Still there were awkward moments, like when they just removed me from intubation ICU to a regular ward floor and my oldest son called not to see how I was doing but because he had some questions about sex. So with a squeeky raw scratched throat and an eighty-six year old lady as a roommate there I was not even twenty minutes off of life support answering my son's questions about sex. I wondered if he even knew why I was in the hospital but did not mention it as not to alarm him. I was available for him no matter what, that is all he needed to know.
Because My Space allows people to post so much information about them, my sons really got to know me more.  My youngest son often would use the “Bio” section of My Space to ask questions of me when he and I were on the phone.
Now my sons are both on Facebook. The oldest son requested me! And the youngest accepted my request! I am learning more and more about my sons through Facebook. I learned that I had no need to worry about them staying true to their core characters. Their characters have been scraped and bruised some over the years by bitter experiences as a result of the divorce and my not physically being there due to my health issues, but their bodies have grown up handsomely to surround their golden souls. I go on their walls and see they have many friends who admire, love and respect them. 
 
More than once my sons have informed me they wish to one day carry on my humanitarian work against abuses and slavery in some fashion. And each has expressed to me candidly many times what the abuse I endured as a child has done to them. They made it clear that the abusers did not just abuse me but abused my descendants as well.   My sons constantly give me food for thought. I am an advisor to many organizations; however, my sons are my advisors.  One day, I informed them, I was too tired to go on sharing my story. Right away they pounced not even letting me finish. “Mom, your story is our story.  You know too much to stay quiet. And you have an obligation to US YOUR CHILDREN to tell OUR story.” To drive the point home my youngest son asked quietly but firmly, “Mom, if you don’t talk to the people who will help my future wife heal after someone hurts her before she comes to marry me? How will my friends learn where to go when they need help? No, Mom. You have to keep talking.”
I am so thankful for the privilege to be the matrix that allowed these wondrous souls to enter the world at this day and age. I am so blessed to have them in my life. These young men have been my gift and the world’s gift given by their creator. I love and admire them so much. I am thankful for every opportunity to tell them this truth. The last time I thanked my oldest son for this privilege he said, “No, mom! God used you and dad to give us life. How can my brother and I not be thankful? You could have aborted us - this day and age people are doing that. How could we not be thankful? Mom, the phone and internet are not the same as you hugging us and being at our games and other school events, but it is all we have. A lot of people don't even have that. You are wrong, Mom. The decision for you to be our mom was you not aborting us. And every time you call or e mail or write you are deciding to be our Mom. You are letting us know we are your sons. You are letting us know we are connected. We know you are doing your best to get well. We know your plans include us. My brother and I talk about this with our friends. We know more about you and dad than most of our friends know their parents because they are always on the go with job, school, activities, or fighting over silly stuff. Mom, our relationship is not perfect, but we know we are here because you want us. And you make what effort you can for us. You want to know us. Mom, you are our mom. You let us be your sons. How can we not respond to that?!”
The affirmation from my sons is priceless to me. When people tell me I am a good mother, I cringe inside. I do not know if it is true really until my sons say it to be true. Over the years while conducting seminars on abuse(s), slavery,  and homelessness I always close with a lesson about relationships discussing the most fundamental:  relationship with self; parent –child; and between spouses, life partners or lovers. These relationships more than any others determine our future decisions and can either make or break our well - being. For so many years I felt like a hypocrite giving this lesson knowing the condition of my own relationship with my sons.  Even when asked to contribute  to this edition and hearing the topic was parenting, I tried to back out, explaining I am not confident writing such an article since I parent via computer or telephone. Instead, my participation was all the more encouraged.  As I pondered this piece I realized I know quite a few people estranged from their children and use the internet for communication. As divorce increases the trend to parent via technology seems to prevail.  I can’t help but to ask what the impact of this trend will be?
In the mean time I will bask in the knowing that my sons know me and want to continue on  in the legacy of combating abuses, organized crime, homelessness and slavery. We might not have traditions but we do have each other’s hearts.
"Carmela" was born and raised into a Mafia life and is a survivor of Human Trafficking. For the past 25 years, Carmela has been educating  Americans via radio, TV, internent, social media, in print and in person how to identify and deal with the complexities of Human Trafficking such as "generational fallout," child/domestic abuse, homelessness, human trafficking, and organized crime. Carmela servers on the boards of several organizations and NGO’s in various capacities.  In the Fall her book "Armchair Abolitionist" will be released and she will be moving to Nairobi, Kenya, to work in partnership with Tradional Healthcare Integrated Network of Kenya to develop her theory that people who have endured stresses and trauma have greater nutritional needs. For more information please go to http://www.onceuponaneden.weebly.com. To contact Carmela email onceuponaneden@gmail.com

​Ever since the first person realized he or she could exploit and capitalize on the crises or misfortunes of others, not one country, culture or religion could ever absolve themselves
of their acquirement or use of slaves. As hard as it is to fathom, slavery is still a very real autrocity occurring today in not ony under developed or under priviledged countries; but also, in the
neighborhoods of every nation -even our own.
 
Human trafficking, slavery, can be a complex issue, with complex political, cultural, social, economical, and health componets. However, complex slavery may be, we can together eradicate slavery. 
 
The most immediate forms of advocacy are:
1/Be an educated consumer. If you can not refurbish, reuse, renew, repurpose items within your home, try purchasing at yard sales first or hold exchange parties with friends. If an item must be purchased,  then please, know where your item came from.
 
2/Teach your child to think of the value of an item in not only the dollar price, but also, in terms of time spent to gain the item. As the child becomes older, you might want to include in her purchasing power education, about whether or not an item used child labor or slave labor to manufacture the item. 
 
3/If you can not grow and store your own food then, then purchasing from local farmers is next best option. Purchase pre-made food items from farmers who use organic materials. Try when possible to avoid Genentically Modified Organisms. Try using home remedies before making a trip to the clinic, doctor or emergency room. Study about the local indigenous communities and do what you can to help them achieve their community goals. For instance in the United States, the American Indian Nations are very much understood and their knowledge under valued.
 
4/Establish emergency funds for your family and household needs. Establish emergency plans. Each time a scenario is drilled through, follow it up by a fun family time. Allow your child to contribute towards the preparations with their opinions, ideas and physical effort. Encourage you spiritual centers to have emergency preparedness plans. Make donations toward the effort. 
 
5/Celebrate the elderly and the children in your life. Celebrate and court your life partner. When speaking to people recognize in all your logic you are speaking to the heart of everyone; so become engaged in the coversation. Look and listen with intent to understand the people you meet. The elderly have life wisdom. Children being the present gifts that they are, hold the promise of the future now. Open them up, see the beautiful world they are bringing into fruition as a gift to you and I. People are not appreciated enough for their achievement of living- of being. Do not underestimate the power of a smile or kind word. Seek mediums of art to allow everyone, including yourself, to express your inner creativity. 
 
6/Keep yourself healthy.  Poor health often leads to strained/broken families, depleted finances, homelessness, crime and/or prostitution and sometiems drug/alcohol use.  
 
7/Keep yourself informed. Do not shy away from discussions about abuse or slavery. Keep a set of resource and hot line numbers just in case they maybe needed by you or someone you know. Religious centers, community centers, impliment practical helps for single parents, latch-key kids and the elderly. When you can, as you can, volunteer.
 
 We at Once Upon An Eden, would like to thank Danny Fisher and the readers of "Wish I Didn't Know" for staying informed and helping to spread awareness about slavery. To everyone who have left e mails or visted the http://onceuponaneden.weebly.com  website, thank you so much for your encouragement. Blessings.

​THE QUEST -THE JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS  by Michelle Carmela Saldana
For the Recovering The Self Magazine. -Summer Quarterly Issue.
 
The unseen is just as real as the seen. The unseen influences the seen either for the
positive or the negative. What to do when the unseen seems to negatively impact or
undo the dreams, goals and ambitions achieved? What to do when the unseen seems
 to cut off the potential of possibilities?  You stop. You ponder. You face the ultimate cosmic
open book test...Then you set out on THE QUEST... THE JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS.   THE ULTIMATE OPEN BOOK TEST
Dueteronomy 30:15, 19 "See, I have set before you today life and good,
death and evil...I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you,
that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;
therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that both you and your descedants may live..."
For most people life is the next adventure or adrenaline rush. For
other people life is the process of making memories, achieving dreams
of sucess that perhaps society has dictated for them. For others
living is a meshing together of the first two groups perceptions. And
for others their perceptions of life are so out of the box or many
light years ahead than the rest of us. 
How would you react if you were to hear that you possibly only have
hours, days, weeks to live and modern medicine cannot help you and
although you lived as healthy as you knew how your body was still
dying? What would you do?  
There There standing at the foot of my hospital bed were five doctors
looking at me. Three with each of their faces betraying mixed emotions
of compassion, empathy, astonishment. One with astonishment and
irritation.  The last with a cool analytical yet inquizative look.
After they introduced themselves an awkward hush inflitrated the room.
Silently, I sized each of them up; amazed to see the cool detached
bedside manner replaced with such vulerability. I then realized they
were also studying me.  I had a feeling like I was a strange creature
they were trying to identify. Finally, as awkward moments ticked by, I
was the one to break the silence.  

"You are a psychatrist, aren't you?"  I asked the tall one at the end.
 "I am." He replied. "Are you here for me or for them?" I asked
indicating the other doctors with a nod of my head.  "Both." He
responded with a slight chuckle.  "I see you have a sense of humour."
I retorted. "It is a direct honest question. Look at their faces." I
again nodded in the direction of the other doctors. Then he nodded
reassuredly at the female doctor who stood at the beginning of the
line. She looked at him like a little girl being encouraged and
consoled by her father. She handed me a thick file with these words,
"You were dead for several hours.  Your being an organ donor saved
your own life."
"Wait. What? I don't understand."  Came an automatic response. With
another encouraging nod to proceed, the good doctor plotted along
chosing her words carefully.  She explained  to me the examination
process a body goes through in order for the donor's organs to be
harvested. It seems that my body had undergone this hours long process
and mercifully I did not nor still do not recall waking up at the time
the process for harvesting was about to begin.  "You were dead several
times in the ICU even."  She went on.  One of the other doctors now
spoke up. "You died several times in the ICU and flickered in and out
of coma and conscieousness, as well."
"We thought we were going to loose you, then." The first doctor
responded her voice wavering ever so slightly.
As the ICU doctor continued on, my ears only half heard his words.
The vague feeling of "I know him  from somewhere" was replaced with
"this is a nightmare." I began pinching my upper left forearm with my
right thumb and index finger. Noticing my actiions, the psychatrist
interjected.  "You are not dreaming. Mrs. Saldana."
The ICU doctor concluded with a statement that shocked me to the bone.
 "What my ICU staff went through, they will never be the same."  He
said.
Hours later an immunologist specialist was seated in my room taking
his time in debriefing me of my symptoms and all I could tell him.  In
turn he explained to me as patiently and as throroughly as possible
about  "Idiopathic Anaphylaxis."  I posed the question to the doctor,
"Beyond drinking the daily requirement of clean water, eating my daily
servings of fruits and veggies and walking five to seven miles a day
and staying away from my known allergies, what more can I do?"  
"Not one thing more." The doctor responded. "Modern medicine has no
cure.  Other than stablizing you when you come into the ER or
following protocal according to your state when admitted to the ER
there is nothing anyone can do."  
"You are a bonified miracle. To my knowledge you hold the record of
living the longest with IA as well as holding the record of the person
who has died the most from IA on the count of living the longest." He
stated cheerfully.
"Don't you mean because I have gone to the ER so often?" I responded wearily.
THE QUEST-THE JOURNEY TOWARD WHOLENESS - THE FIRST STEPS -
 
Understanding The DiseaseWhen I was released from the hospital of August 2008,  I used a
friend's computer and looked up the terms the doctors, especially the
immunalogist specialist had given me.  It was nice to know that I was
not an irresponsible person or a hyprocondriact.
 During the whole process, I wanted to understand this strange
creature I was being identified with.  We had somehow become traveling
partners and instead of God and I determining my path and destiny, this
creature wanted to take control of the map.  As far as I was
concerned, this was unacceptable behavior.  However, it was not like I
could abandoned the stow- away at the next convient stop. This
creature became part of my body's being. 
As I learned the details of the disease, I learned  the disease my
body had suffered and endured valiantly and I was now more informmed
to protect her from the disease's rudeness and provide her an
atmosphere of peace and rest.
*For imformation about Idiopathic Anaphylaxis please click on the
following links...
http://www.allergyclinic.co.nz/guides/56.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/anaphylaxis/DS00009/DSECTION=causes
Step Two -Own The Disease. Do Not Let the Disease Own You.
There were moments, hours, days when I felt so burdened, oppressed,
defeated, physically beatened and robbed. I felt threated and unsafe,
unprotected; vulnerable in the most extreme degrees in every area of
my life.  In short the classic definition of my disease IA was trying
to own ME. Not happy with disrupting my life and those I was
interconnected with; Not satisfied enough with harboring within my
body; It wanted to take over my mind too? That I decided was Not going
to happen.
I found myself having a detached attitude about my body, yet
personafying my body as if she indeed were my sister or dear friend I
had betrayed or failed to protect.  I often would hug my body and
through tears apologyze to her.  I surrounded myself with what made me
happy, colors, friends, sounds, children of my friends.
With the understanding of IA, I began to make even more life style
adjustments which caused my body to strengthen and to a limited
degree, I was beginning to resume many activities that give my whole
being joy. Although in some cases, even my activities have had to be
retailored according to my body as she is now.
The changes have led to new creative avenues of expression and
adventure.  I have also either discovered or developed abilities and
gifting within ME.
Step Three - Develop A Relationship With Your Body.
My body, mind, spirit, my core being, all that makes me ME is on one
magnificant adventure.  Every adventure deserves to have a special
memory book. So I blog on Facebook about my health journey. Keeping
record of my body's health progess, what imformation I have learned
about IA, my hospital experiences, and conversations I have had with
my doctors.  I must say it is a lot of work. This otherwise very
private information I have allowed to be public. And I am most
fortunate that my doctors have appreciated the work, effort, research
and progress I have made in life in general despite IA .
I have come to realize my thoughts are not my body, yet like eyes
setting the course of direction for the feet, my thoughts set the
course of my destiny.  Yet, it is my body which performs the actions
that manifest my destiny. My emotions are not my body however my body
produces hormones and chemicals which produce my emotions. It is  also
my body which is affected by my emotions. The most common examples of
this is love's affect on the emotional, mental and physical heart; and
likewise, the same can be said for stress.

Step Four - Honor Your Body's History
Made up of the same materials that produced the earth, moon and stars,
your body is uniquely designed to house your spirit and emotions. Your body
is connected with both the history of the stars and the history of humanity. You
 have lived many years within your body and walked through many stages of
living to get to where you are today and where you are going tomorrow.Your body is not the enemy. Your body is your faithful friend, your
home, your vehicle, the provider of your legal right and practical
ability to be here on earth. For the most part your body has performed
faithfully the most basic of functions even in the midst of great
adversity.  Perhaps you have over worked your body, pushing yourself
to the brink in order to achieve your ambitions...Perhaps others have
pushed your body to the brink for their own gain...Now is the time to
be good to your faithful friend who has shared your spirit's and
mind's history.
For many reasons, a person may have issues with his or her body and
they will wish to master their body. On the rare occassion this is a
productive course.  For the most part when one master's their thoughts
while giving their body the most natural beenefitial nutition not only
does the body come in line but the emotions and thoughts are also in
alignment and an attunded connectivity comes occurrs within one's
whole being.
*If perhaps you have endured trauma, even if you have overcome the
stress, abuse or trauma within your mind, and emotions and are living
as healthy as possible, it is still possible  your body is not at the
total nutritional level it needs to heal.  Please get the help you
need to mentally, emotionally and spiritually break free, but also
understand, you will not be free physically, emotionally or
economically to live the life you envisioned for yourself until your
body's immune system and adrenal glands are restored back to  right
and the infections injected or inflicted upon you or resulted from the
abuse or stress you perhaps experienced.

Step Five - Celerate Your Life's Journey
Your body is so awesome even with what some would see as an non-ideal
situation your body is capable of amazing achievements.  Look back
over your life and take note of damage that was done to your body and
how it either, healed, compensated or even in spite of adversity it
still affords you the best life you Dare to live.
Disease is first and foremost dis-ease.  What  negative thoughts,
negative opinions and area of fear due to lack of knowledge you
entertain causes negative emotion.  These and all emotions are
chemicals sent thoughout the body affecting the body negatively
causing a new level of dis-ease.  Likewise LISTEN to when your inner
intuition warns you about something. You know that "gut feeling"
almost never lies. Listen to your gut. Even if your gut is wrong, it
is always better to be safe than sorry.
Decide to thrive!  Eat from the rainbow of life! Eating colorful
natural foods that work for your chemical makeup adds such a beautiful
vibrancy to your whole well being. Remember eating is not just a
matter of personal taste or family and natural culture but also a
matter  what foods work well with your body.
Since you yourself know the effort it is for you to be here living on
earth, acknowledge the efforts of others and the  fact they are here
and you had the priviledged pleasure of shared interaction. You
created a memory together.
A dear friend an ocean and continent away once called me with this
message..."Anyone can die. It takes very little effort to die. It
takes great effort to live. It takes a great deal of the help of
others to live.  You are often helping other people to live. It is
time you do the same. Choose Life! "
Step Six - This Is YOUR JOURNEY
The main purpose of disease within your body is to serve as awake up
call that some things need changed within your thinking and habits or
life choices.   As you understand the disease you will have a deeper
understanding of the dis-ease.  Resources and knowledge will come
intertwined within the research you conduct.  This knowledge and
research will allow you to make informed decisions and possibly more
effective actions.
I urge you to embrace the stance of Pro-Choice Of Life.  Only you what
constitutes quality of life. Do not let anyone make these
determinations for you, yet be opened minded towards the opinions that
come your way. When you have solid peace that you are making an
informed well thought out thoroughly research and contemplated
decision your loved ones will have a greater sense of peace about any
decsion you make. Still you might want to descretly make your own
arrrangements if possible to assure your wishes are fulfilled.
 Step Seven - Take Others With You
Every person is a source of inspiration. Soak it up. And know even on
the days you feel like muck and mush, someone is inspired by the
awesomenness they see oozing out of you.
 
 
"Carmela" was born and raised into a Mafia life and is a survivor of Human Trafficking. For the past 25 years, Carmela has been educating  Americans via radio, TV, internent, social media, in print and in person how to identify and deal with the complexities of Human Trafficking such as "generational fallout," child/domestic abuse, homelessness, human trafficking, and organized crime. Carmela servers on the boards of several organizations and NGO’s in various capacities.  In the Fall her book "Armchair Abolitionist" will be released and she will be moving to Nairobi, Kenya, to work in partnership with Tradional Healthcare Integrated Network of Kenya to develop her theory that people who have endured stresses and trauma have greater nutritional needs. For more information please go to http://www.onceuponaneden.weebly.com. To contact Carmela email onceuponaneden@gmail.com