I recently read a BBC News article titled, "Confronting Argentina's people-traffickers." It describes the efforts of one brave woman trying to find her daughter while simultaneously fighting human-traffickers in Argentina. The first line states: "She has survived two murder attempts, her house was burnt down, she has received countless death threats, but nothing has stopped Susana Trimarco from looking for her missing daughter for the last 10 years." After she learned her daughter had been stolen and sold by traffickers into prostitution, Mrs. Trimarco decided to risk her life and posed as a "procurer of women" three times in order to find her daughter. While doing so, she gathered information that eventually led to police intervention in the trafficking. Mrs. Trimarco went further and opened her home to many of the rescued women. And when she ran out of space, she started a foundation that provides rescued women with a sanctuary and has lead to the rescue of nearly 400 enslaved women. Remarkably, human trafficking did not become a crime in Argentine until 2008. The legislation was finally passed partly due to the story and efforts of Mrs. Trimarco. Though it has been 10 years since her daughter went missing, Mrs. Trimarco continues to search for her and help victim of trafficking along the way.

The courage and determination of Mrs. Trimarco is awe-inspiring. She, like John Brown, is fighting for a cause simply because it is the right thing to do. She has to face numerous obstacles along the way, everything from corrupt officials to death threats, yet she has not intention of slowing down, must less stopping, her work against human trafficking. She does not seek recognition, awards or praise. The thing she desires most of all is to have her daughter home again. It makes me question if I have the conviction and fortitude to risk everything for a righteous cause. What would I have done in her situation, facing the nightmare of having a loved one sold to traffickers? Could I too have turned my grief into a source of strength, or would I have felt crushing hopelessness due to the pervasive existence of such an immoral system? Currently, I am not of the same caliber of person as Mrs. Trimarco and John Brown. Who knows if I ever will be. Are you?

-- ShefaliSingh - 04 Apr 2012