So I’ve been working about 3 weeks now, and I figure I might as well give an
account for what God has enabled us to accomplish.  The main focus of our
work has been on planning Freedom Week, an annual gathering of abolitionist
organizations in New York City to raise awareness about modern-day slavery
and trafficking in New York City.  The first thing I had to do was put
together a list of organizations that could potentially be involved with
Freedom Week.  Next, we drafted an invitation letter, and after some

Last week, President Obama signed into law a huge victory for consumers and human rights advocates around the world: a provision requiring companies to label products made with minerals from Congo and the surrounding countries. The legislation promises to make it easier for consumers to choose products made without conflict minerals that support violence, rape, human trafficking, and other serious crimes.

The reality is that I haven't blogged in a while. Sorry to all of those who may have actually noticed. Anyway, I have some incredible stories to tell, and I WILL tell them all, but right now i just want to give a quick update. I plan on writing full, essays, articles and compositions about many of these events in the near future, but for now here goes:

This last week, Raja came to visit me at work to help me find Hindu resources for the Curriculum. A side from statistics and current events, I was also supposed to look up some eastern religious exhortations to help the poor. Matt had already found all the easy ones (i.e. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) so he had me look for Buddhist and Hindu teachings. Unfortunately, neither religion has a single sacred text. Lucky for me, Raja was raised in the Hindu faith and had a solid background knowledge to help point me in the right direction.

There are 38,000 homeless people in the city of NY.  In a nation of such abundance and privilege, this shouldn’t be the case.  And so there’s this thing that NYCUP does called Feed 500.  The concept is “simple.”  Offer someone who looks in need of food or conversation a bagged lunch.  If he or she is willing, sit down with them, learn their names and hear their stories.  Not just hear them, really listen.