What's possible.

I've just finished a long and semi-overwhelming week of training at headquarters, before I head to my field office on Sunday morning. I am seriously inspired by the extraordinary work that IJM does around the world. The week's been packed with sessions on cultural shock and adjustment, international safety, the importance of self-care for humanitarian workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic situations - practical tools for being a successful legal intern in the developing world.

Throughout the week, I was most inspired by the idea that - by bringing rescue and relief to individual victims of trafficking and by prosecuting individual perpetrators, we really can change the world's vision of what's possible. Injustice is huge, but the hope of relief is huge-er. Each individual child that is rescued has a hope for a new future. Think about how many children will never be subject to the violent oppression of life in a brothel every time a perpetrator lands in jail. It's a ripple effect, and it's a beautiful thing. Let's not despair when we think of the SCOPE of violent oppression around the world - it is a desperate situation, but rather than despair - let's CHANGE the world's vision of what's possible. The problem can't be ignored - it can be overcome, child by child, persecutor by persecutor.

There is real power when we see injustice, when we hear the cries of the oppressed...and we ACT. Oppressors, as violent and deceitful as they may be, don't stand a chance against a mobilized generation.