Being Resilient to Change
2020, it’s been quite a year.
Love this quote, because much of the year I’ve felt like this. The pandemic noise causing so many changes and stress that it became really difficult to remain creative.
2020 has been a difficult year as we all have had to adapt to change, losing control of making plans, and having to grieve the would’ves and could’ve beens.
Earlier in the year, I had a plan of what this year could be for Barefoot Love Collective. We been hard at work designing and planning more expressive art and social justice workshops for schools and the public. The series of faith and art retreats at Bethany, Cheung Chau last year, was just getting started. We did an expressive arts workshop for Adoptive Families in Hong Kong to help foster parents process their emotions through art. We had also finalised a series of art and social justice workshops for a secondary school that we were so excited about. All these plans and workshops were completely at a halt.
As a new way of life and work came into our lives, everything normal and everything creative felt like “running in hot humid weather.” It’s been disappointing, but also an opportunity for joy. To have that pause and time stock. After taking these past months to reflect, we decided to start dreaming again of what could be in this new normal, something that could be just as exciting and in line with our mission of being a bridge to help those most vulnerable through art.
We know this pandemic has been a time of vulnerability and and fear, but those that were already on the margins of society are facing even bigger challenges.
TRAFFICKING IN HONG KONG
Human Trafficking is a form of modern slavery. It involves the recruitment, transportation or receipt of a person by means of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of exploitation, including forced labour and commercial sex acts. Globally, an estimated 40 million people are victims of modern slavery. Seven in ten are women and girls. One in four are children. Human Trafficking is a global problem. No city or country is immune, including Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, victims of trafficking come from many countries. The majority of identified victims are female. According to the Global Slavery Index, there are currently an estimated 10,000 victims of modern slavery in Hong Kong. Human Trafficking remains underreported and underdetected in Hong Kong. Between August 2017 and June 2020, 99 cases of trafficking were officially detected.[4] Among identified trafficking victims in Hong Kong, 94% are women, coming from Indonesia, the Philippines, and other countries.
All information provided above is from STOP.
WHAT WE ARE DOING ABOUT THIS
We all want to talk about the difficult issues, especially in the precarious times we live in. But how do you teach and talk to your kids about intense and serious issues like trafficking in Hong Kong? After months of planning and collaborating with experienced teachers and non-profit organizations, we are happy to announce the launch of our Changemaker Boxes for parents and kids that bring the learning experience home as a creative engagement tool to learn together. We hope to start creating different series of boxes as a valuable teaching tool for parents and concerned adults.
Barefoot Love Collective’s Changemakers Box makes it easy to teach children about Hong Kong social justice issues. Each Changemakers Box is geared for kids in Grades 4-7, created by experienced teachers, and focuses on educating for empathy and global citizenship. Our first box will be focused on anti-trafficking with partnerships with STOP, Eden, and Sons and Daughters. In our anti-trafficking box, you will receive fun educational resources, arts & crafting activities, how-to guides for parents, specially curated NGO products, and games that promote empathy. Great for quality home time between you and your child to learn, create, and make a difference together.
