Introduction

For the past month and a half, I've been working on a contract project that has involved researching issues connected to child labor in various countries. Most of the information I came across wasn't new to me. Those of you who know me well are aware that I have been involved with humanitarian causes, that I've tried to be as globally aware as possible. So I am not surprised by child labor and human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children; I know it's out there, I know what it looks like, and I've seen its face firsthand all over the world. Still, as I worked on this project, I had moments of desperation. I had moments (late at night, reading about child sex slaves in Macedonia, and children who spend their days cutting sugar cane in El Salvador, and the widespread rape of women and girls in the Congo) where I felt overwhelmed by it. I learned about the history of a few countries I didn't know much about before, like East Timor and Mauritania. I had a few nights where I couldn't sleep because of the stories that were spinning in circles in my head. I had a lot of moments where I thought, "If more people knew about this, we couldn't possibly let it go on."

But it goes on. I firmly believe part of the reason for this is that not enough people know about it.

When you open a newspaper or click onto the internet, world news tends to be smushed into a corner. If you want to read about U.S. politics or spoiled celebrities or how to lose weight, the American news media will be happy to oblige. But it can be harder to come across reliable, compassionate information about the rest of the world. When we do get access to world news, it often centers around international politics and the global economy --important information, to be sure-- but the lives of families, real people, remain unfamiliar to us. It is especially hard to hear the voices of children.

This blog is designed to give you access to that kind of information. I'll discuss issues (like child labor, human trafficking, and poverty--all issues that also exist in the United States). I'll give geography and history lessons. I'll review books and films that help us grasp the state of the world we're living in. I'll recommend websites and news sources. I'll tell you about amazing people who live all over the world and are actively engaged in making their communities better places. I'll host guest bloggers with expertise in these areas. And although I am not naive to the difficulties of "making a difference," I'll provide ideas for ways you can take action on some of these issues.

I have been accused, in the past, of being depressing. And honestly? I know there's truth to it. I can't apologize for it. There is a lot that goes on in the world that we should feel sad about. There are things that should keep us awake at night. I've thought a lot about what kind of tone I want this blog to take. I don't want you to come away every time feeling utterly debilitated, bereft, anguished--but I also don't want you to turn away from the computer and forget about what you read or saw. On a spectrum --where one end is total depression and the other end is ignorant unawareness-- I try to live most of my life somewhere in the middle: Perpetually uncomfortable with injustice and inhumanity, but still filled with hope.

I just don't believe in flinching, I suppose. I believe that empathy and compassion are traits born of mutual suffering. And power --action, movement-- is an inevitable result of empathy. Helping is exceedingly tricky. But the first step, which must be taken long before we make any attempt at helping a person, is learning. Knowledge has the ability to slide us, ever so gradually, along the path of understanding another person. And when we get there? Well, I just keep hoping that at that moment, we'll know what to do.