Columban Fr Shay Cullen writes about 17-year-old Reggie. He had sought to escape from the poverty and hunger caused by Typhoon Yolanda which struck the Philippines in November 2013, but instead ended up a victim of human trafficking. Fr Shay is the founder of PREDA (People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation).
Reggie is a 17-year-old victim of human trafficking. He comes from a remote village in the northern part of the Filipino island of Cebu, one of the areas badly affected by the most powerful typhoon in history to hit land, Typhoon Yolanda. Desperate for a job to get food for his hungry family and grandmother, he was lured by criminal human traffickers to join a large fishing boat with six other young victims.
After many days of hard work at sea, both day and night, the fishing boat arrived in the port of Batangas, which is south of Manila, in order to sell the big catch. The young victims helped off- load the fish. To their shock they were not paid but ordered back to the boat. Reggie refused and ran away from this exploitation.
After walking for almost two days carrying his few pieces of old clothes in a yellow plastic bucket that was his only possession, Reggie made his way to Manila. He begged for food along the way. Arriving in Manila, instead of getting help and protection from the authorities, things became worse for him when he was taken off the street for being a vagrant and put into a youth detention prison.
It was here that the PREDA (People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation) team of social workers which works to rescue young people from unjust detention and exploitation, found Reggie. They found him behind bars, malnourished, hungry and forced to sleep on the concrete floor in an mosquito infested cell that was as hot as a boiler room. He had been left there in the cell, forgotten about without a legal complaint or a charge having been made against him. There had been no court hearing. That's the plight and injustice suffered by thousands of children around the Philippines.
The PREDA Foundation campaigns to change this unjust system.
There was no one to listen to Reggie's story or help him. He had been left in the jail with other youth, some as young as 10 years of age in sub-human conditions. Every day he survived on a handful of rice and a spoonful of vegetables.
He felt abandoned, lost and very frightened. He was threatened by the bigger boys who controlled life in the cells and took most of the food for themselves. They made the younger ones wash their shorts and T-shirts and forced them to perform sexual acts.
Reggie's day of release was a happy day for him. He almost cried when brought out from detention as a result of a court order obtained by PREDA social worker Emmanuel Drewery. Being malnourished, weak and depressed, he was taken immediately to a restaurant for a good meal. "This is the first time I have ever eaten in a restaurant," he said.
After his rescue, Reggie asked to stay at the PREDA Boys home where he was able to recover his physical and emotional health. He joined the other 40 helped youth who likewise had been released from horrific prison conditions by the PREDA Foundation workers. Many had been jailed by police without charges or for what amounts to minor misdemeanours like stealing food, which end up as a serious charge of robbery that carry long sentences.
Reggie was now free. He loved to play basketball and go swimming with the other boys. There were now no gates and no guards. He was living in a home staffed by his carers and social workers. Troubled youths don't rebel when they are respected and properly cared for. Reggie was free of the traffickers but had suffered greatly because of them and the uncaring authorities.
After several months of recovery and rest at the PREDA Home for Boys, he was ready to travel home and experience his first ever airplane flight. This would be a great thrill for him. He would travel with members of the PREDA team.
Reggie was overwhelmed when he flew with the PREDA team back to Cebu. Within a few hours of travel, through the wrecked countryside of torn up coconut trees and destroyed homes, Reggie was tearfully happy to be finally reunited with his family.
After discussing Reggie's future, with his family, the PREDA team committed themselves to find ways to help Reggie support himself and to complete his high school education which can open the way to a better future. PREDA also committed themselves to helping Reggie's family and the people of the area rebuild their homes that had been destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.
Columban Fr Shay Cullen has been a missionary in the Philippines since 1969 and is the Director of *PREDA.
*PREDA (People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation) is dedicated to changing the unjust structures in society that oppress, exploit and deny justice and human rights to women and children. For more information on PREDA please visit www.preda.org or for PREDA Fair trade see www.preda.net.
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LISTEN TO: Reggie's flight to freedom (Duration: 5:38mins, MP3, 2.57MB) |