Human Trafficking Problem
To the Editor,Human trafficking is a worldwide problem. Human trafficking is important because so many people are getting sexually abused and are being forced into working without pay. People are trying to help this problem, but they are not doing enough to help with the awful situation.
Human trafficking victims are as young as five and six years of age. According to UNICEF, every two minutes a child is being prepared for sexual exploitation. About 1.2 million children are being trafficked every year. In Vermont, more and more victims are trafficked. From 2016 to 2017, the human trafficking cases reported more than doubled. In 2018. the number of cases reported went down, so we should work toward encouraging more people to call if they see something that is suspicious.
There are many different ways you can spot human trafficking. Victims of human trafficking are almost always female, typically children, pre-teens, or young adults. They are usually found alone or in the company of another individual or small group. The people surrounding them are most often men, and may appear much older than the victim.
Bruises, cuts, and burn marks may be clues that the victim has been hurt by their captor. These marks are especially telling when found around the wrists, ankles, arms, and neck, as they suggest that the victim has been controlled or restrained by force. An isolated bump or cut might just be an accident—multiple injuries grouped in the same area can point to a much more serious cause.
This issue is important because so many people are being sexually abused and physically abused everyday and no one is doing anything about it. So people should be more aware about this issue. Please be careful about who you hang out with and report anything you find suspicious.
Susha Benoit and Skylar Martell, Montpelier High School
Thanks for Poetry Program
To the Editor,The Memorable Times Café wishes to thank Mary Rose Dougherty, the Vermont Housing Conservation Board AmeriCorps member serving at the Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA). Mary Rose facilitated a special program to celebrate Poetry Month in April.
Memorable Times Café is a relaxed social time for those living with mild to moderate memory loss and their care partners, meeting monthly at the Vermont History Center. The poetry activity Mary Rose created and led was a beautiful example of joining community services with creative programming.
We’d like to share the piece our Memorable Times Café group shaped together from, as Mary Rose put it, “the threads and fabric that shape a life.” Many thanks to the Vermont Housing Conservation Board and its AmeriCorps program for continued support of CVCOA and those we serve.
The Roots and the Ground Below
A Group Poem by Members of the Memorable Times Café
When the tree wakes up in the spring,
the owl says, “Who—who—who are we?”
I’m from here, I’m from everywhere.
Feet in the dirt, head in the sky—
my birthplace, my family, born and
bred with butter lambs at Easter from
the homemade butter, the churn. We were hard working, getting home to baked beans.
Home was where they pulled the taffy,
cut ice for Sunday afternoon ice cream,
canned vegetables at the kitchen table,
with spaghetti sauce bubbling all day long: “Look with your eyes open,” they said, and hear the family stories… The time…
Mary H. Hayden, director of development and communications, Central Vermont Council on Aging.
Goal Exceeded
Thank you to all of the kind-hearted people who donated money to the North Country Animal League. This was a great success for my Student Lead Investigation project at Rumney Memorial School in Middlesex. I exceeded my goal and with the community’s help raised $120.
Lily Picard, 6th grade student at Rumney Memorial
