Impact Awards Semi-Final Poem pitch:
Where were you,
When they snatched her -
To fetch a pretty price?
And when were you
When they lied to him
Promising a good life?
When they snatched her -
To fetch a pretty price?
And when were you
When they lied to him
Promising a good life?
Where were you
When they drugged her
Reassuring she’ll be fine;
Psychologically manipulated
Till the fight within her resigned?
Or where were you
When the families searched,
Hoping to find their daughter
Or son?
Or where were you when they realized that in fact,
They had no one?
I’ll tell you where you were:
In a world that doesn’t want to know-
Until it’s us, we won’t fear the unknown.
But what if I told you,
She was snatched from under your nose,
That she was drugged
In the apartment across your road.
That he, he was lied to,
Just in your village square
And now he recruits,
Under the weight of their glare.
There’s no demand if supply isn’t being produced,
So traffickers make a business of the displaced and misused.
This is our ambition:
To break the slave chain,
To unite community and culture,
To demonstrate that whether neighbor or brother,
We’re all the same.
Because if don’t unite,
In common care for eachother
Our family will fall apart,
First our sisters then our brothers.
Project Stop Advocates for the strengthening of the community core,
In order to protect our family,
Unity and awareness must stand tall.
When they drugged her
Reassuring she’ll be fine;
Psychologically manipulated
Till the fight within her resigned?
Or where were you
When the families searched,
Hoping to find their daughter
Or son?
Or where were you when they realized that in fact,
They had no one?
I’ll tell you where you were:
In a world that doesn’t want to know-
Until it’s us, we won’t fear the unknown.
But what if I told you,
She was snatched from under your nose,
That she was drugged
In the apartment across your road.
That he, he was lied to,
Just in your village square
And now he recruits,
Under the weight of their glare.
There’s no demand if supply isn’t being produced,
So traffickers make a business of the displaced and misused.
This is our ambition:
To break the slave chain,
To unite community and culture,
To demonstrate that whether neighbor or brother,
We’re all the same.
Because if don’t unite,
In common care for eachother
Our family will fall apart,
First our sisters then our brothers.
Project Stop Advocates for the strengthening of the community core,
In order to protect our family,
Unity and awareness must stand tall.
Impact Awards - Final Pitch:
What is the value of a life?
Is it the economic footprint of a person?
The price to keep them alive?
Or is it what they themselves give back?
Or is it the little acts of kindness that they hide?
What is the value of a life?
I’m going to tell you a story of how that question has been passed from hand to hand, standing in front of you here now.
Is it the economic footprint of a person?
The price to keep them alive?
Or is it what they themselves give back?
Or is it the little acts of kindness that they hide?
What is the value of a life?
I’m going to tell you a story of how that question has been passed from hand to hand, standing in front of you here now.
I’m a multimedia storyteller and a few years ago I worked where together with a filmmaker we told the stories of Asylum Seekers in Malta. UNHCR introduced me to Alec and Hedi, who were organizing a free Anti-human trafficking concert in Bugibba. Now, whether it was because I never thought human trafficking was a problem here or because I was just moved by their passion, I decided I wanted to help them tell stories, and over the last few years we did. But I’ll be honest I was still nervous when asked me if I would come tell this story today.
Malta is a remarkable place, I was born in Malta, half Maltese and half icelandic - nista nitkellem bil malti kif ukoll bl-ingliz - and I’ve always felt connected to the colourfulness of our history. Alec and his family also fell in love with the atmosphere of our island when they arrived 2008. But that would change one Sunday when they happened to sit next two girls at church in San Gwann. The girls found the courage to tell them why they were in Malta - they were lied to about a job that didn’t exist - they were flown out at someone else’s expense and now they ‘belonged’ to these “sponsors”.
There and then Hedi and Alec realized that if a victim could be sitting next to you at church - wouldn’t you want to know? They realized that because criminals had changed the words of the game from master and slave, to sponsor and escort they had normalized modern slavery.
The feeling of powerlessness drove them to open the Cross Cultural International Foundation -- And It’s been over 8 years now of them speaking to governments, police, locals and migrants. And everywhere the issue seemed to have a different name for slavery. Whether Forced marriage, economic exploitation, Escort, Sponsor,. It seemed everyone knew there was a problem... but no one actually knew what to call it nor what causes it.
Based on the International Trafficking in Persons Report of 2020, Malta is officially labelled as Tier 2 - i.e. among countries that aren’t doing enough on this issue. But this isn’t about pointing fingers and this isn’t an issue of the police. The foundation has partnered with the Malta Police Force on human trafficking for years and the Police are doing everything in their power, but they cannot tackle such a huge problem without support from the community. The problem lives amongst us, so the solution needs to come from you.
That is why we are proposing a 2 in 1 solution. A multilingual mobile app where locals, government and international entities can meet in a safe space. The App will be multilingual and will provide anonymous support to victims and education to the wider community so we can all help identify victims.It will have a community social media space too - where we will invite all locals to create activities, shows and workshops to unite people in their localities. It will also have a market where vetted companies can list works for those needing a safe. The same option will be available for properties in your area, and here we are proud to say we already have the support of a local giant Quicklets. But how will the app reach the communities? Well, awareness comes from telling stories, or more importantly, letting others tell their story. So we are proposing that with the app, we will use a portion of the funds to have a film produced on the story of a real human trafficking victim in Malta. Given your support for this project, Lovin Malta will be our official media partner who have agreed to be our official media partner to ensure the widest reach and it will also be shared through the global anti-trafficking network, the malta police and appogg.
We will reach at least 100,000 people with this film in the first half year. Thanks to this campaign and by engaging local councils, we will then achieve a minimum of 4000 downloads of the app within the first year which will continue to grow organically online.
It’s horrible to say it, but We can tell you the rough value of a life - rescuing one person is put at the estimated cost of 20,000 minimum for support and rehabilitation; a cost that could go towards strengthening our communities instead. In short term impact we want to provide immediate support and education on this issue, but in long term impact we want to create safe, open and happy communities of the future.
It’s horrible to say it, but We can tell you the rough value of a life - rescuing one person is put at the estimated cost of 20,000 minimum for support and rehabilitation; a cost that could go towards strengthening our communities instead. In short term impact we want to provide immediate support and education on this issue, but in long term impact we want to create safe, open and happy communities of the future.
Malta is indeed a heaven on earth compared to so many places in the world that are suffering, but Globalization has hit hard and Malta has been changing fast and we need to decide together what the future of our community will be. A Sudanese man and Maltese resident, Mohammed Ibrahim, once told me that wherever you look in Malta you can see great things accomplished by the Maltese people, now it might not be very big, but the heart of the community is. The Maltese story throughout history has been one of endurance, of survival through unity. Historically the Maltese have always been able to speak many languages, and so we can never let ourselves forget, that throughout the centuries, Malta has been a home and a refuge for the displaced everywhere - we aim to honour that history by strengthening the Maltese community - Grazzi.
