Friday, December 30, 2016

Dressember 2016: Week 3 Recap + Last Chance to Give & Receive

There's only one day of Dressember left! I can't believe how quickly the month has flown by. I am so grateful for all the support I have received--from the 22 donors who have given to Dressember so far, to the ladies who have worn dresses with me.

If you haven't given to Dressember yet, please consider including it in your year-end charitable giving. It's tax-deductible and a secure process. Also, everyone who donates $10 or more to my campaign by January 1, 2017, will receive a surprise gift!

During week three we passed the half-way point of my fundraising goal! Even more importantly, information about Dressember continued to spread. I am so excited every time I get to tell someone new about the campaign and why I'm participating.

A few years ago I wrote this post before my first Dressember campaign and it's still true today. I participate in Dressember to be a voice for other girls, girls who don't have a voice or the ability to fight for themselves. Girls who have been easily overlooked and forgotten by society. Dressember is an opportunity to remind everyone that these girls exist and need our help.

If you know someone who hasn't heard about Dressember, please share my blog or my fundraising page. I would also love to talk with anyone who has questions.

Day 15

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 16

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

My co-worker Kayla joined me in wearing a dress again today!

Day 17

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 17 and 18 were sick days. I still wore a dress and took a photo, just didn't include my face. :)

Day 18

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 19

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 20 / Team Tuesday

Fundraising Stats
Amount donated on day 20: $21
Grand total: $763

Today was my last "Team Tuesday" at work, at least for this year. This has been one of the best parts of Dressember--getting to do it with other ladies!

Day 21

Fundraising Stats
Amount donated on day 21: $50
Grand total: $813

Donate now!  |  Visit my Dressember Page

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Dressember 2016: Week 2 Recap + Survivor Story

I apologize that my week two recap is getting published at the end of week three. Needless to say with all of the holiday activities, it's been a little busy. But thanks to a cold, I'm parked on the couch with some free time to finally get this post published!

Before I get into my recap, I wanted to share a survivor story with all of you. These stories paint a picture of what your donation to Dressember can do. It's not just money being thrown around, it's money changing lives.


Elsa's Story

If you want to describe a survivor of sex trafficking in one word, use Elsa’s: Strong.

Just to imagine the nightmare Elsa* lived will require strength. Night after night, men paid Elsa’s boss to take her away to their hotel rooms. They could do anything they wanted to her there.

“I was treated as a slave who was required to follow orders whether I liked it or not,” Elsa says. Now in her early twenties, she speaks with a confidence that shows remarkable resilience.

“I had a happy childhood because of my adventures with my brothers and friends,” Elsa shares.

Everything changed for Elsa when she was 12 years old. Her father died suddenly. Elsa was told the sickness was a curse. Her mother left. Elsa and her brothers moved in with aging grandparents who couldn’t afford both food and school. So Elsa, the big sister, shouldered the responsibility and decided to make a way for herself and her little brother.

Amazingly, she managed to keep them both in school. She worked as a housekeeper, a janitor, a receptionist, a shop assistant—anything she could find. After high school graduation, she saw an opportunity to work as a nanny in Europe. This would allow her to support her family in ways she’d only dreamed of, but she needed a lump sum to offset the initial visa costs. This is when the traffickers made their move.

You see, someone had been looking for Elsa. Not her, specifically, but any girl like her. Commercial sexual exploitation is a profitable industry—upwards of $99 billion a year—and like any successful business, there’s a reliable model. In cities and slums around the world, pimps and traffickers recruit girls who are alone and afraid —teens who are desperate, shouldering a massive financial burden all on their own slender shoulders. The more frayed the support system the better. This is what vulnerable means.

A bar owner offered Elsa a job that promised good pay to jump start a new future. Maybe this was the chance she had been waiting for—the way she could ensure her little brother would finish school. So Elsa took the job. She was given a “uniform,” then made to dance for the customers. The girls took turns, half-hour shifts at a time.

Elsa explains: “I wanted to sleep and rest... Mamasan [the manager] would come to me and tell me to approach, entertain, and even hug customers to give me drinks and take me out. Usually customers would take me out to accompany them to another bar, watch other girls dance, and get drunk. Others take me straight to their hotel and make me do things.”

The pain at night gave way to shame in the morning. Traffickers often don’t need padlocks and bars to enslave young women like Elsa. They are clever businessmen who use loans and sham interest to trap girls in a cycle of debt. They are sly con-artists who propagate lies and prey on cultural stigma that makes girls feel guilty and ashamed for sexual behavior, that is in fact sexual abuse. They are hardcore criminals who will turn to physical violence if that’s what it takes.

In Elsa’s case, the bar managers used a complex system of fines and false debt to keep her and the other girls trapped there. She had to pay for everything—the skimpy uniform, the meals provided by the bar, even water. When a customer paid to take Elsa out of the bar and exploit her, Elsa got about $17, and the bar got $28. What Elsa didn’t know at the time was that the bar was under investigation for employing minors and coercing young women into commercial sexual exploitation.

Nearly three years ago, police staged an operation to arrest the suspects and free the victims. IJM staff were onsite to support the authorities and ensure Elsa and the 15 others rescued that night got immediate and expert crisis care. But this is not where the story ends.

Elsa resisted help. For so long she had lived on her own, managed the pain and shame on her own. She even ran away from the aftercare shelter at one point. But the IJM team that rescued her from the bar wasn’t going away because freedom seemed hard. Elsa’s social worker refused to give up, tracking down phone numbers of family members and even traveling to Elsa’s hometown to look for her.

Finally, Elsa responded to a text message. She said she wanted to try again. Soon after Elsa moved back into the aftercare home, she said she wanted to join the trial. “I thought of testifying to fight for my rights and speak of the truth. It was not my fault that I got there in the first place.”

Deciding to testify was a huge decision. It meant facing the traffickers once again. And in the Philippines, where courts are back-logged, it meant working up that courage multiple times only to show up and have the hearing postponed. When Elsa finally took the witness stand, she was brave, direct and strong. The trial against the bar owner and two managers is ongoing.

Later we asked what she would want to tell the traffickers who hurt her: “My message for the bar owner and manager is: do not abuse women’s weaknesses, their desperation to find a job because of extreme need. Do not step on women’s dignity because it hurts. We are all the same; we are human, not objects nor animals that can be manipulated.”

You should see Elsa today. She is now in her second year of college studying business administration. Her dream is to open an ice cream shop—a business that would give her independence and a way to care for her family. Elsa is moving forward. Don’t miss the message she shared in her own words…

*A pseudonym.
Day Eight

Fundraising Stats
Total raised before day 8: $726
Amount donated on day 8: $16
Grand total: $742

My co-worker Kayla joined me in participating in Dressember today!

Day Nine

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 10

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 11

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 12

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

Day 13 / Team Tuesday

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742

One day a week my co-workers are joining me for "Team Tuesday." Those who want to participate wear a dress for Dressember. I love having these ladies join me!

Day 14

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $742
Donate now!  |  Visit my Dressember Page

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Dressember 2016: Week 1 Recap + Giveaway Extension

Dressember 2016 is off to an amazing start! As I'm typing this post, we are only $24 away from the half-way point of my $1,500 goal! To celebrate this successful first week, I have decided to extend my art giveaway.

Donate $20 or more to my Dressember campaign by 11 p.m. CST on Sunday, December 11, 2016, and I will send you a piece of my "famous" brush lettering artwork! This has been a beloved thank-you item in the past and once again I will be creating these original works of art for my donors. Each quote is selected and hand-painted by me, so you will be receiving an original piece, not a print. (All I need is your address so I can send your thank-you art on its way!)

Your donation will go toward funding the work of International Justice Mission and A21, two organizations fighting to end human trafficking and restore dignity to those rescued from slavery. Also, all donations are tax-deductible within the United States.

At the end of each week of Dressember, I'll be posting a recap which will include photos and information from each day. If you don't want to wait for the recap, you can get daily updates and photos by following me on Instagram @MrsEliseMance.

Day One

Fundraising Stats
Total raised before day 1: $335
Amount donated on day 1: $50
Grand total: $385

Day Two

Fundraising Stats
Amount donated on day 2: $84
Grand total: $469

Day Three

Fundraising Stats
Amount donated on day 3: $100
Grand total: $569

Day Four

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $569

Day Five

Fundraising Stats
Amount donated on day 5: $127
Grand total: $696

Day Six / Team Tuesday

Fundraising Stats
Grand total: $696

One day a week my co-workers are joining me in wearing dresses for Dressember. We've dubbed these days "Team Tuesdays." It is so great having these ladies join me!

Day Seven

Fundraising Stats
Amount donated on day 7, at the time of publication: $30
Grand total: $726

Donate now!  |  Visit my Dressember Page
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