Thank you for visiting my Personal Fundraising Page. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to my fundraising efforts. According to Kevin Bales, president of Free The Slaves, 27 MILLION PEOPLE STILL LIVE IN SLAVERY!

First off, what do we mean by slavery? Slavery means forced, unpaid labor performed by someone not permitted to leave. So that begs the question, what is forced labor? By forced labor we mean labor performed under corporal punishment, or under the threat of corporal punishment. Historically, this definition fits slavery in the American South as well as in most of the New World until the end of the 19th century, but also applies to prostitutes held by force in countries such as Thailand; servants held in hereditary slavery generation after generation in countries such as Niger; children kidnapped from Southeast Asia and then deprived of documents proving their identity who then work as domestic slaves in such places as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; and children kidnapped from the south of Sudan by militiamen-slavetraders and forced to work in the north of the country. 

You can read the stories of modern slaves at http://freetheslaves.net/slavery/stories/.

 What can you do about it? First, you can help by donating to Free the Slaves, the independent American partner organization of the Antislavery International, which in the 19th century succeeded in abolishing slavery in the British colonies, and which is still active today in the fight against modern forms of slavery.

So starting on May 10th, 2006, I started walking from Cap de la Hague, near Cherbourg, in Normandy, France, down towards the Mediterranean coast. I originally planned to take 2 and a half months, but after just one and a half months I am within a few days of reaching my goal. So I have changed my itinerary, which initially had me stopping at Perpignan, in the very wouth of France on the Mediterranean coast, but have decided instead to walk back to Marseille, some 2 weeks walk at my current pace. And if I finish that early, I will just continue to walk towards the Italian border till time runs out!

So why am I doing this walk? It's a bit of a long story. But the long and short of it is, I majored in history and German in college and did research on German views of slavery in the 19th century, a very academic topic which I found interesting, but which seemed to lack a real-world application. In one of my classes in Germany I heard that the Antislavery International was still active today. I remember being pretty surprised- if the Antislavery International was still active, that must mean that there are still slaves! Then I ran across a book called Escape from Slavery, the first-hand account of a Sudanese boy kidnapped from his family by militiamen at the age of 8 and made to work as a slave in the north of Sudan until he escaped to Egypt. He later came to the US as a refugee and now speaks out against the modern slave trade. So I decided that since I have this summer free I could do this walk to spread the word about the modern slave trade, and raise money for an organization which fights it. I am living in France right now, so what better way to get to know the country better, and doing something useful at the same time?

In any case, many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!