By Anita Dacanay
The artists of Still Point are thrilled to announce that we
will be partnering with Ivan Velasco, pastor of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church,
to create a new play raising awareness on the plight of human trafficking
victims. Ivan has been engaged in activist work on this issue for three years,
and one year ago adopted a young man who had become entrapped in a trafficking
scheme.
I spoke with Ivan recently about his involvement with this
issue. He said that it began in a roundabout way with research that he was
conducting while working on his Master’s Degree. The plight of a therapy client who was unhappily
working as a stripper caused him to wonder about what happens in the brain
development of youth who are recruited into the sex industry at an early age. His research led him to uncover information
about human trafficking, and to see a disturbing correlation between the
activities of certain corporations and areas of the world, like St. Petersburg
in Russia and Medellin in Colombia, that were hotbeds of human trafficking.
The more he learned, the more alarming he found the
situation. Ivan’s interest shifted from that of researcher to that of a man
whose faith called him to help the needy. Clearly, there were few needier than
the young people being targeted to be coerced into sexual slavery. Ivan started
communicating online with victims in South America. He went to Medellin and
stayed with family of members of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church. These
congregants also had a grandson in Medellin who had become involved in human
trafficking. Ivan communicated with and eventually met with the young man, Santiago,
and began to develop a relationship with him as a father figure. He also began
to consider the possibility of bringing Santiago to the United States.
There were many hurdles and challenges. Ivan made about 20
visits to Medellin. He had begun meeting Americans involved in trafficking, and
was under threat. In Ivan’s mind, it would have been unconscionable as a
Christian to not do what he could to help people suffering such obvious abuse.
Yet, he found that many in his church were not supportive, and felt that he
should stop his activity in Medellin.
In a moment of crisis, with his own life being threatened,
Ivan questioned his commitment, and considered not returning to Medellin to
retrieve Santiago. His oldest biological son, Alex, encouraged him, saying, “I
believe in Christ because of what you are doing! Santiago is my brother.” With
the blessing of his wife and children, and also the blessing of Santiago’s
biological father who was homeless and suffering chemical dependency, Ivan
returned to Medellin. He used the
fortunate coincidence that the young man bore a physical resemblance to him,
and claimed to be Santiago’s biological father. The story was plausible; Ivan
is from Peru, and had been pastor of a church in South America at the time of
Santiago’s conception. The traffickers ultimately wished to avoid attracting any
limelight with an American citizen, and they eventually released Santiago.
The artists of Still Point are thrilled at this opportunity
to use our talents to educate the public regarding the scope and severity of
this global crisis. According to the website of the Global Freedom Center,
there are approximately 27 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, and
only 1% identified. Trafficking victims
fall prey to a large variety of forced labor schemes and targeted
coercion. You can read more examples of
real stories here: http://globalfreedomcenter.org/GFC/humantraffickingstories
We wish to humanize the victims of trafficking through
sharing real stories in a live performance. Still Point will create a script
based on interviews with Ivan’s adopted son, Santiago, and some of the other
individuals that Ivan has helped. We feel called to speak out loud stories that
have been previously silenced. Many would rather turn a blind eye to this issue
than confront the ugly reality of it. It is our goal with this project to make
the issue harder to ignore, and also to assert that we can take actions both
individually and collectively to address modern slavery, so that we can start
to transform the conditions and practices that allow human trafficking to
occur.
Ivan and Santiago’s story is one of hope. Ivan, even though
he is a pastor, has never insisted that any of his children attend church, as
he feels that this should be a personal choice. Santiago is regularly attending
services at his father’s church, insisting to Ivan that he wishes to do so. He
told Ivan, “Now I understand my faith. You left comfort, you risked your life,
you called me son: you gave me your life. This is Christ’s story.”
Ivan asserts that his own interpretation of living a
Christian life is summed up in the Golden Rule: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.
That is the basis of what I believe.”
No matter what one’s personal spiritual or religious beliefs
may be, enslaving other human beings, especially children, is a practice that
no ethical person can condone. Ivan and
all of us at Still Point hope to bring this issue into the light so that we may
take steps toward creating a global community in which each life is valued and
treated with respect.
The Velasco family: (standing) Ivan and his wife, Alison;
(seated, left to right) Santiago, Eric, Anika, and Alex
