Soetoro-Ng, Obama’ Sister, Urges Partnerships vs. Human Trafficking

By Jennie L. Ilustre
Maya Soetoro-Ng, peace educator, author and President Obama’s maternal half-sister, urged stronger “international and national collaboration” in fighting human trafficking, and lauded the work of organizations such as India-based Odanadi and Odanadi-US in rescuing and rehabilitating victims.

“My brother’s administration is committed to solving this issue,” she said August 14 at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
She urged building “stronger partnerships of national and international organizations, not just the government, but also NGOs and business.”
“We need to build bridges between schools and organizations, and businesses and the community and families,” she added.

Story-telling
But she said she was not delving into policy. Soetoro-Ng, peace advocate and assistant professor at the University of Hawaii and author, stressed story-telling or the power of the narrative, of “images and words.”
Currently, she’s working on her second book, “Yellow Wood.” The young adult novel is “about a 16-year-old girl in a world of war –a lot of it looks at things of conflict…and peace.”
The title is taken from Robert Frost’s poem, “about two roads diverging into the yellow wood.” She paraphrased lines from the poem: “I took the one less travelled, and that has made all the difference.”
She underscored the relating of “positive stories and the work that still needs to be done.” She said she wanted to see “the young adults write their own story, and even change the ending of stories. That is what I have my students do,” she added.
She spoke of the importance of changing one’s perspective, the way of seeing things. “They can alter what they perceive is the inevitable.” She mentioned an Indonesian term, cuci mata, literally, “washing of the eyes.”

Peace Garden
She spoke of building an International Peace Garden, or an actual or imaginary peace garden in school or at home to plant seeds of peace, or symbols of peace.
She added that the garden could have “a bench, trees under which people can sit–where people can engage in conflict resolution,” or just engage in conversation.
Filipino American Christina Lagdameo, president of Odanadi-US, and Maya’s friend (they are both based in Hawaii) was the event moderator.
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a “nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action.”
CAP Senior Vice President Daniella Gibbs Léger said, “An estimated 3 million children are currently exploited in India’s sex trade. The vast majority of trafficked women and girls usually come from the poorest, most disadvantaged backgrounds in India–the Dalits, Adivasi, and other low-caste communities.
“Every day in India, 200 women and girls enter prostitution, and 80 percent of them do so against their will as victims of trafficking,”she added.“
After her remarks, Soetoro-Ng signed copies of her illustrated children’s book, “Ladder to the Moon,” impressing everyone with her graciousness and humility.