By G.VISHWESHWARAN

Browsing the Internet one day a student came across a web page dedicated to fans of the band “Switchfoot.” Being a fan, he started looking on the Web site, eager to find something new. He learned that the band was part of a movie on modern slave trade. Little did he know that this casual surf would change his perspective on life dramatically.

Kyle Durfee, a freshman from Spokane, Wash., found out that day that slavery is not over and decided to do something about it. He started the “Free the Slaves Club” which plans to provide necessary aid to those caught in the slave trade today.

“Our focus is to try and create more opportunities for the students on campus to end the modern slave trade as well as educate people about it, since most people don’t even know that it exists,” Durfee said.

The club, which is new to BYU campus, is aimed at providing reliable information on the slave trade to interested students. Its primary focus is raising awareness, conducting fundraising for relevant NGOs and organizing community outreach programs.

“One of our mission is to fundraise so that we can send the money to actual NGOs, which are doing actual work out there, as we can’t take field trips to India or Cambodia and bust down doors,” Durfee said.

According to Polaris Project, a United States based anti-trafficking organization, “victims of human trafficking are people forced or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Domestic sex trafficking in the U.S. involves traffickers who coerce women and children to enter the commercial sex industry through the use of a variety of recruitment and control mechanisms in strip clubs, street-based prostitution, escort services and brothels.”

Emily Bell, an English major from Seattle, said awareness is a big factor on BYU campus.

“When we tell someone that we are the Free the Slaves Club, some people are like, slavery ended with the Civil War, but that’s not true. Even in the U.S, there is slavery,” she said. “We definitely want to make people more aware of the problem.”

Cole Seaton, the vice president of the club, said the club helps BYU students grow as members of the LDS Church.

“Charity has a lot to do with our religion, so contributing something good in the world and helping people is always nice,” he said. “I think it’s missionary work.”

Durfee agreed with this sentiment.

“To live life knowing that other people are denied their agency, that they don’t even have the option to get a drink of water or even go to the bathroom … it seems that it should be a huge focus of people of our faith and religious nature,” he said. “The mission of BYU is to enter to learn, go forth to serve; this is a nice outlet to not wait for going out to serve.”

The club meets every Tuesday night in 3380 WSC at 8:30 p.m. The club is interested in having more participants for its future programs.



Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Mar 2009