We’re delighted to announce that we have a new partner that we are helping. It’s called Operation Underground Railroad (OUR).

OUR was started in 2013 by Tim Ballard, an ex-undercover operative for the United States government. They’re a not-for-profit organisation that rescues children from sex slavery. Right now there are more than two million child sex slaves throughout the world. It’s a story that makes you want to cry and fills you with hope at the same time.

More than two million children are stolen every year, some as young as nine months of age. Every 30 seconds a child somewhere in the world is sold for sex, labour or organ harvesting.

This is a US$150 billion/year industry and one of the fastest-growing criminal enterprises on the planet. For as little as US$10,000, you can buy harvested organs.

When I first learnt about this, I was so horrified I actually couldn’t speak. What followed next was anger because how come the world doesn’t know about this? Why is it that this never makes the nightly news?

How does OUR do what they do? They have volunteers who are ex-CIA, special forces, etc. who are specialists in rescue operations. Together with current operatives from those same agencies, they undertake undercover operations to rescue the children and arrest the perpetrators. In just seven years, they’ve rescued over 4,600 children and assisted in the arrest of more than 2,600 traffickers.

What happens to the children? Some of them go home; some can’t because it was their parents who sold them. Many go into rescue centres where they’re counselled and cared for by aftercare specialists.

Many of them are in extremely poor health. And that’s where we come in. It’s early days for us but we are now providing the same nutritional support to these kids in Ghana and Uganda. Over time, we’ll expand our reach to match theirs. It’s an honour to be able to support the rehabilitation of these children and be partnered with O.U.R.

In the time it’s taken for you to read this, four children have been sold into slavery.

If you want to know how you can be part of what we’re doing and make a very real and measurable difference to these children, put your details in the ‘Contact Us’ box and we’ll be in touch. We’d love to share with you.