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September 20, 2022 - No Comments!

Trauma-Informed Care

Being in Thailand helped me to understand a little bit more about trauma and the importance of trauma-informed care. I’m not a social worker or trained in any of that, but I think I understood for the first time, what trauma really is.

According to Peter Levine, “Trauma is in the nervous system, not in the event.”.

In his work “the body keeps the score”, Bessel van der kolk writes that “being traumatised means continuing to organise your life as if the trauma were still going on–unchanged and immutable–as every new encounter or event is contaminated by the past.”

I was really struck by this when I was in Thailand. Previously I had understood trauma as an event, but rather, it is the imprint of that event living inside the individual, carried within their nervous system.

Brandon, who oversees our vocational training in Thailand shared with me his heart for the young people coming through ZOE. I was moved by the intent behind the training. It provides young people with skills that they can take with them, but there is always this therapeutic aspect underlying the training that really speaks to their trauma.

For many of the kids who come to ZOE, their only experience of business and working is being exploited for someone else’s profit.

Vocational training flips this on its head. Vocational training is all about agency and self-determination… it's built on the knowledge that every child is unique and has different needs, dreams, goals and passions! The aim at the moment is to expose children who come to ZOE to as many skills and opportunities as possible. We run many courses including agricultural studies - so, running our pig farm, woodworking and construction, sewing and fashion design, nail painting, hairdressing, hospitality, cooking and baking, computer skills, multimedia and photography, art, design and even a little bit of electrical and mechanical engineering!

When kids come to ZOE and take part in our vocational training program, our team will ask them all about what they’re interested in and what they want to learn and see what we can offer them. Brandon told me about one girl who came to ZOE recently and discovered that she had an amazing passion and skill for woodworking! She wasn’t going to be staying at ZOE long and was preparing to go back to her family, but she really wanted to make something that she could take home with her. So she made this beautiful high table with stools and she was able to take it back to her family. And this is what many young people want - they want to make something that’s theirs, that they can take back with them, a new skill, or something tangible - something that reminds them of what they’ve learnt and the skills that they have. It reminds them that they’re not a victim of their past, but a survivor, who can go forward to make, create and flourish.

-Hudson

July 29, 2020 - No Comments!

Education: Bringing Powerful Change

ZOE Australia believes that ‘Education’ is one of the key ways in which students of all ages can gain understanding and knowledge about the issues surrounding modern slavery and, in particular, child trafficking.

It is through a combination of informal learning at home, and formal learning during school time, that children develop personal and social skills. Even from a very young age, children interact with others - beginning to learn and explore issues such as fairness, respect and problem solving skills.

As children grow and are exposed to more complex human rights issues, education gives them opportunities to learn, challenge, problem-solve, influence and contribute to bringing about change, in powerful ways.

ZOE helps Australians to learn about the local and global issues involving the exploitation of children by building understanding, empathy, and a sense of shared responsibility.

Through education, ZOE seeks to equip and empower whole communities (parents, staff, teachers and students) to prevent child trafficking from occurring, by offering relevant curriculum resources and informative tool kits. We use our experience gained from working with child trafficking survivors along with current research and methodologies to work alongside leaders, educators and influencers to learn, assist, collaborate, develop and produce resources that will change attitudes and behaviours.

We have developed several (free) secondary school curriculums for teachers to use. We currently have a team of Australian teachers collaborating to write a primary school curriculum to cover important issues relating to slavery.

We see informal education (awareness) as an important way to engage with larger communities, or specific industries, by sharing information and resources that will equip them to be a voice for change, and to know how to effectively contribute to prevent (and end) child trafficking in their sphere. That’s why we developed our toolkits.

We believe that our toolkits can help bring awareness in industries such as: health, tourism, travel, sports, farming, clothing/fashion, hospitality and can be used by social-action groups.

For faith-based communities like churches, youth and children’s ministry, we have prayer-based guides which focus on God’s heart for the fatherless. Over time, we believe like-minded people will respond to the stories, information and the ‘heart’ behind ZOE’s work.

By using ZOE’s curriculums, toolkits and guides, individuals, groups and whole communities will better understand and change their actions towards others - whether directly or indirectly - igniting a movement that will bring about powerful change.

May 1, 2020 - No Comments!

The Fight In Australia

Recently it was reported that, “The United States, Britain and Australia are the main consumers of child sex abuse streamed over webcam” (spokesperson from the AFP).

ZOE raises awareness in Australia through the media, influential voices, speaking engagements, internet communities, and encouraging student involvement.

ZOE’s work in Australia to ”prevent,” ”educate,” and ”bring awareness to” trafficking continues. Although the corona virus has affected the movement of our team, and restricted school, church, and small group visits, each staff member is working from home, staying in contact with each other via video calls, and collaborating on projects in preparation for the future.

Our Development and Advocacy Coordinator, has been finding ways to connect with small groups online to pray, or bring awareness about, issues related to child exploitation both in Australia and overseas.

One of his highlights from last week was a ZOOM meeting with one of Petersham AOG’s connect groups. Let’s hear why!

“There were a number of reasons why. First, I was able to share ZOE and my personal experiences of rescue, restoration, and prevention. There was a deeply moving moment when I shared the time when a little bunch of rescued children gathered around me to pray at one of our regular ZOE Prayer nights. I mentioned how for the first time I’d experienced the wholeness, the courage, and the trust of children who had been rescued and restored from serious abuse – this experience changed my life forever. Second, I talked about how I joined in with an American Police team to gain intel on a trafficker and how that information was then passed onto the Thai Police. Significantly, I was able to share how the relationship between ZOE, the Thai Police, and Thai Government is deeply respected and crucial for the process of rescue and restoration of children in Thailand. Not only that, this deeply trusted relationship resulted in the recent arrest of an identified trafficker and the rescue of a number of children. We praised God for this wonderful relationship. And last, a significant highlight was being able to reveal that the exploitation of children is a very real Australian problem to solve and prevent. With the self-isolating effects of the Covid-19, many Australians are being encouraged into pornography. Australians have spent more than $1.3 million to watch child sexual abuse, live streamed on the internet from the Philippines, over 13 years. Likewise, I shared how I am gaining an unquenchable sense that bringing awareness to Australians, stimulating prevention here in Australia, and activating rescue of Australians from pornography is a vision that’s being powerfully awakened within me. As it was with the group I met with from Petersham AOG, Australians are significantly unaware of our problems to solve and prevent. Through our ZOE family, I want to change this! Jesus is on the move and wants us to ‘set my people free’ both ‘here’ and ‘there’.”

We believe that God is breaking into dark places with a rescue plan – a plan to bring light, exposure, restoration, protection, and to release victory over darkness!

If you would like to join in and pray, please email.

Our monthly impact giving, helps ZOE to fund all the areas of greatest need.

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