Nicholas Kristof, a journalist, who had travelled to all “Axis of Evil” countries twice and won a pulitzer price in public service category twice says about helping people. His words got to be somewhat valid. After all, he had ‘bought’ two girls who were trapped in at a brothel in Cambodia. He did so because he knew he had a NYT-front-page story after talking to these girls but they still would be left behind without any reward for sharing their own stories. At the end of the day, he would have taken advantage of the girls the same way thousands of John Does and corrupted police did.

So he bought those girls out of brothel. One girl returned to her home and started a new life, getting married to a local of good character. The other escaped her hometown and family after she was rescued. She went back to the brothel, having grown deep into methane addiction. She wanted methane and the only place she knew to get it was the brothel. Her family lost her daughter twice: once into brothel and again, to the brothel. Kristof didn’t see him rescuing the girl would bring such agony to the family. 

This past weekend, I saw helping people indeed is hard. I showed up uninvited to talk to the social/case worker of Lady B: lady B, a native Southeast Asian who endured modern day slavery for two years, escaped from it and now a survivor. During our talk,I realized the social worker and I stood at the opposite end, holding onto the same rope. She was doing her job in protecting Lady B and I was doing mine attempting to fill the gaps in the current support system for survivors of human trafficking in Central Austin. Both wanted to help people. I recognize my way of approaching Lady B was not the safest. I did not go through the agency. I went straight to Lady B’s apartment and knocked at her door step. In hindsight, I see that the very act of sharing her stories of pain, despair, recovery and unwavering hope with someone like me, essentially a stranger, could threaten both her and the agency. I unintentionally alarmed the agency, leaving me with very little trust from them. The cold expressions and the tightly crossed arms of the social worker undoubtedly told me so. 

“Helping people is harder than it looks.” 
Nicholas Kristof continues. “It is not a reason not to do it. But it’s a reason to be careful about it and do it step by step.” He then cites instances where his article led to shutting down of brothels with children prostitutes and impeaching the head of the Cambodia police department official for running a brothel himself.

“Because I wrote about it, everything changed,” I suppose a pulitzer winning journalist can say that. 

I am back at square one with my attempt at helping people. I feel somewhat defeated and more so indebted that I won’t be able to tell Lady B’s story the way she so eagerly wanted to. But I believe not doing so will serve her safety best. I have scratched out my storyline. I am ready to find a new way to navigate through the human trafficking survivor’s support system made up of 40 different law enforcements, legal aids and non-profit organizations in Central Austin.

It is going to be harder second time around. But it isn’t a reason not to try.