The girl finally got a break from the demanding. Cold world. Of adulting and what better way to unwind than with a good movie. Based on a true story. So much for a merry everything and a happy always. Well. We’re here now. I don’t know if I can call it a movie review if I only managed to watch less than twenty-seven minutes of it. Should have read the description first. Sound of freedom. I expected to hear chains breaking. I expected to hear the creaking of prison doors as they open. I expected to hear the flapping and whooshing of wings as birds prepare to take flight. I did not expect my heart to be ripped into two. Maybe three. Because of a girl sitting in a bathtub. Singing softly to herself. Singing with fat tears running down her cheeks. Singing away the pain of being violently separated from her little brother. Singing away the pain of being a million miles from home. Singing away the pain of her innocence being forcefully taken away by a man. A grown man. You’d think he’d know better.
My heart couldn’t take it dear reader. I couldn’t watch children being prostituted to the highest bidder. I couldn’t watch children being asked what their name is and them trying so hard not to choke on their words and quietly whispering ‘Teddy bear.’ In tears. In unease. In fear. In confusion. In anguish.
Listen. I knew the times we live in are evil. But. Realising that there are more humans trapped in slavery today than any other time in history. Including when slavery was legal was an unrelenting slap on my face. Realising that millions of these slaves are children sold to consumers of child sex was a jarring punch in my gut. Realising human trafficking is so real and is happening all around us with every missing person post in this country just broke my heart. I haven’t cried so much in a long time. I couldn’t imagine eleven year old me going through that. That sort of experience breaks your core. It breaks your soul. I haven’t cried so much in a long time. Praying God save our twisted and crooked generation. Our hearts have grown so cold. We’re hurting the most vulnerable amongst us. We’re hurting those we’re supposed to protect. We’re hurting little children.
I am not sure what a single post from a girl from Bulawayo will change. But. Parents protect your cubs with everything you have so that they grow into strong lions.
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Luke 18:16-17
Break the silence. Free the children!