Kaufman Rossin Supports Freedom Climb’s Fight Against Human Trafficking

This month, Kaufman Rossin is joining Director of Human Resources Joy Batteen in supporting Freedom Climb, a program offered through Operation Mobilization. Joy interviewed Freedom Climb participant Dr. Lanalee Sam of Elite Obstetrics & Gynecology about her involvement in the program.

What is Freedom Climb?

In 2012, a group of 48 women decided to add their efforts and voices to the fight against human trafficking and the global exploitation of women and children. They committed to climb together to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as a symbolic gesture of their solidarity with those who have no voice to speak for themselves and to raise funds for the Operation Mobilization programs that fight to put an end to this blight pervading humankind.

Climbers all over the world have continued that mission.

In 2015, another team of close to 50 climbers will ascend to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, a

48 women climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Operation Mobilization

Corporate Climb sponsored by The Wasie Foundation. I will be among them, serving as the team physician for the group. For two weeks of my life, I will be unavailable to my patients, my family and my other passions as I climb my first mountain. Not a metaphorical mountain – the real thing – but yet, such a small thing compared to the inexplicable suffering of the women and children our journey represents.

This will not be a solitary effort. Along with my fellow climbers, a team of supporters are joining me; this is Team Freedom Docs – one person on the ground and a stronghold of medical professionals and patrons adding their virtual efforts and support to the battle. Kaufman Rossin is supporting our efforts by holding a jeans day fundraiser to benefit Operation Mobilization and its programs.

What is Operation Mobilization and how does it help women and children?

Operation Mobilization is an international nonprofit organization that delivers hope and practical resources on many fronts around the world. The fight against human trafficking is one of those fronts. Their Freedom Climb programs have a three-pronged approach: 1) prevention, 2) rescue and restoration, and 3) development.

With poverty being the core perpetuator of human trafficking, breaking the cycle of poverty that puts families and women in desperate situations is a key strategy for Freedom Climb programs. Providing training and enhanced income opportunities can slow the flow of women and children into the slave trade. It can also provide a means of sustained income for those who have been rescued out of the clutches of their oppressors.

Some parents sell their own children, unable to feed and care for them. Others are tricked into sending their children off with strangers amid promises of jobs and a better life, only to never hear from their child again. Young women are also lured into leaving their homes with these same promises, which end with them in a slavery far worse than the poverty they left behind.

Freedom Climb programs also provide medical exams and care for those rescued from captivity, but it is the psychological effects of human trafficking that require the most extensive treatment. Long-term counseling is often required to restore the emotional and mental health of victims.

How widespread is the problem of human trafficking?

Thousands of children are sold into slavery every year. Many of them are sold into the sex trade to be used and abused for profit. Three billion dollars in revenue is generated off their devastation.

If you were to ask me where this tragedy is happening, I would, in turn, ask where you live and work. Are you from Europe? South America? India? Africa? Perhaps, like me, you’re from South Florida. Wherever you live, human trafficking is part of your world. I was stunned to find out it was part of mine.

It wasn’t until the actual numbers were put in front of me that I was hit with the enormity of the suffering endured across the globe. Tina Yeager, the national director for Freedom Climb USA was the person who initially shared with me the staggering statistics related to the global issue of human trafficking.

Why did you decide to get involved in Freedom Climb?

As an OB/GYN, I have the privilege of serving women and children in my practice. I welcome new life into the world. The thrill of hearing that first cry never grows old. To me, birth has always signified the hope and expectancy of the future – a positive and beautiful thing.

For millions of women and children around the world, the future does not bring hopeful expectancy, but despair. These women and children are victims of human trafficking. To put it bluntly – they are modern-day slaves.

As a physician committed to the health and healing of humanity, I feel compelled to speak out, to be a voice for those who have been silenced by their captivity.