Ganymeder

How do you save children, fight breast cancer, feed an ape, and help children learn to read in less time than it probably takes you to finish your morning cup of coffee or tea? There is a very simple way. Donate. With a click, you can donate for free every day. There are a lot of charities out there that get funding this way, and the only cost to you is a few minutes of your time.

It should be noted that most Free Donation sites are sponsor driven and limit the amount of clicks per page (or button) to once daily. The exception in the below list is the Free Rice site which allows multiple clicks (because it’s a game). Also, Good Search allows multiple searches because it is a search engine.

Care2.com - This is a social networking site for the socially conscious. Just click on their “free click to donate” link which takes you to tabs for each of 10 charitable giving sites. Just “hit” the button, it will take you to a “thank you” page that displays ads from sponsors. Then go on to the next tab. It takes only a few minutes to work your way through them all. *

In addition to the tabbed charities, there is also a Daily Action site that highlights a particular action for the day. You can also join the Care2 community for free which entitles you to a free webpage, email, messages, and participation in groups.

If you like to blog about issues, you can “share” your Care2 blog entries with others in the Care2 Community by posting to a group. It’s an easy way to expose your blog posts to a wider audience. Just be sure that the posting is relevant to the group (a poem about AR to the poetry group, for example).

The Ecology Fund – It’s just what it sounds like – a charity site focused on environmental issues. This one has clickable buttons (for several environmental causes) located on the same page. It should only take a minute or so to donate at this site.

The Literacy Site – (from their site) The Literacy Site is dedicated to funding free books for children. (…) To date, more than 87 million visitors have helped provide more than 1.6 million books to children who need them the most. Another free donation site.

FreeRice.com – This may seem out of place, but how’s your vocabulary? This free click charity raises money with word quizzes! For each correct answer, a portion of rice is donated to the UN World Food Program. For each wrong answer, you simply have to try again til you get another correct answer. But be warned…. this game is addicting!

Good Search – This search engine site works very simply. Just type in the charity you’d like to benefit from your search (I donate either to Farm Sanctuary or Free the Slaves) under the question “Who do you Good Search for?” Then do your normal search. Please only use this engine for genuine searches. If people use the site fraudulently, the charity will be delisted and no longer benefit.

*I should note that at the Care2 free donation site, I click on almost all the charity buttons. I do not click on the donation button for HSUS (the “Pets” tab). I don’t support AR organizations that kill the animals whose interests they are supposed to represent.

Human trafficking. I don’t know about you, but when I first heard that term I thought it referred to illegal aliens. You know the stereotype… people in other countries trying to sneak across borders illegally, maybe paying for the privilege. But it means so much more.

Slavery. It’s an ugly word. It’s associated with images of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Africans kidnapped from their homes and exported to Europe or America as slaves to white plantation owners. Thankfully, slavery no longer exists, right?

Wrong.

Slavery means Human Trafficking. They are the same thing. Human Trafficking is the polite euphamism for Modern human slavery. Slavery hasn’t been eradicated. It’s simply changed it’s form.

Slaves of the Old American South were bought and sold for a considerable amount of money. They were valued as an expensive investment, much like we would buy a car today. It was horrible, disgusting, cruel, and dehumanizing, but today it’s worse. People, especially children and women, are traded and sold for virtually nothing. So their “owners” treat them as disposable people. When someone wears out, simply get someone else.

*There is an estimated 27 MILLION slaves worldwide today – more than at the height of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. We hide behind the idea that this only happens in other countries far, far away from our own. It’s true that other countries have slaves. It’s also true that there are probably slaves in your country or even your own backyard, working behind the scenes, unseen and uncared for. Slavery exists in virtually every country on the planet Earth, even though it’s supposedly been abolished for years. Mauritania is the most prominent example of a country that only recently legally abolished slavery.

Sure, that may be true for Mauritania, but what about the Mid Western United States? What about Florida? What about England? What about China? Yes, they have slaves too.

What about this article written about slavery in Kansas? Here’s another one about a slave in Florida. England has it’s share of trafficking rings. China’s slave labor camps imprison people the government considers undesirable (such as political dissidents or homosexuals) and force them to work producing cheap export products.

What can we do, what can ANYONE do, to stop this? It’s overwhelming.

We need to be informed and make people aware that slavery isn’t history! The first thing we need to do to eradicate this evil is let people know it still exists. Read books. Watch documentaries. Write and tell as many people as you can. Raise awareness.

There are lots of things that you can do to help. Hold a screening of a slavery documentary at your library. Invite friends to a movie night at your house featuring a movie like Amazing Grace. Then talk about how slavery still exists. Make and print out flyers to post at local bulletin boards. Blog. Write to newspapers, magazines, and your government representatives. Hold a bake sale or yard sale; give out flyers with purchases and donate the proceeds to an abolitionist organization.

Also, watch the types of goods you consume. Don’t inadvertently support slavery through ignorance by purchasing slave chocolate or coffee products.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a lot of money. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a lot of resources, time, or transportation. You have something slaves don’t have. Freedom.

And a voice.

So use it.

Recommended books:

Enslaved can be read (with some omissions towards the end) as a Google book preview, though I strongly urge you to either buy a copy or check it out at your local library. In my opinion, it really brings the issue home by having the individual slaves tell their own stories.

Not for Sale is another must read. This also has individual slave stories, but told from a third person point of view.

Abolitionist campaigns:

I Abolish

American Anti-Slavery Group -(from their website) a nonprofit organization that works with former victims of human trafficking to abolish modern-day slavery, focusing primarily on systems of chattel slavery in Sudan and Mauritania.

Not for Sale campaign -(from their website) a campaign of individuals, musicians, artists, people of faith, businesses, school and sports teams united to stop (slavery).

Additional websites:

End Human Trafficking – an online resource for articles, videos, links, ideas, and more through the Change.org website. This is one of the most active abolitionist sites I’ve come across.

Stop the Traffick -(from their website) a global movement of ordinary activists from around the world who believe that PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE BOUGHT AND SOLD. We believe that when people act things change. Visit their website for news, activism opportunities, and sign their declaration. They even have a store where you can buy activist materials like shirts, buttons, posters, and banners.

Free the Slaves – an online resource for activist materials. Easy access so that anyone can get involved in the modern abolitionist movement.

Video recommendations:

Amazing Grace – the story of the abolitionist, William Wilberforce, who worked to end the slave trade in the British Empire. A Church would be a great place to hold a viewing of this video.

DEMAND – a documentary about the sex slave trade. The website offers the full 45 minute version with the warning features graphic material, nudity, and sexual content. Underneath there is a 16 minute condensed version that does not contain graphic material, nudity or sexual content and is ideal for churches, schools and youth.

What Traffickers Don’t Say – just barely over a minute, this public service announcement is incredibly powerful. Please watch it.

*The 27 Million slave estimate was taken from the Free the Slaves site, though I’ve seen similar estimates on other abolitionist sites.

Here is one of my favorite snacks. It’s inspired by the Creamy Cottage Cheez recipe (p. 46) in The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak. My version is a little lazier, but it’s still high in protein.

Vegan Cottage Cheeze with Pineapple Chunks

1 14 ounce tub firm (or soft) tofu

1 20 ounce can sweetened pineapple chunks

salt and pepper to taste

*

Drain out most (but not all) of the syrup from the can of pineapple chunks.

In a colander in the sink, crumble the drained tofu between your fingers. The colander will catch the tofu and let the liquid drain out. Crumble it in your fingers until it’s the consistency of cottage cheese.

In a bowl, combine crumbled tofu with the pineapple chunks and syrup (little bit left in can). Mix together. Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy by itself or with your favorite soup, salad, and/or sandwich!

Normally, I prefer to use ordinary, everyday ingredients in my cooking. You know what I’m talking about. The type of ingredient that you can get at virtually any grocery store, whether it’s in Los Angeles or the most out of the way town you can find. Things like flour, spinach, apples… heck, even vegan soy milk can be found in almost any store nowadays. They sell it in Target! But one of the few products I try to always keep on hand, even if I have to drive out of my way to get it, is Nutritional Yeast. Why? Well, there are several reasons.

First and foremost, it’s yummy. I am completely serious. I know the name sounds unappetizing, but that’s not the point.

Nutritional Yeast usually comes in bags or a plastic container that you can buy at your local health food store, co op, or even order online. You can sprinkle it on salads or add it to dishes like soups and sauces for additional flavor. Sometimes I like to sprinkle it on dishes just because it makes the presentation pretty. It looks like golden colored flakes or powder.

That’s important. Nutritional yeast comes as pretty golden flakes or a fine golden powder. It is NOT the granular yeast you get to make your bread rise. If you get that stuff and use it as a condiment, you’ll be very disappointed.

Nutritional Yeast lives up to it’s name because it’s very, you guessed it, nutritional. Mainly, it contains a ton of B vitamins, as well as being cholesterol and fat free. And tasty. Did I mention tasty?

The flavor has been described as both nutty or cheesy. I think it has a hint of both. It’s used in a lot of vegan cheesy-ish type recipes for soups, sauces, and even faux cheeses. Honestly though, if you really want to know what it tastes like, you’ll just have to taste it. You can usually get a small bag of nutritional yeast for a few dollars.

Now, I’m not telling you to rush out, buy a bag of nutritional yeast, and just eat it straight. But as a condiment? Heaven! I find it combines nicely with vegan margarine on mashed potatoes or popcorn, but I’ve also loved it on salads, soups, and even in brown gravy!

Among vegetarians and vegans, Nutritional Yeast is a staple for the simple reason that it’s an easy and versatile source of B12. I’m not going to go into incredible detail about why vegans need to make sure they have an adequate source of B12. Just trust me. It’s important. It’s not difficult either since many cereals, soy milks, and other staples are already routinely fortified with B12. As I said before though, Nutritional Yeast has other benefits.

On the B12 note though, let me mention one more thing. Not all Nutritional Yeasts are created alike. The Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula Nutritional Yeast contains B12, but some of the other ones do not. Some stores even carry (for some unimaginable reason) Nutritional Yeasts that contain non vegan ingredients such as whey and other dairy products. So it pays to read the label.

So let’s sum up. Nutritional Yeast. It’s nutritious. It’s a great source of B vitamins – especially B12. It’s versatile, yummy, and last but not necessarily least, it’s pretty.

What are you waiting for?