August 20, 2019, By Ebadat-ur-Rehman Babar, Published in Rotary International

Our idea started back in 2018, when I and two other members of my Rotaract club began looking for an innovative, sustainable project. We wanted to submit an entry for the Rotaract Outstanding Project Awards and we came up with an idea of starting a school for child laborers who do not have enough resources for their education. According to a survey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, out of the estimated 40 million children in Pakistan, approximately 19 million are working as child laborers, the majority of those living in slum areas. These kids can’t even write their own name. Education is the key to success. So, we prepared a project proposal and submitted it to the rest of our team and they accepted it. But due to lack of resources, we weren’t able to begin last year.

August 13, 2019, By Anne Stein, Published in Rotary International

After graduating in 2011 from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, Noelle Volin was intent on a career with the FBI fighting human trafficking. But while waiting for the results of her bar exam, Volin, a 2006-08 Rotary Peace Fellow at Tokyo’s International Christian University, volunteered with Breaking Free, a nonprofit that helps victims of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. She realized that she wanted to work directly with victims and became the organization’s staff attorney and director of policy. Volin is now the training and technical assistance director for the Don’t Buy It Project (DBIP), part of Men as Peacemakers, a Duluth-based organization that works with communities, schools, and individuals to prevent violence and sexual exploitation. DBIP is a campaign that encourages men, in particular, to recognize commercial sexual exploitation — from prostitution and strip clubs to online pornography — and to reject it.