FIJI

In Fiji, Talitha Kumhas been actively involved in awareness-raising activities and presentation of the mission to Corpus Christi Teachers, reaching out to both rural and maritime areas. Recently, two members travelled to the island of Rabi, descendants of people from Banaba, a phosphate mining island in Kiribati, Micronesia. Sr. Terube, SM, spoke to the local community about their vulnerability to trafficking and the various risks they face.

SAMOA, Talitha Kum Samoa Youth Rally

Talitha Kum Samoa organized a vibrant youth rally from the 24th – 26th July 2024 with the theme “LIVE TO SERVE”. The rally saw around one thousand youths, priests, religious, deacons and guest speakers from Samoa and overseas. 

As a part of the Talitha Kum Samoa Team, we were honored to be invited as guest speakers, providing us a great opportunity to share our vision, mission and goals. This rally offered several benefits like:

• The audiences included not only locals but visitors from overseas, broadening the reach of our message to other countries overseas like America, Australia, American Samoa, and Tokelau. 
• The rally was broadcasted live on television generating a lot of feedback from the attendees of the youth rally and from the viewers at home.
• For many in the audience, it was their first to hear about Talitha Kum, and there was a noteworthy interest to learn more about our work.

Some of the challenges we faced were:

• Time constraint
• Limited resources and experiences from other neighboring countries
• Providing testimonies and activities to deepen the awareness on Human Trafficking.

Despite these challenges, we are eager to continue sharing more about Talitha Kum Network in schools, societies and parishes. We have also been invited by societies like St. Vincent de Paul, and various schools to discuss our role as Talitha Kum agents in Samoa. We are also actively seeking more youths, religious, priests and whoever is interested to be part of our team to strengthen our efforts. The more we have, the more effective and impactful our awareness campaigns against human trafficking will be. 

We are grateful for the opportunity to engage not only with the youth but also with priests, religious leaders, and the wider Diocese.

August 27th, 2024