Unbound Movement

A creative experience that was part of the first Unbound. This video speaks for itself.

Unbound Experience from Unbound Movement on Vimeo.

One of the many highlights of last years Unbound was the Freedom March downtown.  Hundreds of students proclaiming publicly that they are going to stand up and fight modern day slavery.  This year we will be having another march.

We will be marching from the Freedom Center to Sawyer Point where once we arrive we will filter down to the Serpentine Wall and get a group picture taken. We will conclude the gathering with a dinner and a celebration concert under the bridge on Sawyer Point.

After the celebration we will all walk back to the Freedom Center together and disperse from there.

One thing we are striving for this year is to show you different organizations that are out there making a difference in the world.  You will see most of them in the Atrium on Friday night and then some of them again at the Freedom Center on Saturday.  Below is a list of Exhibitors that will be in the Atrium.  Check them out while being apart of the Atrium Experience.

Transitions Global

Restavek Foundation

Project AK-47

Not For Sale Campaign

Help Heal Haiti

Women’s Crisis Center

Rahab’s Hideaway

University of Dayton, Human Rights Studies Program

Trade as One

Stop Traffick Fashion

Call & Response

Hagar International

Mission Year

The Unbound Movement is set up as a prayer gathering to bring an end to Modern-Day slavery.  On Saturday morning we will spend the bulk of our time going around to different rooms praying that God moves through that country to bring an end to slavery today!

HAITI

All over Haiti children are sent away to live as Domestic servants because their parents lack the resources required to support them.  Typically there is a lot of abuse to the child and the living conditions given them are extremely dangerous.  They are normally the first ones up in the morning and the last ones to go to sleep.  They become slaves to the house, not able to go to school.  In the Haiti room you will be praying that organizations can make a difference in Haiti by making sure the restaveks are taken care of.

CAMBODIA

Over the last decade the sex trafficking trade in Cambodia has become way out of hand.  In this room you will experience a bit of Cambodia as well as pray that God will rise up abolitionist to tear apart the sex trade.

INDIA

In India girls are promised better jobs in the city to help take care of their family.  However when they arrive in the city they soon realize that they have been sold into a brothel where they are to work day in and day out as a sex slave.  Most of them captivated by fear will never try to leave.  Please pray that God delivers people to set up rescue houses where rescued girls can rejoin society.

FAIR TRADE

Chances are we are participating is slave labor with the products we buy on a regular basis.  In this room you will pray that through abolitionists that we can bring an end to unfair labor laws in other countries.  You will also pray that the manufactures will realize that they need to make better decisions about where their products originate from.

U.S.A

Thousands of individuals are brought into the US every year thinking they are going after their dreams.  When they get here they soon realize that they have been sold as slaves to work off a debt or the money that was paid for them to get to this country.  They are trafficked all over the country as domestic slaves, sex slaves, and farm hands.  In this room you will pray that the US Government starts setting up stricter laws and punishments for individuals caught trafficking people into the US for profit.

HOW HARD WILL IT BE TO PARK DOWNTOWN?

If you aren’t familiar with downtown Cincinnati it can get crazy.  Freedom Center parking is available in the Central Riverfront Parking Garage.  The garage can be accessed off of Main Street, and two locations on Mehring Way, which roughly parallels Ohio river immediately south of the Freedom Center.  Cost per vehicle will be $4.50, cash only.  For driving directions to the Freedom Center please click HERE to download a PDF from the Freedom Center site.

WHAT WILL IT COST TO GET IN?

Admission to the Freedom Center is free to all visitors from 11-4PM.  There will be multiple locations to donate money to support the Freedom Center’s ongoing effort to inspire more people to engage in the abolitionist movement.  So please consider making a donation at the event.

WILL DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI BE SAFE ENOUGH FOR US?

Simple answer is, YES.  If you wish to participate in the Freedom march from the Freedom Center to Sawyer Point there will be plenty of security around to make sure the march goes off without any problems.

WILL THERE BE FOOD DOWN THERE?

We understand that we will be finishing up right around dinner time.  If you are hanging around to participate in the march and celebration afterward you might get hungry.  We are working with a few food vendors to make sure there will be food down there for you to purchase.

DO I NEED TO BRING ANYTHING ELSE?

This will be a market environment, so there will be multiple vendors that you can purchase products from.  We will have vendors that sell products made from rehabilitated slaves, as well as products that were made where slave labor was not involved.  To learn more about the vendors that will be down at the Freedom Center please click HERE.

James Pond is the Founder and Executive Director of Transitions Global – an organization building new lives for survivors of sex trafficking. James spent eight years in Marine Corps intelligence and special operations and has worked as an investigator and security consultant. While working in corporate business, James completed his Master’s degree doing extensive research on global slavery issues. In 2004, after watching a Dateline special on sex trafficking in Southeast Asia, James and his wife Athena, moved their family to Cambodia where they developed a well-established aftercare program for sexually trafficked girls. They currently operate an innovative, transitional aftercare program for sex trafficking survivors in Cambodia and have consulted on anti-trafficking projects in Indonesia, Greece, and India. James has also worked on domestic trafficking issues in the United States and is an Advisor to the Home Foundation on domestic trafficking shelters.

He currently lives between Cambodia and Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and three children.

James will be speaking Friday and Saturday with Srey Neth, a rehabilitated slave that has graduated from the TLC aftercare program.

Srey Neth is a survivor that has graduated the Transitions Global TLC program.  She now travels sharing her story as a voice for the voiceless.  Through the program she has studied computers and become a certified yoga instructor to teach yoga therapy to other girls in the program.

Below you will watch a video put together in 2008 about her story.

Srey Neth will be sharing her story on Friday night as well as Saturday at the Freedom Center.

Transitions Global Survivor Shares Her Story from Transitions Global on Vimeo.

Kevin Madsen is a UCLA grad who left the corporate world so that he could align his passion and his vocation. He is a strong believer in the power of faith communities to bring about revolutionary change, and loves working in the intersection of Faith and Justice. He is fascinated by new ideas and was struck with the beautiful simplicity of Fair Trade.

Kevin runs the sales/marketing side of Trade as One and will be speaking at the Freedom Center on Saturday.

If there is one thing that can be said about PW Gopal, it is that his life is defined by his passions.

The ancient Fathers of faith called the deepest of the deep, the souls soul – “the very”.

It is from the “very” that PW brings to life his stories of faith and the human condition. Touring fulltime since 2003, PW has played over eight hundred dates sharing the stage with such artists as Jeremy Camp, Bebo Norman, Shawn McDonald, Sara Groves, Bethany Dillon and Derek Webb.

Known for his dynamic vocal range and storytelling, it is his ability to snapshot the human condition that has brought him acclaim.

PW Gopal is the founder of the Hundred Movement- a US movement to rebuild the underground railroad, partnering communities with government and local NGO’s/non profits to bring young women and children out of the bondage of human trafficking. He continues to share his passion for human life and dignity from the stage and works diligently to educate the public through forum and seminars on issues of poverty and the modern slave trade

PW Gopal will be playing Friday night.  He will also be doing four mini sessions through out various times at the Freedom Center

Don Gerred serves as the Director of Justice Projects at Crossroads in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Crossroads’ mission is to connect spiritual seekers to a body of growing Christ followers who are changing the world.  In this role, Mr. Gerred is responsible to oversee Crossroads’ commitment to provide high quality aftercare to sex trafficking survivors overseas, and to cast a vision to the Crossroads community at large of God’s deep concern for victims of violent oppression.

Prior to taking this position in December 2009, Mr. Gerred was the Director of International Justice Mission’s Field Office in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.  IJM Kolkata works with local authorities to investigate cases of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of women and children, to seek the vigorous prosecution of the perpetrators responsible for these crimes, and to ensure that the victims receive comprehensive aftercare. In this position, he oversaw all casework and business operations of the office and reported to IJM headquarters, IJM supporters, officials in both the Indian and U.S. governments, and other interested parties.

In 2000, Mr. Gerred became the lead drug prosecutor for the District Attorney’s Office of Cambria County, Pennsylvania – a position he held for six years.  During that time, Mr. Gerred was also a Special Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting cases brought by a federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

He and his lovely wife Lori have three beautiful daughters.

Don will be speaking at the morning session on Saturday as well as speaking down at the Freedom Center.