I helped host a conference on October 22nd, 2016, where we talked about the issue of Women Trafficking. I was an intern for the conference, and I made sure that everyone got in okay, and there wasn’t anyone missing. I also helped set the whole the thing up, and break everything down when it was over. There were more than 50 people there - both women and men - about the same number of each.
Day 1: We put everything together. There were chairs and tables to set up, and a table for people to get their name tags. We also had booklets that I helped to put together, and we placed them in bags along with a notebook, a pen, and a pin that had a lotus flower on it symbolizing Women Alliance 4 Empowerment.
Day 2: We got the food ready from my Aunt’s restaurant. We made sure everything stayed in place from the night before. And then it was time for the conference! We listened to a lot of different stories from women who were trafficked, and a lot of men as well. Around lunchtime there was a meditation exercise. I tried to not fall asleep but it was so relaxing - I couldn’t help it, and I fell asleep! We went to lunch, and when we got back the speakers talked for another hour, and the cool thing was that I got to meet the police officer (she’s a woman), who is the head of the task force for the San Diego Police Department. When the conference was done, we had a huge after party. It was so much fun! I got to meet a lot of people who are really cool. There was this one woman (whose name I forgot), that used to sing back-up for Michael Jackson, and she sang at the after party - she was awesome! I also met a woman named Joslin Seeds; she’s an actress and a fashion designer. She talked about how people were saying mean things to women about how they’re not beautiful, and she said, “They’re all wrong, and you are all beautiful.”
Day 3: This was a tough day because everyone was tired and cranky. We had to break everything down from the conference- take the chairs and tables that we’d used away. We had to clean-up the space we’d had from the restaurant. We also had to work in the restaurant that day taking orders and bussing tables, because it was a normal work day for the restaurant. My friend Luiza had to take care of the bar, and there were some people who came in late, like my friend Soledad, and my friend Travis.
I learned that not only women are being trafficked, but men as well. We need to find a way to stop this. We could host an event here in Alameda like what did in La Jolla. I also learned that trafficking can happen anywhere and anytime and that for women we feel secluded and we don’t speak our minds about what’s happening until it’s already passed.