Rio de Janeiro has everyone's eyes and ears as we have been cheering on our own countries. I love the Olympics, I look forward to them each year they are scheduled, I love that I get to watch "my sports" like track and field... because no one ever wants to watch those types of events except for during the Olympics. I am always in awe of the athleticism of each qualifier and love to see the body worked in such a way. Putting everything they have on the line.
This year I am having trouble watching.
Within the last year I have watched the movie City of God. I am unable to shake the scenes from my memory. They were disturbing. The movie is based in the 1960's, taking place in the slums of Rio. The plot is centered around a boy who grows up in the area and his interactions with his friends as they grow to become young adults. While the main character seems to stay on the straight and narrow compared to his com padres, he dances on the edge of danger. During the movie you see brothels, murders by the young, drugs, and much of what life in the slums is like. Children are put in their place with the use of guns. It is heartbreaking to watch. *Spoiler alert* In the end the drug dictator is put in his place (shot and killed) by a group of young children (ages 7-10 I'm guessing) who figure out there is power in numbers. You see the dark cycle begin again except this generation is even younger than the original.
I have read present day articles highlighting sex trafficking happening right outside the bright display of the Olympic festivities. I am sickened. Girls as young as nine standing alongside the "Highway of Death" road waiting to have their bodies used for $12. Only miles away from the gold seeking Olympics girls are auctioned off as raffle prizes, or sold by the families. One child spoke about how the truck driver's would use her and then literally toss her out of the truck onto the ground. A little girl left to pick up the emotional and physical trauma of what her life has become. The exploitation of females starts so young in this place, that the girls grow to become women who believe they are worthless, that they are not valued beyond what their body can offer, that they are to be used. The damage that is being done here is immense, and God hates it.
Both of these show how poverty causes desperation. So desperate for money to buy food, clothes, or whatever else, a father and mother would sell their own child to be used for their body. Being fearful of starvation or even being killed the young teens join gangs or become involved in the drug world.
I am not a man. I am unable to separate my love for sports and the love I have for my daughter. I am unable to watch the smoke and mirrors of the Olympic games without thinking of the pictures of the girls I have read about. Such a stark contrast in the two worlds yet they are only separated by a few miles. Yet the tourism brought in by the Olympics causes an increase in the problem. And we all sit glued to our televisions watching these sleek athletes compete to be "the best." Don't get me wrong, I admire the dedication of these athletes...but in the scheme of life and the kingdom of God...how important is it to know who is the fastest or strongest. I refuse to be enslaved by pop culture at the expense of those enslaved at the hands of the sex trafficking trade.
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