The BB Summit - My Week as a youth Mentor

I think I could write a short novel about the past week.  It would have mystery, intrigue, shock value, passion, a tense and dramatic scene at the airport, comedy, teenage drama, the ninja guys from the building next door who played the ukulele, fire alarms & evacuations, worthy causes, lots of tears, nightly debriefing, passionate speakers,  a well spent $5.00 bill,  suspense and even a guy named Tyrone who had a sleep deprived girlfriend.  And that's the stuff I CAN talk about!...(wink, wink).
Actually, if I wrote everything that happened at the summit, it wouldn't be a short novel at all!  I'll get started on the book and have it ready for next years summit.
I knew attending a conference about sex trafficking would be pretty interesting but it was much, much more intense than I had expected it to be.  If I was just a normal gal sitting in the back of the room with no specific reason for being there other than to get informed about a dark and often ignored topic in our society - my week would have been quite different.   But let's be honest....I've never been a normal gal.

Kylie, Brianna, Ciana, Tyler, June, Evelyn, Jessica & Makayla

For me, it all started with the choice to go back to school, where I found myself watching a special screening of the documentary Sex & Money: A National Search for Human Worth.  If you have not seen this documentary, I highly recommend it.  It's incredible.  The first half of the film I spent crying and the second half of the film I spent getting mad. There was a panel discussion afterwards and when it was all said and done I had stood and shared more than I had ever planned on telling anyone.  That is where I met Tyler, who was in charge of the event and a representative of Child Rescue.  I instantly adored him and in no time I was volunteering to help in any way needed.  After the amazing folks at Child Rescue/Backyard Broadcast contacted me last fall, I knew I'd be doing what ever it was they asked of me.  What a great group of people working on such an important cause!  First it was a short video profile they did on me and nine months later I was walking onto the University of Utah campus as a Youth Mentor at a week long Summit where high school kids from around the country had been selected to be station chiefs for Backyard Broadcast in their own communities and high schools, were coming to attend a fully packed week of training.  

I don't want to brag but, I really had the best job possible. The job of the Mentors was to be with the kids every moment of every day.  We stay in the same dorms, eat together, study together, play together, complain together, inspire each other, stay up past curfew and support each other through each and every experience.  Mentors are the first line of support and the job suited me just fine.  I quickly found that out of everyone there at the summit, I was the only adult over 39(ish) who had teenagers of her own.  
Between church callings, volunteer work and being a mother of four - I've got a pretty good handle on hanging out with high school aged kids and I absolutely love it.  Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly tough at times and in those 6 days I think I had about 8 hours of sleep total, but I loved it.  And I will forever love those kids.  
We learned about the problem of Human Slavery in America, getting facts and figures on how big and widespread the problem really is.  It was right after our first breakfast together as a group that we went to the little theater with the kids and watched the documentary Sex & Money: A National Search for Human Worth.   It was the perfect introduction to why we were all here and it had a HUGE impact on the kids.  Everything got real in that moment and I watched "my kids" while they watched the film.  Shock, Heartache and Compassion was plainly written across their faces and just like me, at the end they were mad as well.  Shock was replaced with determination.  
We listened as survivors like Natash Herzig, who was victim of sex trafficking.  She and others stood and told us their personal stories, sharing their heartbreaking journey with a room full off kids aged 13-18.  As I listened along with everyone else in the room my eyes began to scan over the faces of the new teenage friends I had made. When it comes to pain and hurt, especially when it comes from betrayal or abuse, I really know my subject matter so it was easy to recognize the handful of kids who would need a bit of extra support to go along with the additional tissues I was quietly handing them.

We heard from a seriously cool married couple -Mark & Rachel - who work undercover with the Los Angel's Police Department.  They specialized in stopping sex trafficking and prostitution and oh boy, the stories they told us... You know the drill, if we gave you details, we'd have to kill you so just believe me when I tell you they are the real deal.  Police officers really don't get paid anything near what they deserve.  They were two of the favorite speakers of the week.  We all really lucked out and got to spend a few days really talking to and getting to know Mark & Rachel.  By the time day four was ending, the kids and I all said our goodbye's to the inspiring couple and secretly wished we could be just like Rachel when we grew up.
There was the morning at the ropes course, movie night at the old theater, hook ups from Cafe Rio, Subway and all we could eat at the U of U cafeteria.  Thanks to Dani & Tyler there was always a HUGE assortment of healthy snacks, cold water bottles and yummy junk food for everyone to snack on.  There were classes about about how to inspire others to help our cause, effective fundraising, leadership training and a few tips on documenting each stations progress through the year using photography.

There were quite a few kids who had never been to Utah so got to spend one of the mornings taking a look around downtown Salt Lake City.  It's always nice to see the places I know and love through a new set of eyes.  I've seen Salt Lake many times but watching others look at temple square for the first time was something a bit magical.  It was almost perfect but then another youth group was visiting temple square and one of their leaders came up to me and asked if we were the group they had heard about on the news.  "Why, yes it is!" I proudly answered.  
We talked for a moment and they asked if I had a business card for Backyard Broadcast.  I remembered they had passed out cards on day two so I reached in my purse, grabbed the first cards I felt and began to hand the nice youth leaders from Lehi, Utah all the details.  She was just reaching out to take the card when I glanced down and realized I had the wrong cards.  Lets just say that when you attend a conference about anything having to do with sex trafficking, you end up with all sorts of interesting things in your bag.  I pulled back my hand as quick as I could and told her I'd be right back.  I had almost handed the woman "Pimp Pick-Up Lines" instead of the informative business cards of Backyard Broadcast or Child Rescue.  Thankfully, I found Danielle and she had appropriate business cards...not these gems I had almost handed out to an entire church group full of youth from Utah, standing next to the LDS temple.

Informative cards - yes.  
Great organization - Absolutely!  
Cards one might be handed while on a tour of the LDS temple grounds - Uh, no.  
Not exactly appropriate reading material for temple square. 

We all met and heard from the guys from Kansas City Swat, Homeland Security, and  Arbinger training.  So many informative and interesting speakers, I can't name them all.  But there was one in particular who spoke to us on Thursday, who had an incredible affect on all of us.  His name was Mark.


Utah Attorney General, Mark Shurtleff took the time to come and speak to us and it was another favorite part of the week.  Can I just mention how much we all liked this guy?!  
Every single one of us thought he was wonderful.  He instantly held our attention mixing genuine sincerity with important information and statistics and then, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, he got choked up and shed a few tears about how much these "children of God (trafficked teens) need our help...deserve all our help".



Again, I glanced around the room into the faces I had come to know and love.  This was day four.  No one cared about crying in public or running mascara anymore, that ship had sailed days ago. Most of us in the room were choking back a few tears. 

 Two rows behind me I made eye contact with Payten, a sweet, smart and funny girl from Texas.  
I had been honored enough to get to know her and because of a long talk we had the night before, I knew something our Attorney General had mentioned would really touch her heart.  I turned around as soon as he said it and she was looking right at me.  She and I both had tears running down our cheeks and when our eyes met, we both just smiled.  Sometimes the heart says quite powerful things without saying a word.
It's a lot to pack into such a short amount of time and those are just a few highlights.  Most of the real bonding took place in between the scheduled events and classes. Anyone who has had a memorable experience at camp, knows that it's the bonds you form with your room mates, the other campers and the new friendships made, that sustain and add that last needed ingredient to making the experience special and life changing in so many great ways.  By the time the week was coming to an end, my faith in a few voices making a real difference in the world had been restored.  I was not only proud to know everyone involved, I was excited to see these kids in action over the next year. 

I could go on and on but I will simply say this:

If the youth at the Backyard Broadcast Summit are any indication of what America's future holds - I believe America is in good hands and will  become a country that is even better than before.  Trust me when I say that if abolishing human slavery in modern times, in our own communities... if that is up to the youth I met this week.... I firmly believe their own children will grow up in a world where sex trafficking is something of the past and no longer an issue people are fighting to put an end to.  Years from now teenagers will look back and see that there was a group of kids just like them that started a movement.  They were brave and they had courage to stand up and say enough is enough...no more.  Years from now, people will tell stories about those kids I met this past week at the summit.  They will say my young friends were warriors fighting the battle against modern day slavery..... and then, I believe with all my heart, those telling the stories will then finish by saying it was a battle they won.


Here's to an amazing week and I know it's going to be an even more amazing year!  I'll see you all again in 2013!  Check out these kids in action with a short slideshow from the Simply June perspective HERE!

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
http://www.backyardbroadcast.org/
http://www.photogenx.net/sexandmoney/#
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=21216818
http://www.kuer.org/post/utah-attorney-general-helps-raise-awareness-about-child-sex-trafficking
http://redlightrebellion.com/