Child trafficking

A documentary about child trafficking in India presented by Lindsay Lohan in BBC 3 had prompted me to write this post. While most of us have heard about child trafficking in poor countries in Southeast asia (Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc) and India, we still do not comprehend this issue. Partly because we have not seen it in person, we have not talked to someone who have gone through it and we have not read about it. Of course most of us who knew about it feel helpless most of the time because this issue seems unstoppable and we, as a powerless individual or group, may not substantially prevent and totally eradicate this problem. People living in rural areas such as villages or undeveloped slum areas are the main targets for human trafficking. These people live below poverty line. They struggle to even put food in the table in a daily basis. Most of this people are not educated and do not have livelihood to support their family and children. These are just some of the reasons why they are the easy target for human traffickers. These human traffickers lure them into believing that they will receive education and better livelihood if they come with them. Of course for those families who had heard this the first time will immediately jump to the idea and prospect of improving their life. The person who have been trafficked will then be subjected to hard labor for very little pay and sometimes abuse. I am sure that like me it breaks your heart to hear that a 9-year old boy is subjected to 17 hours of work in a day in a cramp house with very little food. Or a young girl who was forced into prostitution. There are charity institutions and NGOs which rescue these people. But still there are a lot of them who are still out there waiting to be rescued and still a lot more continuously being trafficked. Most people who writes about this issues voices out their concerns to the government and sometimes put pressure on them to do something about it. I do not know if these politicians read them or if they did do they do something about it? Unless people who conduct such malpractices are persecuted this problem will not be hugely decreased. Of course ideally we all hope for this problem to stop. But in reality I think unless we all worked together to improve our economy and give good life to people in rural areas, this will not stop. I am sure that similar to me you are thinking of how can I contribute in order to help eradicate this problem. Well I guess at first we should be informed about it by knowing the root cause of this issue. We should know who are the most vulnerable people who is likely to be targets of this problem and help them to prevent this from happening to them. We are all human being living in the same world. Let us give purpose in this life by sharing it with others.

Tips on acidity

I have GERD (gastroesophageal disease) or what most people call "acidity problem". The symptoms I usually experience are frequent throat clearing, heartburn, dryness of the throat, increase salivation and recently fleeting pain in the tummy. Sometimes I hear mild crackling sound in my tummy even after having a meal. It is a very bad experience. Specially when I am just beginning to feel the symptoms around 6 years back. I have taken several types of medicines such as Nexium, odeprasole, etc but it just gives temporary relief and sometimes had side effects. The one that worked for me is changing my lifestyle. I eat less fatty foods, fried foods and chips now. I eat more vegetables now and more variety of food. My husband has been a big factor in all this since he is a big fan of vegetables and wheat bread. He is an Indian and as you may know, Indians does not eat so much meat and fried foods. However, sometimes spicy dishes do trigger the acidity in my tummy. I try to avoid very very spicy food. Some of the simple tricks I found that could reduce acidity is by not eating very fast. Oh I am a fan of food and I eat like I have not eaten for the last 2 days. When you do not chew your food well, your tummy will have to do twice as much work in digesting the food in your stomach. And for us people who have GERD, the rate at which the food content in the stomach is emptied is very slow. So if you have a full tummy of half-chewed food it is a disaster. I often encounter regurgitation and tummy pain as a result of this. So I think it is very important for us to eat less but frequently. Another way is to not drink so much while eating. Most of us tend to drink a lot while eating. Well I found that by taking sip of water or juice instead of a big gulp after a meal can help lessen the pressure that could build inside your stomach. The third way is by simply seating properly with your upper body straight up or by doing vajrasana. It is a yoga position wherein you kneel and sit on top of your legs. You can do this position even after eating. While doing vajrasana, immediately you can feel increase in activity in your tummy. There are actually more ways that you can use to reduce acidity and it is often you who can figure it out.