I have two very special surprises for you today.
This Wednesday – in two days’ time – we’ll be launching a final fundraising campaign to complete Sisters For Sale, our feature documentary to raise awareness of human trafficking.
For the first time, you’ll have a special sneak peek at the film I’ve been creating for the past 3.5 years. I’m also sharing two other very exciting opportunities with you.
Two months ago, I advertised a once-in-a-lifetime volunteering opportunity, courtesy of my friends at Ethos.
The winner, Daragh, is now living amongst the colourful tribespeople of Sapa, in a breathtakingly beautiful corner of Vietnam.
Daragh is sharing authentic homecooked Vietnamese meals with the Ethos team, and living in their home.
She has already witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking dilemmas the young local women face in their search for love and marriage.
These women are deprived not only of many material comforts we take for granted, but also the most fundamental things in life – like trust.
Daragh is now beginning to understand why our work is so vitally important in improving the situation of countless young women.
I want you to do the same.
The Human, Earth Project was created to change lives, and now I want to change yours.
As part of our fundraising campaign, you’ll also have the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a month living with the Ethos team, including all meals and accommodation in Sapa.
This time, you don’t need any special skills or knowledge: the opportunity is open to all of you. All you need to do is share our story with your friends.
When the campaign launches, we’ll be running a referral competition. In three very easy steps, here’s how you can win a life-altering month in northern Vietnam:
1. Open an account at Indiegogo. This takes literally 3 seconds, using your Facebook account.
2. When our campaign launches on Wednesday, click the “Link” button on the campaign page. This will give you a personalised link to the page.
3. Share that link with your friends – via Facebook, Twitter, email, or however you like.
If your friends contribute to the campaign – even if it’s only one dollar – that counts as a referral. The person with the most referrals by the end of the campaign will win a month in Vietnam.
It’s that easy.
This fantastic opportunity has been provided by Ethos and by my mother, Susan Randall, and I’d like to thank them both.
(Please note that transport to and from Vietnam is not included, and dates and any special dietary requirements need to be discussed with Ethos.)
I have another special surprise for you today, too.
Chris Tenz was a Canadian composer who was a great supporter of my work against human trafficking. He provided the soundtrack to our 2014 fundraising film, and his music also features in Sisters For Sale.
Chris had a fascination with memory. His music journeys inwards and backwards to quiet, solitary places where reality begins to unravel.
While so much other music attempts only to overwhelm with sensory stimulation, Chris’ music opens spaces for the mind to explore.
His music is a sparse poetry, a world of finely textured details swimming in seas of mist and fog. He leaves you blank spaces to fill with memories of your own.
Chris recorded four hauntingly beautiful albums in his tragically short lifetime.
As a very special bonus, each and every one of you who contributes within the first 48 hours of our fundraising campaign will receive a free copy of Chris’ album, Placing Faith In That Which Haunts Us.
When you hear this music, you’ll understand what makes it so special.
It’s not party music, and they’re not singalong songs: it’s much more personal than that. It weaves its way into the fabric of your life, and becomes a soundtrack for your memories.
It doesn’t matter how much or how little you contribute – just so long as you make that 48-hour window, starting Wednesday.
I’d like to thank Chris’ widow Jess and his good friend Frederik for graciously allowing the use of Chris’ music to further support my work against human trafficking.
Stay tuned for other opportunities we’ll be sharing as part of our fundraising campaign!
If you haven’t yet seen the Sisters For Sale trailer, it’s now available in four languages – English, Spanish, French and German.
Subscribe here to receive all the news on Sisters For Sale.
All photography courtesy of Ethos.