2007.01.16: January 16, 2007: Headlines: COS - Bulgaria: Human Trafficking: Port Huron Times Herald: Sarah and Matthew Pennewell served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Kostenets, Bulgaria
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2007.01.16: January 16, 2007: Headlines: COS - Bulgaria: Human Trafficking: Port Huron Times Herald: Sarah and Matthew Pennewell served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Kostenets, Bulgaria
Sarah and Matthew Pennewell served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Kostenets, Bulgaria
Assigned to a committee to combat human trafficking, the couple, now living in St. Clair, prepared informational materials that were used in schools and community centers to teach young Bulgarians the potential dangers of going abroad.Traffickers lure men, women and children away from home with promises of work in a new land. Instead of working as bakers or secretaries, they are forced to work as prostitutes or engage in other crimes to pay off debt owed for their passage into the new country.
Sarah and Matthew Pennewell served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Kostenets, Bulgaria
Volunteering in Bulgaria
Couple spends 2 years warning about dangers
By NICOLE GERRING Times Herald
They taught young Bulgarians how to say "hello," "goodbye" and "how are you" in English.
They also taught them not to trust those who offered them a job in a new land.
"For a young person who wants to get out of the country, it's not so obvious," said Sarah Pennewell, who with her husband, Matt Pennewell, returned in June after spending two years teaching English as Peace Corps volunteers in the southeastern European nation.
Assigned to a committee to combat human trafficking, the couple, now living in St. Clair, prepared informational materials that were used in schools and community centers to teach young Bulgarians the potential dangers of going abroad.
Traffickers lure men, women and children away from home with promises of work in a new land.
Instead of working as bakers or secretaries, they are forced to work as prostitutes or engage in other crimes to pay off debt owed for their passage into the new country.
Human trafficking and organized crime are two problems Bulgaria must battle under conditions set forth by the European Union. Bulgaria and its northern neighbor, Romania, joined the EU this month.
The first Peace Corps volunteers began teaching English in Bulgaria 16 years ago. The country had to reform its democratic government and create private institutions after its communist government fell in 1990.
Bulgarians are hospitable, friendly people who are struggling to maintain traditions in the face of capitalism and economic growth, said Matt Pennewell, 37.
But open borders means increased crime, and Bulgaria is known as a transit country for human trafficking. Traffickers bring people from Greece and Turkey through Bulgaria on the way to countries such as Italy and Germany.
"You don't want to really believe it happens," said Sarah Pennewell, 28. Bulgarians and Americans are reluctant to recognize the problem, she said.
To relate to their audience, the Pennewells used the Bulgarian movie Olga's Journeyand an MTV special with Angelina Jolie to convince students modern-day slavery is real.
"The problem is so pervasive, there's a sense of denial this could happen in their town," Matt Pennewell said. "I had a fifth-grader who was taken from his home and abused, so that hit me really hard."
Sarah said although she sometimes doubted her impact on the community, she knows their work made a long-lasting difference on their students and neighbors.
"I feel good that I informed them to the best of my ability," she said. "They have some nugget of information that I placed in them."
Contact Nicole Gerring at (810) 989-6270 or ngerring @gannett.com.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: January, 2007; Peace Corps Bulgaria; Directory of Bulgaria RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Bulgaria RPCVs
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Story Source: Port Huron Times Herald
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Bulgaria; Human Trafficking
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