The Safe Harbor project

My name is Dr. Jeffrey Brodsky. I am the Founder and President of JOY International. Yes, that is me pictured as a clown. That was in 1979 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. For many years I literally walked the streets of 3rd World countries trying to bring “joy” to people who had nothing to smile about. I saw the needs of humanity – through the eyes of a clown. After more than a million miles of travel throughout the world – with each trip I began to see another dimension to the needs of children. I saw the needs of children in every dimension imaginable.Orphans, Homelessness, Poverty, Neglect, Disease, Malnutrition, Starvation - - - I saw it all. I even held many of these children in my arms. Through my tears, my sincrere desire and gift was to bring them to smile.As the years went by, I would study and research the plight of needy children across the globe. The more I researched, the more I realized how great the needs were. How could I – as just one man help them all? I realized it was just not possible. I saw children die one-at-a-time, so I would try to help them one-at-a-time. Through JOY International, we accomplished the following since 1980Established Orphanages and Children’s Homes and Assisted With International Adoptions in:

China • Russia • India • Bangladesh • Pakistan • Mexico • Uganda • Kenya • Venezuela • Cambodia • Fiji

I also helped design a program where the children’s homes we established would be self-sufficient within 5-7 years where-by the children were taught such things as vegetable gardening and small animal husbandry skills. These skills could be life-saving for them in their respective villages.Several years ago, during my research, I found articles about the plight of children who were either sold or kidnapped and forced into prostitution. I will not call them child prostitutes because I believe prostitution is a choice. These children did not choose this lifestyle. They are forced into becoming child sex slaves. In my nearly 30 years of working with orphaned, abused and abandoned children, I can say without hesitation that this is unquestionably the worst atrocity ever perpetrated against a child. Many of these children are forced into this life as young as 5 years old. Once they are considered used up,many will be thrown into the streets and continue in a life of prostitution and crime. Most will die of venereal diseases or HIV/AIDS by their teen years. Many will comitt suicide from the profound pshyclolgical effects.Just a sample of the many statistics:

· 1.2 million children are trafficked annually
· 2 Children per minute are trafficked for sexual exploitation
· 32 billion dollars is generated from human trafficking each year
· Child prostitution affects more than one million children throughout Asia
· 200,000 to 250,000 children are involved in prostitution in Thailand
· Hundreds of thousands of child prostitutes are exploited in Cambodia and Vietnam
· 200,000 to 500,000 children are involved in prostitution in China
· 500,000 child prostitutes exist in Brazil and thousands more across Latin America