EP #21: Operation Underground Railroad -Amy Higham

Today we talk to Amy Higham about Operation Underground Railroad and the efforts of Tim Ballard and his team to help save kids from trafficking.   
You can learn more and how to donate or volunteer at OURRescue.org.
Also you can watch on U Tube by searching for Operation Toussaint

https://youtu.be/7q8dYM90PJA

http://OURRescue.org

To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowrealty.com/

Barefoot Bungalow Realty & Property Management
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Live Your Best Life Barefoot podcast with your host Mary Mouritsen and the team at Barefoot Bungalow Realty

Speaker 2: 0:08

Good morning and welcome to Live Your Best Life Barefoot podcast. Today I'm here with Mary and I'm

Speaker 3: 0:15

Ruth. How are you? I'm great. How are you doing? Doing really good. I'm excited about our market update this week. I know we actually have a first time buyer who is under contract. In this market that is a unicorn. These first-time home buyers are really having a challenge with winning all the bidding wars. So we had some tricks up our sleeve and we use those and we were able to win the bidding war. So we're very, very excited for our client and, cute home. Perfect for him. It had it fit everything that he needs. So if that's our market update, if you are looking and you're feeling discouraged, don't somethings out there. Yeah, we can make it happen. The perfect house is out there, so we're excited and, we are also excited this morning for our guests. We have Amy Higham with us and she is from Operation Underground. Welcome Amy.

Speaker 4: 1:20

Hello. Good morning. How are you guys. Really

Speaker 3: 1:22

Good? How are you?

Speaker 4: 1:25

I'm good. Good. Glad to be here.

Speaker 3: 1:30

Tell us a little bit about what you do with Operation Underground. I know you do a lot of things. I know you personally, and I know she does a lot of things, but today, what tell us about what you do for Operation Underground.

Speaker 4: 1:42

All right. Well, to start off, I want to be clear that I am just a volunteer with Operation Underground Railroad. I don't work for them. I am not affiliated with them, so I don't want people to misinterpret misinterpret that. But so, so basically what I am is an abolitionist, for Operation Underground Railroad and an abolitionist for slavery. And that's how, Operation Underground refers to the people who volunteer with them. And so I am all I'm doing is what I can to end modern day slavery. And that is basically kind of where the name came from, is from the idea of being coming in a bolition, t his f orced slavery and the slavery is human trafficking. And so I can kind of give you a little bit of background of how Operation Underground Railroad started. If you'd like,

Speaker 3: 2:52

I would love, uh, I you've talked to me about this. And that's part of what I think is so important is we're pretty blind to how, drastic this is in our in our world still today. I, I was naive to it. So I think it's huge what you're doing and your willingness to bring light to it. So, yes. Please tell us a little bit about operation under.

Speaker 4: 3:18

Yeah, absolutely. I think it is, it's a little, we kind of feel like we live in a little bit of a bubble or figuring out good and, you know, sex, slavery, human trafficking is, you know, just really the dark corners. And in places that, you know, aren't the modern day world or it's just by choice. And those kinds of things. And it really isn't, I would say several years ago, I think I remember my brother, supporting this, this organization for this cause and he just k ind o f mentioned it and I thought, oh y eah, that's a great cause. But didn't think a whole lot about it at the time. And several years ago here in Florida, I went to a conference and, this man, Tim Ballard was speaking at this conference and I was like, and it just, oh yes, I remember hearing about this. So he started telling the story of how he got it or how he started this organization. And so Tim Ballard was working for the CIA and he spent many years working for the CIA and about 10 years of the time that he worked for them, he was working in combating sex trafficking on the Southern border of us and, doing all that they could through government to, you know, stop sex trafficking and try to, you know, help those that they could. And, you know, I think he started recognizing that there was so much red tape and bureaucracy and it just made it difficult to actually rescue and help people, if it was outside their jurisdiction, outside the, our government. And so his, it just, he decided, well, I guess what it goes back to a s he was still working for the CIA and he read an article, in the newspaper about this little boy named G ardy, out of Haiti and this little boy was in church with his family. He's three years old. His dad had been holding him, sends him off to go find your mom. U h, 10 minutes later, mom comes to the d ad, s ays where's G ardy and the d ad said he's gone. I don't know. I sent t hem to you, you know, parent's worst nightmare. This is, this is in Port-au-Prince Haiti. And I'm not ev en s u re, maybe six to eight years ago, I think is when this, when this happened and, you know, they just heart drop and they look for him, an d t hey can't find him. Yeah. So they go to the police and the police say, give it two hours. If he's been kidnapped, we'll probably get a ransom phone call and they, and he did, he got a phone call. And they were, I mean, it's a long story, which is a fantastic story. So you can go online and, a nd read detail about this, f amily and what happened. But, anyway, they wanted a ransom, they assumed that this, this father had money cause he ran an orphanage and got a big donation. So that in this person who kidnapped this little boy Gardy, worked for the d ad, it was a family friend. And so this little boy knew that, or t he little boy was comfortable around this person who kidnapped him. And so they were asking for, you know,$500,000, you know, just a lot, a lot of money and they couldn't couldn't get it to him. I think initially they were asking for less and they said, bring the money here. And we'll give you your boy that never happened. And you know, days turned into weeks. And so anyway, somehow this, this article ended up in, t he ne wspaper and Tim Ballard read it and he said, he ju st, you know, and he' d be en working with sex trafficking. And so it wasn't new to him, but it just wouldn't leave him. And he thought, I, you know, I need to help this father. And the father said he would just could never sleep. So he would just walk the dirtiest, darkest places of the city, just looking for his little boy, hoping he could hear him call out. And so, Tim Ballard, excuse me. He, I think he flew the father, you know, into the U S to talk to him about it, see how he could help him. And then Tim Ballard got a team, went down to Haiti. And that's where he quickly figured out that we had no jurisdiction i n Haiti. This, this little boy was actually born in the u s. And so he thought that because he was dual citizenship, he c ould help the US. CIA could help them, but it ended up not being the case. And he quickly quit his CIA job and put together a drop team of his own and started Operation Underground Railroad through that, recognizing that he could do more good privately then, you know, through the government. So, you know, his ops team, you know, his professors or their professionals, he was a professional obviously. So, they go in and they stage sting operations around the world. They pose as buyers. So that's what he did for this father. Originally he, they thought through, you know, connections and talking and working, they found this, lady who was working with the guy who kidnapped him, kidnapped the little boy Gardy. And, they figured out that she had basically an orphanage where, she would have children and then sell them out the back door. And the children are sold for sex trafficking, labor, tr ack, labor, y ou know, they'd be working on farms, y ou know, whatever the case is, what these little kids, I mean, an d o bviously th e v ery little, a nd I think it was within that next year is when Haiti had the really big earthquake. And so there were thousands and thousands of orphan children just left on the streets. And so people would bring these little children to this orphanage thinking, oh, this wonderful lady with a big smile will help them. And she'd graciously take them in and just send them right out the back door, you know? And so, Tim Ballard and his team went into this lady, as a sting, they met her at a hotel. They had cash. They were, you know, pretending buyers. And, you know, they sat down, she said, all right, they're$10,000 each. I'll tell you exactly how to get them out of the country and how to do it so that the police don't get involved. You know, it was just a very, very evil, crooked thing that happened. So anyway, they were able to rescue 28 children out of this orphanage and through a lot of sadness and tears, little Gardy had already been sold and the father didn't get his child back. And so I think Tim Ballard at this, this, operation is what really through working with this father who said, you know what, if I had to lose my son to rescue 28 children, it was it's worth it. And it just really inspired Tim Ballard to, you know, look at the light that can come through, you know, helping other people. And so I think through that, orphanage, Tim Ballard ended up adopting two children to an add to his already six children that he had at home. And the father of little Gardy adopted eight of those children. You know, and so Tim Ballard said I'll never stop looking for your son. So he's still looking for Gardy, you know, eight years later trying to help him find his son. But so that is how, and so the name OUR came from Tim Ballard, just read everything he could possibly read about the Underground Railroad in the U S you know, that was undergoing, trying to help people out of slavery in the U S so many years ago. And so he just, you know, he read it with a look of, okay, with the idea of how did this work, how were they able to save so many people and not get caught? And what tactics did they use? And so he was looking at it a very logical way and reading every bit of information and he thought, you know, this is what this still is. This is us trying to save people of every background and, out of slavery. So that's where the name came from, and he's very passionate. And so this organization it is a non it's, a total non-for-profit, organization it's based solely on donations. That's how all of the funding happens.

Speaker 3: 13:13

The one thing I really love about this too, is the attention like it's one thing that's fabulous to go in and rescue these children and, and save them, but he's catching the vision that that's not enough or else it'll just turn around and happen again. Yeah. Yeah. So I love that. There's another aspect to this of what happens next. Can you talk a little bit better about that?

Speaker 4: 13:46

Yeah. So, they, it's interesting, you know, that they have gotten some criticism, for their work because they, the criticism is, comes from, okay. Yeah. You go in and you grab these kids and get them out of a situation. And a lot of them go back into it or they have nowhere to go. And though that is true, that, a lot, because if you have a child who is taken from their home and put into, you know, sex trafficking, and that's all, they know, that's how they exist, that's how they survive. They get taken out of the situation. They're very likely to be drug, drug addicts, to have, you know, forced them into that situation. It is likely, but the aftercare is what they call It, is a really big component of what they do. And so, you know, their first goal is to try to get these children back into their homes, if they are safe. because most of the time the sex trafficking happens from family or friends. It's not just the, you know, person who randomly gets kidnapped off the street. Like you might see in a movie, but, it is a, you know, a boyfriend, a grandmother, a, a friend of the family and neighbor who starts this. And so if they can find a safe place that they were, you know, taken from a safe place, then they'll get them back. If not, they, you know, get them in an orphanage, if they can't find a home. Cause a lot of kids are taken very young and they're gone so long, they don't even remember what their name is or who their parents are. So they're put in orphanages. And another big thing is they really are working with adoption organizations to get these children adopted into safe homes. And then they have, yeah, these aftercare programs that work on addiction and just helping to reintroduce them to society and giving them skills that are helpful. And, you know, I've just over the last few months, I've had some amazing interactions with people that have just, I don't know, it's just been a, you know, ki nd o f l ittle blessings that, you know, how di d, how di d, how do I keep running into people like this th at h ave connections with, oh, yo u a r e? Because it's just something I'm, you know, trying to get into personally myself and I haven't done a ton of it yet, but I, you know, speaking of the aftercare, the aftercare, s o me friends of mine, I was at their home for a party and they had a friend there that, or a, u h, no t a f r iend, a f a mily member that looked so familiar to me. And why does she look so familiar? And so I finally figured out that this, this family member of my friend, was a sister of a friend of mine from 15 years ago. And they looked so much alike and I started talking to her and figure that out. And then I find out that her and her husband have just moved here from California. They sold their home. He sold his business and have decided to run an aftercare orphanage in Haiti for OER. And so, you know, it was, they have six children of their own, but he's gonna, you know, go down and help get this orphanage into a better situation because the orphanage is, is struggling. There's, you know, 50,000 children in Haiti without, without parents. But, so anyway, so I talked to them and, that was, you know, really talking to them and having that connection. And then a month later, I took my children down to Fort Lauderdale, to a demonstration. It was in July, in July of this year. They had, well, I think they t ried to do it every, every July, but OUR does rise up for children demonstrations around the world. So on that day they just have people go out and do, you know, d emonstration awareness, awareness. Yeah. A nd j ust trying to get people to, to know what's going on. So I decided I'm going to have my children, w e're going to go do a demonstration, which I've never done before. But we go down to Fort Lauderdale and low and behold, there's the same couple with their family t here, this demonstration. And so we spent a couple hours just walking up and down the streets of Fort Lauderdale and, m et some other really great people, just trying to do some good and trying to put out awareness. And so that's part of it, the Palm beach, Florida team. So they have different teams around us. And so that team over there in Fort or in Palm beach area, is just another volunteer team and they have a team lead over there. And so that's kind of what I'm working on is trying to become a team lead on this side, of the state, just cause it's a little bit of a distance to try to participate in help over there. And there's obviously a lot of good that can happen on this side of the state. So that's kinda something that I am working on is, application and becoming a team lead for the west side of Florida. But anyway, so I'm also trying to help. So as long story, this, this couple that wanted to help with the orphanage, he decided he had military background. So he gave the orphanage control to his brother and sister. I'm also friends with, so they're taking lead with that. And, this guy from California is now going to be helping with ops and actual, you know, rescue situations cause he has, you know, that kind of background. So I'm helping with, or starting to try to help this other couple of friend of mine who are working on this orphanage down in Haiti for aftercare, for OUR.

Speaker 3: 20:19

Yes, Amy, I could talk to you about this all day. It's so fascinating to me. Uh, two things, how can people help you and help the Operation Underground work and they go to donate or volunteer or, whatever would work

Speaker 4: 20:38

For them. Yeah. So the, you know, it's, it's the easiest thing to do. And it's the biggest thing that need is just donating money. Cause like I said, it's 100% all from donations t o, you know, fund each mission that they have or you know, getting out there and doing it. So, d epending on where you live, there are different ways of helping. I mean. OUR recently had a gala in Utah, w h ere they raised a lot of money there. But you can go to OURrescue.org thats OURrescue.org. And if you just go to their website, you can donate directly through the website. There's lots of links on information about what, what they do, much more details and then, ho w to volunteer. So if you want to volunteer and get involved, they've got, in f ormation on there about how to get involved and you know. There's for teenagers, they have students against trafficking and you can start a club in school and OUR will help you directly and do training and stuff for students to get their clubs started at school, which is something that my son Jackson was interested in doing. He hasn't done it yet, we'll see. Because I don't want to m a ke it happen, but that's something that he was kind of interested in doing, but I say that's probably your best, your, you r best way of getting involved with this.

Speaker 3: 22:16

Yeah. And then, oh, go ahead. And then do you have, any recommendations for people? As far as first of all, it's good to bring up the awareness, but is there something, you know, with your kids with here, obviously this is g oing t o make us a little bit more aware, but is there any specific tips or information that you have that can help parents that are concerned about this?

: 22:49

I think, you know, for, at least for my kids, it's one of those things where it's a little bit hard to talk about. And so I think just letting them know that they need to be cautious. They need to talk to you, be open about things. I think when you look for sign, you know, if you go onto their website to, they can talk about signs to look for in sex trafficking, i f it's someone, you know, but I think just having open discussions and about, you know, being cautious about family members and friends and, y o u know, those kinds of things. And I know, you know, my kids got a little nervous when I started talking to them more about it, a n d giving them a safe space, but also being open, but be ing open about it so that they know about what's going on and it made my kids want to do more.

Speaker 4: 23:51

And, you know, we did a market where it grew a lot bigger than I was initially planning and were able to raise money. And, you know, my kids were excited to be involved in that, knowing that they could do their part in, in helping, because sometimes you feel so separated from the cause, but it's going on all around us. There's a quickly, there's a YouTube video that you can watch. And there's actually a full length film that they've put together. It's called Operation Toussaint, you can go o nto YouTube and Amazon and watch it a nd it's quite eye- opening and it is, y ou k now, very much, informative also, but it's, i t's really great movie to watch. I think they had it in theaters actually.

Speaker 3: 24:39

Wow. That is perfect. Well, I could talk to you all day about this. Thank you so much for coming on and helping us be more aware and, getting the word out and for all you're doing truly, the market was great and all of your efforts are amazing. So thank you so much. And again, you can check it o ut@o urrescue. org and thank you for being with us a t, Barefoot Bungalow Realty. And we look forward to seeing you next time and as always remember to live your best life.

Speaker 1: 25:13

Thank you for listening to the Live Your Best Life Barefoot podcast, sponsored by Barefoot Bungalow Realty. To learn more about Barefoot Bungalow, realy go to www.barefootbungalowrealty.com or call 2 3 9 3 5 0 5 5 3 5.