Nun raises awareness of human trafficking

HOLYOKE - If we think one person can't do much, we would be wrong. Just talk to Sister Constance Gemme, a missionary sister of Our Lady of Africa, and discover what one person can do to change the world.

While Gemme now resides in Providence Place, she spent much of her adult life in the mission fields of Ghana.

Now at an age when most people retire or slow down, she continues her fight in raising awareness of human trafficking, which Pope John Paul II described as "a shocking offense against human dignity, and a grave violation of fundamental human rights."

Human trafficking, often referred to as a form of modern day slavery, is where victims are forced or coerced into sexual exploits, manual labor, and sweatshops. Between 600,000 and 800,000 victims

are trafficked across international borders each year. Many of them are children, some as young as 5 years old. Between 14,500 and 17,500 of these victims are trafficked into the United States.

Before Gemme became involved with human trafficking, she went to Ghana in the 1960s, where she worked as a nurse, midwife and in various administrative roles.

"It was very hot," she said. "Many times we didn't have a doctor. I was maybe the only registered nurse working in that hospital. If we had a real difficult case, we had to send them to another hospital. We did a little bit of everything. Professionals didn't want to come and work in the north because there was no electricity, so we just did the best we could. Often I held a flashlight under my chin at night to see the suturing. It was very interesting."

It 1995, Sister Catharina Van Kaam, from the Netherlands, representing the Dutch Foundation of Women Religious Against Trafficking in Women, was on a short trip to Ghana to raise awareness of human trafficking. She hoped to find someone to serve as a link between the organization and Ghana. She asked Gemme if she would be that link.

Gemme said her first reaction was "no," because she knew nothing about human trafficking. Besides, she had just started a project, which was taking up most of her time. The project, "Collaboration With Women in Distress," was started, when she realized no one was looking after the street women.

"Another sister and myself went into bar rooms and dance halls at night," she said, describing the work they did to get woman off the streets. "Women started coming to us. We had a pretty good group. We asked them what they wanted to do instead of being out on the streets. They were not there because they wanted to be. They had no other way to support themselves or their children," she said. "We started to teach them income-generating activities, which enabled them to stay off the streets and support themselves and their children.

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