Looking for a light-hearted clip of picturesque Italy, in all its beauty and grandeur, I typed 'Italy' into youtube, and this was the first video that appeared in the search results. Not exactly what I had been expecting. Produced by ABC Australia and distributed by Journeyman Pictures, it reveals the darker side to Italy. Trafficking is a serious problem all around the world, but sometimes from the safety of New Zealand it seems like something that only happens in movies or on the news in a country far away - its easy to forget, to be distanced from the reality of how riddled the world is with crime. It's terrifying. Watching documentaries like this make me feel so helpless and upset; there is such brokenness and inhumanity, it's hard to comprehend let alone know where to start to fix things. Those priests are amazing - to risk their lives in a very real way for other people, it's so inspiring. Lately, I haven't been feeling very close to God or particularly faithful, but I do believe that He is the only one who can heal the mess we have all made of this world, the only one who can heal the hurt and the pain. It's just so difficult to trust in Him.
I am so grateful and ridiculously blessed to be living in a country where, sure, terrible and awful things happen, but not to the same extent or at such a large scale. Sometimes it's annoying how we are so far away from the rest of the world, but then I think in some ways how lucky we are to be separated; it plays such a large part in how safe it is here. I'm overwhelmed with the desire to travel, but also wary and scared about the things that I will inevitably face.
