Most Esteemed Micaela Le Blanc, newly elected 14th Supreme Lady of the Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary and I recently attended the WUCWO General Assembly 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. Upon arriving at the
Palm Beach Hotel, we were welcomed with song and dance from our host country. After a beautiful Opening Mass and Opening Ceremony, we quickly set out to complete the work of the General Assembly.

We first entered our Study Days where we listened to an array of speakers who spoke on themes including corruption, family and migration, safeguard of the planet, and the call to holiness. As a young adult, I was part of the Youth Group with the other women in attendance age 35 and under. Our goal was to determine how we as young people could promote these themes in our home countries and organizations and the challenges of getting more young people engaged and involved. 

Following the Study Days, we moved into the Statutory Days where each region discussed the proposed resolutions to determine what the priorities will be for WUCWO 2018-2021. In between our group discussions and plenary sessions, we had the opportunity to meet Catholic women from all over the world, enjoyed the best foods Senegal had to offer, immersed ourselves in different languages and cultures, elected a new group of leaders, and had an opportunity to purchase goods from other countries.
We even had the privilege to tour Gorée Island and walk through the Maison des Esclaves. As African Americans, we were confronted on our visit with the realities of slavery of a different era.

The Youth Group later concluded from our discussions that

"Let us take care of the family in difficult situations, especially its most vulnerable members"

would be our main resolution out of the four that were presented. A subcategory of the resolution chosen by the Youth Group is the promotion  by Member Organizations of campaigns against human trafficking, a modern day form of slavery.

The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary has established a Human Trafficking Sub-Committee of our National Social Justice Committee to respond to such a call. January 11, 2019 was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day here in the United States and February has been designated as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

The goals of the Sub-Committee are to provide awareness of this terrible injustice, pray for the survivors and victims, and provide resources for victims to receive help. Our Prayer for the End of Human Trafficking also includes an intercession for St Josephine Bakhita, Patron Saint of human trafficking. More information on our Human Trafficking Sub-Committee and our National Social Justice Committee can be found at www.kofpc.org.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to visit The Continent of Africa for the first time and all the amazing women I met. I look forward to working with them and the women in my organization to accomplish the goals set forth at the WUCWO General Assembly.

Esohe Asemota

Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary, USA