Instagram Takeover!

My knowledge of technology is not always tip-top, so when I heard that a story I wrote would "take over" the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Instagram page this week, I acknowledged the news with an "oh, yeah, that's great" mentality.

Turns out, this is actually a big deal. USAID's Instagram account has 87,400 followers. Make that 87,401. (I just joined Instagram so I could "love" the post.)

Here's the human story behind the numbers: I met this woman, interviewed her and her parents, walked the narrow, muddy path along the lake to her home. Her father hacked coconuts for us so we could drink the milk. The family brought out their plastic chairs so we could sit in style. The woman, who I call "Aditi" (but which is not her real name) fell prey to sex traffickers when she was 19. She was rescued before being taken to a brothel in India, but the experience nonetheless changed her life.

Trafficking victims are often shunned by family and friends. But the organization I work for has a project that comforts and counsels and trains trafficking survivors. Aditi is a star student. She has taken the help she's been given and run with it. Now she's the one who counsels survivors, the one who tells friends and neighbors how to avoid being trafficked. She's proof of the great good that can come from small investments. I was privileged to speak with her and her family, to be hosted so hospitably in their home.

I'm now adding an exclamation point to my headline for this post. Make that "Instagram Takeover!"