What does freedom mean to you?

Tomorrow one of the world’s leading television channels, the Cable News Network (CNN) marks ‘My Freedom day’ - a day long, student-driven event to raise awareness of modern slavery.  
According to CNN, it’s often hidden from sight, but modern slavery is a global problem. Among its many victims are at least  10 million children.  

But young people also make passionate and committed activists when it comes to fighting human trafficking. That’s why CNN has asked students and schools to join it tomorrow in its social media campaign to mark My Freedom Day.  

Students the world over are organizing events at their schools to highlight modern slavery and celebrate freedom.  

Driving this year’s #MyFreedomDay is one simple question: ‘What makes you feel free?’. CNN said it asks young people to share their responses via text, photo or video across social media using the #MyFreedomDay hashtag.  

Last year’s call to action saw students from more than 100 countries take part, and the #MyFreedomDay hashtag was used far and wide with 1.4 billion global Twitter impressions and 20 million Instagram timelines reached.  

This year looks to be even bigger with CNN correspondents reporting from schools all over the world including Poland, Kenya, South Korea, Lebanon, Britain, the US and Hong Kong.   

Special coverage begins at 12:30pm today with a half-hour special hosted by Zain Asher, and continues on through March 14 with a special #MyFreedomDay edition of CNN Talk at 7:00am ET and live reports from participating schools throughout the day.  

According to CNN it will also showcase what these students, schools and communities are doing to fight slavery on Facebook, Instagram, at @CNNFreedom on Twitter and at 
CNN.com/myfreedom.  

Leading up to #MyFreedomDay, CNN telecast a new documentary film highlighting the plight of 20,000 children working as slaves on the fishing boats of Lake Volta in Ghana. Sold by their parents for US$250 – or in some cases exchanged for livestock – these children are forced to work from dawn to dusk untangling fishing nets in the murky waters of one of the world’s largest man-made lakes.  

Shown on March 1 at 2:00pm ET, was ‘Troubled Waters: A CNN Freedom Project Documentary’ both expose this terrible practice and spotlights the aid workers and government officials working to rescue the children. The film is the first in a series of documentaries to be co-produced with the Kulczyk Foundation, and was replayed on Sunday, March 3 and Tuesday, March 5.  

The CNN Freedom Project produces original reports, articles and documentaries on human trafficking in all of its forms – from debt bondage in India to sex trafficking rings in Southern California and African slaves in the Sinai desert. Since its launch in 2011, the multi-award winning CNN Freedom Project is among the most successful and highly visible programming initiatives on CNN International. It has generated more than 500 investigative stories of modern-day slavery from across five continents. Various NGOs report that these CNN Freedom Project stories have contributed to changing laws and corporate policies, led to more than 1,000 survivors receiving assistance and sparked more than US$ 24 million in donations to anti-trafficking organizations.  

In Sri Lanka, modern day slavery is also widespread specially among some 1.5 million women and girls working in Middle East and other countries. Through their blood, sweat and tears torture, harassment, sexual molestation, and sometimes even rape, these women have turned out to be our biggest foreign exchange earners. Government leaders admit that politicians and other high level personalities are living luxury lives and driving around in limousines largely because of these modern day slaves, send more than US$ 7000 million every year. President Maithripala Sirisena, other government and religious leaders have called for an end to this modern day slavery. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe recently said women and girls going overseas would be trained in special vocational skills so that there would be no need for them to be sex slaves while also paying a big price here with families breaking up and children left in destitution and desolation.   

Essentially in a spiritual context freedom mean liberation, from slavery to selfishness or self-centredness and the grace to serve others sincerely, selflessly and sacrificially. Gradually we need to go to that deeper level also, so that the world will be a better place for all and the just, peaceful and all inclusive society.