Each year, I do a wrap-up of the posts that are the most popular, based on page views and time spent reading. Here are this year’s winners, along with a little bit of information behind each post.

10. What I Learned From My Failed Crowdfunding Campaign goes into some details of my failed attempt to become a Beacon writer. Maybe one day I’ll try again…

9. The Elephant in the Room Episode 2: Metrics was a podcast episode in which I discussed metrics–and why some people are scared of them–with my good friend Sam Blake (may he rest in peace). Interestingly, more people viewed the post than actually listened to the podcast.

8. Be Your Own Freelance Hero actually started out as a pep talk to myself, since I felt that clients and editors aren’t really invested in freelancers’ long-term career development or professional goals. We have to do it ourselves…

7. Travel Hacking 101: How I Flew to New York for Five Bucks was a fun post I wrote about some of the things I learned from Chris Guillebeau and Stephanie Zito. I’ve since racked up even more miles I need to spend…

6. The Writing Process Blog Tour was a post where I answered a few questions about how I write, and tagged four other writers. I’m still waiting for Shane Snow and Sonia Simone to share theirs, but Holden Page and Gideon Walker happily played.

5. Review: Unconventional Guide to Freelancing was my review of an ebook I was actually quoted in, complete with an affiliate link. However, I was pretty honest about it.

4. Why You Should Stop “Building Relationships” was born out of frustration with the bad career advice of “networking” with the expectation of something in return. Looks like it resonated.

3. The Elephant in the Room Episode 1: Net Neutrality was the first episode of my podcast, featuring Bartees Cox. I was particularly excited about this because I was having trouble getting pitches on the topic accepted, so took matters into my own hands. Interestingly, more people viewed the post than listened to the podcast.

2. That Contently Summit Recap You Were Asking For was a rundown of what happened two summits ago (I missed the last one). I believe it was business journalist Michelle Rafter who originally asked for it.

1. Protecting Your Sources in the Age of Surveillance is a tool round-up. It was originally supposed to be a short blog post on the Freelancer, but the information got pretty granular and detailed, so I ended up posting the nitty gritty details on here. I’m actually really excited that this  made #1 on the list, since I spent a lot of time on it… If you’re interested in personal security online as well, I have a free PDF download for you…no email signup necessary.

Imagine leaving your native country for the promise of opportunity elsewhere. You hear that in another country like the U.S., you can find the education and employment that is inaccessible and unavailable to you at home. You’ll miss your family, but plan on returning, or moving them out to your new home eventually.

You arrive at your destination and realize that the job set up for you is much different than what you’d been told. You thought you’d be working as a caterer or hotel clerk, as a bartender at a night club, as a model or an au pair.  Instead you find yourself in a strange room in a strange building that feels like death. You can’t shake the feeling of coldness, even before your passport and identification papers are confiscated. You are beaten and locked in a room for days, with little access to water or food. You are promised your freedom, but only after you earn your purchase price, as well as your travel and visa costs. The dark building you’re in is a brothel, and the job you unwittingly got signed up for was prostitution.

Imagine that you’re just twelve years old when this happens. You may have been sold off by your parents, who receive a sum of money in exchange for you. Maybe somebody promised your parents they’d adopt you, but had something else in mind. Or maybe you wound up in the hands of a kidnapper.

You have nowhere to turn. The thought of escaping is overshadowed by the threat of physical violence, and the realization that you’d be homeless if you left. You have nowhere to go. You are a refugee in a strange country where you don’t know the rules.

You’ve been forced to prostitute right here in the U.S. You work out of motels and truck stops. You find yourself in and out of detention centers where you are pressured to testify against your attacker, but you don’t want to because then you’d have nowhere else to go.

Children of the Night is a non-profit organization that gives children in these dire circumstances a place to go. The  Children of the Night home gives these kids who have been through so much a chance to be a child, sometimes for the first time in their lives. They can attend school in a safe environment, have access to safe living arrangements, they have their medical and psychological needs met.

Children of the Night provides taxi or airfare transportation to their home, and then provides victims of child sex trafficking with food, fresh clothing, hygiene items and a shower. Each child is assigned a bedroom which has two single beds, a private bathroom, a clothing closet and drawers. The children have access to an on-site school, medical appointments and counseling. They also have the opportunity to attend evening activities such as yoga, poetry, arts and crafts or acting. They may attend supervised trips on Friday evenings, which include the circus, the zoo, restaurants, movies, museums, amusement parks or other events. On Saturdays, these kids get to watch TV and rented movies, play video games, do arts and crafts, work on their homework and listen to music. On Sundays, the children who voluntarily wish to go are accompanied to a local church in the morning. Evenings include a softball or kickball game and a family-style barbecue.

Providing all these services isn’t cheap, and that’s why Children of the Night needs our help. Please consider making a donation to help child victims of human trafficking get out of these exploitative situations and into safe environments where they can thrive and grow.

Donate here: http://www.causes.com/actions/1680864

Yesterday, I told you about how I’m running a fundraiser for Children of the Night in memory of Chris McBride. Today, I want to tell you a little bit about Chris.

I met Chris at a pub in Oxford in the fall of 2001, where I studied abroad my senior year. He was bartending and I was looking for some beer I’d had in Scotland, which had a higher alcohol content than anything I could get in the States. When he quietly told me they didn’t serve that, I asked for a cup of tea. I was aware that most people would have laughed at the change of request, and was struck by his kindness, and the follow-up questions he had were asked with only curiousity. England isn’t the easiest place for Americans to make friends with strangers, but Chris had that warmth about him that made me instantly feel comfortable.

I was a bit of an activist in college, and ran into Chris at various protests around town. He was a tireless advocate for change, and we quickly became friends, then started dating. When I think of him, I remember his selflessness and the amount of time he spent discussing ways to create social change. He was open-minded, willing to entertain various perspectives even if he didn’t always agree.  He was also incredibly patient, and spent hours explaining the subtleties of nuances in British expressions I’d come across, and why expressions I used matter-of-factly (such as “go figure”) may come across differently than I’d intended. Chris is also solely responsible for me graduating college, as he’d let me work on my thesis on his computer in the evenings while he would meet with friends for drinks, so I could work in the wee morning hours and actually get things done.

I can think of hundreds of small examples of Chris’ thoughtfulness, but it’s really the combination of the many simple things he did and the way he lived his life that made him so cherished by those around him. But these small personal anecdotes are from the totality of Chris’ kindness. He lived his entire life in the spirit of selfless service. Whether he was working on the Make Poverty History campaign, fighting tuition hikes or writing letters in support of human rights, Chris was constantly putting himself aside to help others. You may not have known Chris, but surely you know people like him.

I left England in the summer of 2002, and only e-mailed Chris intermittently. One day his sweet face crossed my mind, and I entered his name in Google to find out what he might have been up to. It was then that I learned Chris had been  killed. A pacifist, Chris did not retaliate when he was attacked without provocation, as he sat quietly reading a newspaper and drinking a pint in a Liverpool pub.

I wasn’t there in that pub that night, so I don’t know what happened, but I know that nobody stepped in to help him.

Chris went home that night and never woke up.

He was rushed to the hospital in the morning and put on life support.

He died of head injuries 9 days later.

Even after his death, Chris was still selflessly serving others. He was an organ donor, and his liver saved a 21-year-old man and a 10-month-old girl. His kidneys were also donated to two men.

It’s not often that someone leaves such an impression on us that we remember them fondly and think of them quite often so many years later, but Chris really was one of a kind. I’ve thought him a lot over the past 10 years, and especially the past 7 years since he died. I’ve really wracked my brain trying to think about what I could do to honor his memory. His untimely death left his countless friends and his loving family shattered. When I think of Chris, I think of innocence… and how someone so selfless and kind could be the victim of such a horrible, tragic event.

Chris was only 25 years old when he died. He was so smart and so full of hope and dreams, which were tragically cut short.

When I was listening to an NPR story about Children of the Night, I thought of Chris. The charity helps child victims of human trafficking. “The worst things you can imagine happen to these girls. I mean, continuous rapes and beatings and branding,” Haniah Cardenas of the Los Angeles County Probation Department told NPR in the interview. When I think of the issues I had growing up, they really pale in comparison to the loss of innocence and the abuse these children go through.

Talking about trafficking isn’t exactly fashionable. Nobody wants to think about girls being traded for commercial sexual exploitation, and trying to drum up support for the cause isn’t easy. But with our donations, we can help these children regain their dignity, have an alternative to the streets and get a chance for a normal life.

The Children of the Night home, located in California, is open to child prostitutes throughout the U.S., and their hotline is ready and able to rescue these children 24 hours a day. Hotline staff works closely with law enforcement to rescue children from vile, dominating pimps. The organization’s home features an on-site school and college placement program. After youngsters complete a rigorous and comprehensive program of academic and life-skills education, caseworkers are available to provide ongoing case management to hundreds of graduates.

Helping innocent people escape brutal violence isn’t easy. If we could go back in time, I’m sure each and every one of us would do just that for Chris, but unfortunately, it is far too late. But it’s not too late to help these innocent children have a chance for a normal life. Will you join me in making a donation to Children of the Night? We can’t right the wrongs of the past, but we can sure change the future.

Nobody gives money to charity for an incentive, but as a gift from the heart. However, a small group of caring individuals have contributed some gifts for donors to say thank you and support this fundraiser. There’s a very detailed description in yesterday’s post, and I’m including a shorter summary after the jump. (Some people have mentioned that they don’t like the idea of making a charitable donation and receiving a gift, so just wanted to clarify that you have the option of either donating anonymously–which makes you ineligible for obvious reasons– or simply choosing not to accept a gift.) Here’s the link to donate: http://www.causes.com/actions/1680864. Thank you so much for helping me honor Chris’ memory with your contributions.

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