Bukola Oriola

Author| Advocate| Mentor| Entrepreneur

Learn how to make money blogging

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One of the questions that I get is, “How do I start my own blog when I don’t have any money” or “how do I make money with my own blog?”

I will be answering this question live on Blab on Saturday, March 5 at 10:10 AM CST.

Save the date and join me to learn about the simple steps you can take and the tools you can use to start your own blog and also make money with it.

To learn about Blab and how to sign up for free, click here to read the blog post Marc Levy.

If you just want to visit the website directly to sign up, Click here.

You can follow me on Blab.

Why survivors do not get help

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There are a number of reasons why survivors of human trafficking or domestic violence do not reach out for help. Whether it is a foreign born survivor or a U.S. citizen, a common factor that keeps a survivor from reaching out for help is fear.

In this video, I spoke specifically to foreign born survivors. In the immigrant communities, survivors hear all kinds of conflicting stories that prevent them from accepting help even when an advocate who has their best intentions show up or offer them help. For example, I worked with someone refused to go to the battered women’s shelter because she was told by friends and families that the people at the shelter are drug addicts.

There are many whose cultural practices or traditional beliefs prevent from getting help. I worked with a man who was constantly kneeling down to beg, a practice that is considered a taboo in his culture.

It is especially difficult for people in the immigrant population because they do not know or understand the efficacy of the resources that are available to them. I received an email some years ago through a form submission on Imprisoned Show from a male survivor that states, “For bukola. Just came across your story. Need to share my experience and the trafficking still going on against me. This lead to my being deaf and other health problems. Even this email, may be compromised because the crooks still hack into my emails and phones.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t help this young man because, even though I called the national hotline on his behalf, I was told that he has to make a call to them by himself. In the past one or two years now, Polaris Project has been taking emails and text messages, which is a very great step, especially for individuals like the one I quoted in this post. There are survivors who may not have access to phone but might be able to access a computer to reach out for help.

I am using this opportunity to call on all survivors out there to reach out for help today. Watch the video below.

You can read the first two two chapters of my book here.

Thanks for reading. I hope to talk to you again through my blogs. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please, send me a note – fill out thecontact form. I want to hear from you. You can also get my recent posts by signing up to receive updates.
Bye for now, until next time.


Recognizing Human Trafficking Victims

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Recognizing victims of human trafficking is still a question that I get asked whenever I went to speak at a gathering or talk about human trafficking one-on-one.
I just returned from Dallas last night where I have been meeting with service providers and law enforcement with a staff of the Department of State Trafficking in Person’s Office. It was a two-day meeting of listening to various people working to fight the crime talk about their work and the challenges they encounter.
And, they all have their opinion about what is working or what is not. Some have suggestions on how to make things work better to serve victims of human trafficking in their communities.
This was my first meeting with community members as Advisory Council member outside of Minnesota. It was indeed, a learning experience. There is a lot of work to be done in fighting human trafficking across the United States. Some of the opinions raised were not completely new to me and some are.


In addition, I attended a presentation at First Baptist Church, Arlington where there was a considerable amount of crowd gathered to learn about the issue of human trafficking. The church was the home church of the DOSTIPO staff that led our trip. We made it an interactive session where we both discussed what human trafficking looks like, the office of the DOSTIP, the newly formed U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, the myths and misconception about human trafficking and so on.
A question that was asked, which happens to be the same question that I was asked when I was talking to a mother and daughter who were waiting at the MSP International Airport last night was, “How do you recognize victim of human trafficking?”  My answer to the question is to listen with your eyes instead of your ears. You listen to your eyes by paying attention to nonverbal cues. Most of the time, victims of human trafficking are crying for help, but they do not do so with their mouth. They do it mainly with their eyes and their body.

When you see something that makes you feel doubtful, that is when you need to stay, think, and pay more attention. When I was a victim, I passed through nurses, doctors, neighbors, and clients who sometimes felt that something was not right, but they did not stop to think about it, let alone try to find out what might be wrong.

So, today, I encourage you to pay more attention and listen to your eyes. You might be the one to rescue a victim and make that person a survivor.

You can read the first two two chapters of my book here.

Thanks for reading. I hope to talk to you again through my blogs. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please, send me a note – fill out the contact form. I want to hear from you. You can also get my recent posts by signing up to receive updates.
Bye for now, until next time.

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Happy Valentine’s Day: Human Trafficking in Katy, Texas

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This video is a quick chat about the human trafficking news that broke out last week from Katy, Texas.
It was about a couple, Chudy and Suzan Nsobundu, who trafficked their nanny from Nigeria.
According to news reports, they have been accused of visa fraud, forced labor, withholding documents, harboring, and so on.




The coupled allegedly denied their nanny fresh food, hygiene, medical attention, proper rest from work, and made her to drink strained milk from their children’s cereal bowl.
In September 2015, the nanny reached out for help. News reports revealed that someone called the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) and a case Manager from YMCA International Trafficked Persons Assistance Program helped her to escape and took her to a women’s shelter.
Think about the red flag that I mentioned in this video and seek for help if you can identify with any of them or refer someone for help if there are any of this element in a story they are telling you.
You can also contact, The Enitan Story, a Minnesota based nonprofit organization with a mission to advocate for victims and empower survivors of human trafficking at info@enitan.org.




Thanks for reading. I hope to talk to you again through my blogs. If you have questions, comments or suggestions, please, send me a note – fill out the contact form. I want to hear from you. You can also get my recent posts by signing up to receive updates.
Bye for now, until next time.

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PS: Join The Enitan Story students campaign against human trafficking. Subscribe below.

Subscribe and receive updates on #SAASI student #humantraffickingawareness initiatives! https://t.co/a08N2auF0q pic.twitter.com/lSyTYG7tDC

Get a copy of the international best selling book by Bukola Oriola, A Living Label: An Inspirational Memoir and Guide.   Book Description: A Living Label is a memoir that documents some of the struggles and triumphs of the author as a survivor of labor trafficking and domestic violence in the U.S. Bukola Oriola’s goal is to inspire hope in other survivors that they can turn their lives around positively, regardless of what difficulty they might have passed through. She also provides practical solutions to the government, service providers, NGOs, and the general public on how to effectively engage with survivors, to value them as the subject matter experts they are. As someone who has dedicated her life to empowering other survivors, she has decided to contribute the proceeds from the book sales to survivors’ education or their businesses, starting with 100 survivors in the United States, Nigeria and Kenya. She believes that survivors want to be independent and contribute to their communities, and she wants to help survivors achieve this dream. Learn more from the inspiring author, Book Bukola now!
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