By Emily Miller

REXBURG—Feeling sadness and anger is a natural reaction to learning about the reality of human trafficking throughout the world. There’s evidence all over social media of people caring about the issue and wanting to increase awareness and raise funding for fighting it. 

But one Rexburg resident has taken it a few steps further by creating an organization to build shelters that will offer security and protection to people who have been freed from human trafficking. They’ll be hosting a fundraising event this Saturday, October 9, from noon to 2 p.m. at Porter Park.  

Search and Rescue Africa (SARA) was started in March 2020 by Ethan Huffaker, a Brigham Young University-Idaho student living in Rexburg.

“I started it up with a bunch of people I went to school with,” Huffaker says. “They were all interested in helping with the same kind of humanitarian work, fighting human trafficking.”

Through connections with people he knew from his church mission in Africa, Huffaker was able to make plans for purchasing property for the first of what he hopes will be several shelters to house and rehabilitate trafficking survivors in Africa. 

“What happens after?” he asks. “Where do people go? How do they get back on track with life? How do they overcome the trauma?”

Huffaker says each shelter will accommodate around 25 people. So far, plans are focusing on the areas of Mozambique and Uganda.

“We are working with the local charities in those local communities,” he says. “(The shelters will) serve as hubs where these people who have been trafficked can just feel safe, they can feel secure, they can get the medical services they need. If they are kids, we’ll help them enroll in local schools, help them get the education they need. If they are older, we’ll help them get the vocational training that they need.”

Huffaker says that his connections in Mozambique will help facilitate an even larger outreach. 

“She (Huffaker’s friend) is also very well connected,” he says. “So, come February or March of next year, we’re planning to meet with the first lady of Mozambique to figure out how we can help as many people as we can and help the local communities fight human trafficking.”

Huffaker says they plan to begin construction on the first shelter during the visit early next year. 

“We’ve had three different local construction companies in Mozambique develop construction plans,” he says. “Each rescue shelter is about $180,000 American dollars for labor, material, and the cost to buy the land and put in water systems.”

Some of the funding for the project came from a shoe drive last year. Huffaker says the Rexburg community far exceeded his expectations in donating to the cause. 

“I was completely blown away by how many shoes people donated,” he says. “Our goal was 1,000. We got over 3,000. I just wanted to say thank you to them for that.”

This Saturday’s event in Porter Park will be a Halloween-themed walk-a-thon and other games and activities, from noon to 2 p.m. Admission is $1 for children and $3 for adults, and additional donations are welcome. Costumes are encouraged but not required.

For more information on SARA, visit teamsara.org or https://www.facebook.com/teamsarafundraising/

See rexburgcommons.com for more local news and events.