For the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking, Sheila Pires of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference spoke to Good Shepherd Sr. Zelna Oosthuizen, who, as President of the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life in Southern Africa, has stood at the heart of the Church’s fight against human trafficking in Southern Africa.

In a quiet but determined journey that began almost two decades ago, Catholic Sisters in Southern Africa have steadily built a powerful network of faith, resistance, and hope in the fight against human trafficking.

What started in 2007 as a simple workshop in Cape Town soon became a turning point. Religious women, confronted by the growing reality of trafficking in their communities, realized that silence was no longer an option. By 2008, their concern had taken shape in action with the formation of SARWATIP – South African Religious Women Against Trafficking in Persons. It was a collective response born from compassion, proximity to suffering, and a shared conviction that the Church could not remain on the margins of this crisis.

Over the years, the movement evolved. In 2014, the initiative became known as Counter-Trafficking in Persons (CTIP), strengthening coordination and expanding collaboration. At the global level, the birth of Talitha Kum under the umbrella of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) gave new structure and global connectivity to local efforts. For religious sisters in Southern Africa, this international network became a lifeline — a space for formation, solidarity, and shared mission.

By 2022, Talitha Kum South Africa was formally established, marking a new chapter in the Church’s organized response to trafficking. Though young in years, the network carries a deep legacy of commitment and experience.

Speaking to the SACBC Communication Office, Sr. Zelna Oosthuizen RGS, President of the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life in Southern Africa (LCCLSA) and a member of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, reflected on the journey.

''The evolution of women religious working in human trafficking started in 2007,” she said, and “In 2008, there was the culmination of a group of religious women that said, we need to do something actively.''

Today, that “something” has become a structured, faith-driven mission. Through Talitha Kum, sisters across Southern Africa are being formed, capacitated, and empowered to respond more effectively to trafficking in all its forms. Workshops for trainers and leaders are now a key part of this mission — not simply to share information, but to form witnesses.

''We need to empower the youth as well… to go out there and be that witness of hope,” said Sr. Oosthuizen.

The formation through workshops does not remain in conference rooms. Sisters take their mission into schools, parishes, and local communities, raising awareness about the realities of human trafficking, teaching people how to recognize its signs, and helping communities understand how vulnerability is exploited.

From catechism classes to parish gatherings, from youth groups to women’s forums, the message is carried gently but firmly: trafficking is real, it is close, and it must be confronted.

Rooted in their closeness to the people, religious sisters operate at the grassroots — listening, accompanying, protecting, and educating.

''As religious, we are on the ground, we are close to the people,” Sr Oosthuizen said. “We need to listen to their voices and find ways of how we network with others to make a difference in their lives, because we are the closest, we are on the grassroots.”

Today, sisters from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, and Lesotho stand together in this mission, united by faith and shared responsibility. Their presence in regional and interfaith spaces, including G20-related forums, reflects a growing recognition that human trafficking is not only a social crisis but a moral and spiritual wound in society.

Through Talitha Kum, the Church in Southern Africa continues to weave a network of faith, formation, and action — one workshop at a time, one school visit at a time, one parish encounter at a time.

It is a quiet struggle, often unseen, but deeply rooted in the Gospel: women religious standing beside the vulnerable, building structures of protection, and becoming, as Sr Oosthuizen describes it, “a witness of hope” for women, men, girls, and boys in this era.

In a region marked by migration, poverty, and inequality, their mission speaks with prophetic clarity: the fight against human trafficking is not only a social duty — it is a sacred calling.

This article was first published by SACBC (accessible ici) and translated and republished here with their kind permission.