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 Passionate about helping others in need and using their platform to encourage others to do the same, Tooth and Nail band Showbread headed to Ecuador in January to spend two weeks at the Casa De Fe orphanage in Shell, Ecuador. This is part of a new partnership with the newly formed organization, Faceless International.
Showbread's trip is a follow up to the band's previous trip to Calcutta, India, that was taken last January, also with Faceless International. During the Calcutta trip, members from Anberlin, Showbread, Classic Crime, and Hundred Year Storm learned about the grave injustice of human trafficking and modern day slavery.
“For most of us, the absolute horror of human trafficking is an illusory concern. It is simply so far away and so unreal that our mind cannot develop a case for its urgency,” says Showbread frontman Josh Dies. “For most of us, the poverty that lies elsewhere in the world is only a commercial on television or a photo that Bono puts on Oprah. As George Romero presented it in one of his films, we sit in a centralized palace, ignoring the horrible truth that surrounds us, acting as though it isn't there at all. But it is there, breaking down our doors.”
Regarding the trip to Ecuador, Showbread learned about the extreme poverty that is occurring in South America with a special focus on its effects on children. The band also spent some time learning about human trafficking in the coffee business, and how Fair Trade is helping to regulate this injustice. Their trip was documented with a video camera to show what the band has learned when they return to the United States.
Faceless International is a non-profit humanitarian organization that was co-founded by Anberlin frontman Stephen Christian. Christian started Faceless because of his desire to not only have an outlet to help the less fortunate hands-on, but to also educate people about the global issues surrounding poverty. The original idea behind Faceless was to provide quality trips around the world for Christian’s musical friends. However, due to the response from these band’s fans, the vision for Faceless has grown to include everyone who has a willing heart. |
