Tracy Wu still keeps a flier she picked up in summer 2007 showing a small boy with big dark eyes and a caption that reads, “Desaparecido.” Missing.

Wu first saw his picture when she visited a poor village in Guatemala as a UC Irvine undergraduate studying human trafficking. She interviewed the boy’s parents, who returned home from work one day to find the 7-year-old gone, most likely abducted and sold for adoption or slavery. His story helped change the focus of her research – and her life.

“I was heartbroken when I heard it,” Wu says. “It exemplified the problems that make human trafficking possible.” Ignorance, poverty and desperation, she found, leave communities vulnerable to exploitation.

Wu shared her findings on the causes of human trafficking at the Undergraduate Research Symposium in May, and received the 2008 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

A Campuswide Honors Program member, Wu is wrapping up final projects for her bachelor’s degrees in Spanish and global cultures this quarter. She credits her adviser, English professor and religious studies director Carol Burke, with encouraging her to pursue research beyond the classroom.

“She told me, ‘Tracy, you have to get the stories firsthand,’” Wu recalls. “I knew this project would become a big part of my life and wanted it to have more significance than just an academic piece.”

Wu collected stories in Guatemala and talked to victims and human trafficking taskforce members in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County. Her research covered all forms of trafficking – sex slavery, forced labor in fields, factories and construction sites, and primarily children sold for adoption or slavery.

“I wanted to know what factors caused trafficking,” she says. “I learned that one of the underlying problems is women without access to birth control; by the time they’re my age, they have about eight kids. This situation perpetuates their poverty and, because the children lack adequate parental supervision, makes it possible for others to steal them.

“It saddens me to know this problem is preventable if you provide people with free education and community programs concerning family planning.”

She’s now trying to spread the word about the issue and encouraging people to support nonprofits that educate and assist poor families, such as Common Hope  in Guatemala.

“It’s tempting to say, ‘I’m done with the project. I’ll move on.’ But I can’t do that,” Wu says. “I hope to give presentations at local churches and on campus about the problem. I can’t rescue slaves, but this is something I can inform people about.”

She also plans to attend Cal State University Long Beach’s nursing program and eventually use her Spanish-speaking skill to help provide healthcare to disadvantaged people. Her dream is to start a program abroad to help girls get off the street.

“This project completely changed the way I relate to people,” Wu says. “Immigrants, prostitutes, homeless people – those who look different than me and speak a different language. I used to look at them and judge, but after doing my research, I don’t see them the same way. I’ve learned to ask questions and find out what’s going on.”

— Kathryn Bold, University Communications