Some weeks ago I picked up passengers from Yei, Sudan. They were a lively group from the UK, heading home, but I didn’t know much else about them. We had an uneventful hour-and-a-half flight and after landing I bid them farewell as they connected onto another flight. Caroline, the spunky woman who I was told was in charge of this group stepped aside to shake my hand and say thanks for the good work. I smiled as she handed me her card. “If you’re ever in London, do stop by,” she offered with a perfect British flair. Stop in? For tea perhaps, I don’t know, and thanked her as well. After they had left I remembered the card in my pocket. It was then that I realized I had just had the honor of flying the Baroness Caroline Cox, of the House of Lords. After a little more investigation, I learned of her work with Christian Solidarity Worldwide and other humanitarian efforts. If I had know, I would have thanked her for the good work. Recently, I came across an article about her in World Magazine, tucked in a feature about modern slavery and how Christians around the globe are disrupting the trade. I smiled and exclaimed to Renee, “Look, it’s the good Baroness!” as if I knew her from my days playing polo with Prince Charles. The article talked about her recent efforts in Sudan and her book about slavery today called “This Immoral Trade.” Next time I find her on my plane, I might just give her a hug.
From Wikipedia…
(The issue of contemporary slavery has been at the forefront of Cox’ activities, especially in Sudan. In 1997 she joined Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a group which had been formed in 1979 as the UK branch of Christian Solidarity International. Between 1997 and 2000, Christian Solidary Worldwide directly intervened to buy the freedom of slaves, and in a letter to The Independent Cox claimed to have redeemed 2,281 slaves on eight visits to Sudan. In 1995 she won the William Wilberforce Award, named in honour of the former MP who led the fight to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, for her humanitarian work generally.)