An Iowa man is on a personal journey to bring awareness to others about human trafficking.

Kevin Schwendinger is a retired teacher from Dubuque County and he is on a 650-mile in 12-day bicycling trip from Omaha, Nebraska to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, stopping at various locations along the way to do presentations on human trafficking. Schwendinger tells Raccoon Valley Radio human trafficking is a $20-$40 billion per year business and is the second fastest growing illegal business in the country, next to the drug industry. He talks about why he is doing this personal pilgrimage.

“Sometimes unless you engage people and kind of get them to think about it and how these events happen. And so I’m following a route, that is a known traffic route. This is one that’s close to home and something I can give back to my own state.”

As Schwendinger has gone along his route, he’s been staying with host families. Earlier this week, he stayed with Jefferson United Methodist Church Pastor Julie Paulsen and last Saturday, he gave a presentation at the Panora Public Library. His goal is to give trafficking training classes to hotel employees, because he says 80-percent of trafficking incidents occur at hotels, after the initial setup is done online. Schwendinger adds that education also begins at home.

“The whole conversation about respect for others and not commodifying each other, but seeing them as individuals, as important human beings, with good minds. That takes courage. But I think if fathers kind of support that conversation and moms too, I think those are just reasonable and prudent steps to take.”

He started his awareness journey on September 21st and hopes to reach Milwaukee by October 6th. For more information about human trafficking, Schwendinger encourages everyone to reach out to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Crime Victim Assistance Division at 515-281-5044 or 1-800-373-5044.