In reading Missing Sarah, my eyes were opened to real Vancouver. I have lived here all my life, however, I reside comfortably in a house in North Vancouver, a 180 degree switch from the sad apartments and run down building that fill the Downtown East side. I know about the Downtown East side, about the same amount of knowledge as most Vancouverites, that it is full of drugs and prostitution, and that one would like to avoid the area at all cost.

In my grade 12 year in high school, I was able to volunteer for a group called AGAPE that walks the Downtown East side at night to hand out bags of candy to the women. Although the women are only give the candy, we also carried supplies like mittens and socks that could be given to the men. At first I was incredibly scared, however, what I saw was very surprising. Yes the streets were filled with drugs and prostitution, but the residents of the poorest postal code in Canada, were incredibly nice and welcoming. They often wanted to stop and chat with us, telling us things ranging from how their day went, to more serious matters, like how they ended up on the streets.

Reading Missing Sarah touched me incredibly. Sarah was so young when she started on the streets, years younger than I am now. Missing Sarah is a mix of factual events surrounding the Missing Women’s Case, and the raw emotion from Sarah’s family, written by her sister, Maggie. Although i was very young when the women began to go missing I remember the trial of Robert Pickton, and being so horrified at the details, yet at the same time, not understanding the implications of what these missing women’s deaths meant. Mothers, sisters, aunts, and nieces, these women were taken, and it took years for justice to occur, some are still “missing”, having no DNA found at the farm.

Many of these women were forced onto the street, having no other option to either feed them self or their addiction. The public and media need to take a more caring and understanding view of the residents of the Downtown East side and realize it could be any one of us. Sarah de Vries came from a middle class white family, although herself was adopted, yet she still ended up with a life full of drugs and prostitution. We need to protect the women of the Downtown East side, the men as well, and show compassion for their situations.