Saving Child Slaves on Ghana's Lake Volta
It’s a quick fix in the face of crushing poverty. Lake Volta’s fishermen can’t afford to hire labourers and scores of Ghanaian parents can’t afford to feed their families, so they strike a deal. The goods exchanged: children. Day and night, they perform dangerous and painful labour to support the country’s fishing industry.
His mission is to rescue slave children from Lake Volta.
His method is simple and honest communication.
Meet George Achibra — a local man who works hard on the lake so that one day children won’t have to
Judging by appearance alone, it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between a trafficked child working on Lake Volta and any other child. Even when questions are asked, many troubling uncertainties remain.
It’s way past bedtime, but the children want to stay awake to meet their new brothers and sisters. The sky is black when the van pulls up to the gate and the frogs are croaking in full chorus. The gate swings open and the van rolls into the small, concrete yard and comes to a stop in front of the Freedom Center.
One of the greatest challenges for people working to stop child trafficking on Lake Volta is they have no idea how many children they’re trying to save. Until data collection methods improve, they can only guess at appropriate solutions.
Learn about lake Volta>>