A Trip that Took "Life-Changing" to a Whole New Level

Looking at the 400 drawings by kids in Bejamse, a fishing community in the Volta region of Ghana, I can't help but feel overwhelming moved by the experience of the past weekend and the art work of the children. This weekend, City of Refuge (the organization I work for that works to put an end to child trafficking) took a group of students up to the Volta Lake for the Reality Tour. The trip allowed us to see the inner-workings of the organization itself and understand, first hand, the process of rescuing children and introducing social justice to communities. While you may have heard about other NGOs that work to stop child trafficking, I encourage you to read this posting as City of Refuge is unique and I have truly never felt more inspired than I do after what I experienced this weekend. I'll start from the beginning (and I know this is long, but please bear with me, as this was truly the most life-changing experience of my entire life):

We left Accra Thursday night and after about seven or eight hours of driving, got to a city called Dumbai where we got on a ferry to cross the lake. Once on the other side, we drove for a couple hours to Bejamse, where we were staying. Bejamse borders another part of the lake. The communities that lie on the water tend to be fishing communities with high populations of fishermen. These fishermen, unfortunately, tend to use enslaved children as workers. Many of these men have their own children and put them in school but purchase humans from other villages to work, from the age of as young as two for, potentially, their entire lives unless freed. The fishermen also tend to move around, living in one village, marrying a woman, having children and then fleeing, continuing the pattern and never looking back. This series of events leaves many women stranded as poor, single mothers. With no other means of supporting their children, much less themselves, the women have no opportunity for income and often fall susceptible to selling their own kids, thus providing fishermen with workers who have small enough hands to untangle fishing nets.

City of Refuge, prior to the excursion, was working with 7 villages in the Krachi District. On our first day there, we entered a new community. I had no idea what to expect of this, as John and Stacy (the founders of City of Refuge) had mentioned that the process was case-by-case and varied immensely between chiefs and villages and no two political or social systems were identical. We took a small boat across the portion of the lake Bejamse sat on, to the bank of the new community. While on the river, we passed several fishing boats full of children. We stopped to talk to them and met a child with two adults who informed us that the boy's master was in town but his parents were not. John asked the boy if he wanted to go to school and he timidly nodded his head. After handing him a lollypop, John promised he would get him into school soon and we rode off.

When we got to the village, there was music and dancing to celebrate the birth of the Chief's third grandchild. Filled with positive energy, we sat down and met with the chief and elders. John and Stacy do all their work and negotiations based on relations and trust alone. Many NGO's around the lake, however, free children with money, paying slave-owners to release their children which in turn continues the cycle of exploitation by creating a market for slaves. NGO's became impatient with the fishermen when they would not immediately agree, and began using force with the fishermen. This tactic resulted in 27 child deaths on the lake, as fishermen would beat their workers to hide the truth.

City of Refuge works in an opposite fashion and thus once we sat down with the chief, John explained the issue of child trafficking, why we were in the area, who it hurts, and how. The chief said he understood but that there were no enslaved children in the area, and all children attended school. He sent a school teacher with us to give us a tour of the town and the school itself. While on the tour, the teacher revealed that there was, in fact, a relatively high slave population among the children and the need for help. Just a few feet beyond the surface and music and dancing, we saw a different side of the community. Children were tying fishing nets, boys were as strong and built as athletic men, children were showing signs of malnutrition--bulging stomachs and skinny limbs (also a result of parasites), some children had irregular skin and hair (parasites) and some children were simply disabled. John and Stacy asked for the parents of the children, and tried to determine who was there wrongfully and who to contact about the sale of the children and thus how to rescue them.
Because we did not enter the village as the enemy, and came openly with information rather than aggression, we were able to enlighten many slave owners. Unfortunately, the process is incredibly cyclical and once enslaved, many children do not understand any other form of life. John told us a story of an interaction he had with a slave one time where he asked why the slave owner kept this child out of school. When the master responded that that was how he grew up, John asked how it made him feel. This direct relationship and personal question broke the master down and he realized there was a way to end the process, and let hid enslaved children free. Thus, many of the slave-owners, are not actually terrible people, although participating in terrible activity. By the end of our time in the community, people were coming up and admitting to owning slaves and asking what to do next, not wanting to keep these children from free, fair lives. In order to enhance the strong relationship within the community, John and Stacy agreed to donate desks and chairs to the school to ameliorate children's education and schooling experience. In response, the village gave us sodas to drink to reciprocate the generosity.
The community itself was somewhat twofold, which struck me as interesting. While one step farther into the community was injustice and cruelty, the outer layer was still filled with joy and dancing, which at the time, drew much of my attention. Here, I'm somewhat torn. It was so easy to respond to the positive energy but the images of the malnourished children have already started haunting me. I'm still not entirely sure the circumstances of the children we danced with, but regardless, it was fun to play with them and bring such joy and excitement to their faces.
After a delicious Waakye dinner and good nights sleep, we woke up for a busy day.

The morning was filled with preparation for a day camp and a feed. For the day camp, I was running an art program with about 400 kids (I'd estimate ages 1-12). I gave each kid a marker and a square of fabric and instructed them to draw something that was important to them. Many of the children had not been exposed to much art and were confused not only how to express themselves but, many were even unfamiliar with how to approach the technical aspect of art, even such fundamental tasks like how to open the top to a pen. Despite this, I am now sitting in my room with 400 beautiful drawings.  Some have reflective representations of the self, or family, others drew trees, bibles, crosses, boats, and birds. While some kids did not know how to do much other than scribble, giving the children an opportunity to create something was really magical and they all really seemed to enjoy it. With the fabric squares, I plan to create a giant tapestry to go in the research facility City of Refuge plans to build in Bejamse, so all the children can view their work and the piece can stand as an inspiration for the future. My friend came up with a great plan with the students at New Horizons Special School putting the tapestry together in their workshop, so hopefully the quilt-making process will benefit another population  and hold a powerful meaning as an entire piece.

As this was being prepared, food was simultaneously being packaged into boxes with deworming medicine and registration papers, to be taken to Gruby, another village nearby. That afternoon, we went about twenty minutes away and fed, registered and dewormed 300 kids. The registration process helps John and Stacy keep track of the children in the village so they know who lives there with their families and who has been trafficked and needs help getting out.

Completely overwhelmed with powerful experiences and intense emotions, we had a really successful debriefing that night. My peers and I discussed our interpretations of the weekend, which was interesting in and of itself as we're all from different backgrounds and, naturally, had different outlooks on the weekend. John and Stacy explained, in depth, more about their organization and their goals for the future. In order to truly achieve a paradigm shift, they need to work at the root of the problem, essentially then, the single mothers who are vulnerable to selling their children. To achieve this, they are starting several companies to employ and empower single women. One of the companies is a pure water company which will employ 28 single women.

Water in Ghana is sold in small plastic bags called sachets, but there is currently no company producing purified water within a 30 minute drive of where we worked this weekend. Thus, not only will the company bring pure water to those who need it (hopefully minimizing illness brought on by the parasites in the lake) and employing women but also spreading awareness about the harms of trafficking as the plastic the company will use has information on the issue.
Additionally, John and Stacy are starting a fair trade company where women can produce jewelry, art, bags, etc. for profit, especially in the states where the profit will be greater.

Working towards a stronger future, John and Stacy hope that through these companies, over the next ten years, child slavery can be completely abolished from these communities as well as the 8 additional communities they foresee entering. While the Freedom Center (the orphanage City of Refuge runs in Doryumu, Ghana--where I work) currently is at capacity, a new facility has been under construction since December which will be up and running by August. The new site will have a school for the children of Doryumu as well as the children at the freedom center (schooling 300 from pre-k through 9th grade), a basketball court, futbol (soccer) field, art center and summer camp as well as additional children's homes. In August there will be room for about 15 more children, as well as land for crops so the organization can not only be self-sustainable but also provide food for other orphanages. Over the course of the next few years, there should be six children homes on the new land which is called the Children's Village. All of the future plans for City of Refuge aim to bring a high quality of life to those who may otherwise be less fortunate and living in horrible circumstances. I hate to sit here begging those of you in America for money but although there are tons of great projects aligned for the organization, the funding is not there. If you could donate, or spread the word, as awareness and positive thoughts are equally valued and important, I know the entire organization would be greatly appreciative and grateful.

City of Refuge, as an organization, is so unbelievably generous and selfless--rather than collecting personal profit, John and Stacy prioritize the health, safety and happiness of others over themselves (for example: agreeing to donate desks to a school, when their own school hasn't even been completed, and teachers have not yet been hired). Growing up, I'm sure you've heard that one person truly can make a difference and change the world, and John and Stacy are on their way to doing that. If everyone learned from their example and work, imagine the progress the world could see. To learn more about the organization or make a donation, visit online at http://www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com/