There’s an estimated
7,000 children who work in the Ghana fishing industry. Some of
these children are as young as 5 and 6 years old. All of these children are slaves.
–Mercy Project
Today many in our country
will take a day off from our jobs to celebrate the social and economic
achievements of American workers. No
matter if we’re celebrating at home or at the beach, we’re entering into a
tradition that has largely been shaped by Labor Unions - organizations that are
dedicated to protecting workers’ interests and improving their wages, hours,
and working conditions. Today as we
lounge around or hang out with friends and family, we’re not only celebrating
hard work, we’re honoring fair, ethical working practices and the laws that
prevent discrimination, abuse, and child labor in our country. Without these laws in place (and enforced),
the most vulnerable members of society suffer.
Who are the most vulnerable? Children.
Today as we’re celebrating
the systems in our own country that strive to prevent injustices like child
trafficking and child labor, we’re mindful of the many child slaves around the
world who are unprotected and the organizations, like Mercy Project, who are
working to free them.
I’m unable to wrap my brain around
the thought of children engaged in long, hard days of physical labor, eating
one meal a day, and then falling asleep at night on a dirt floor filled with
other slave children. Yet this is the
daily reality for kids who have been trafficked into the fishing industry in
Ghana, Africa. As with much of Africa,
there is a great deal of poverty in Ghana. Unfortunately, this leaves many
mothers in an unimaginable position: sell their children to someone who can
take better care of them or watch them starve to death. Most of the mothers are
told their children will be given food, housing, and an education. Instead, the
kids are often taken to Lake Volta where they become child slaves and their
mothers never see them again.
Thankfully, Mercy Project is working to break the cycles of trafficking
around Lake Volta by providing alternate, more efficient, sustainable, fishing
methods for villagers – ultimately eliminating the need for child slaves. Because of the work Mercy Project is doing in
Ghana, the first group of children will be freed this month from Lake Volta.
VIDEO
We invite you to watch
this moving, 10 minute documentary about the issues surrounding child labor and
trafficking in Ghana and most importantly the hope Mercy Project is bringing to
children and entire communities in Africa.
Mercy Project is the only NGO working on Lake Volta addressing the
injustice of child labor and child trafficking at its root - by strengthening
the Ghanaian economy and eliminating the structures that cause the demand for
trafficked children.
Whether
these ideas of child labor, child trafficking, and modern-day slavery are new
to you or you’re aware of these injustices, but need to hear some good news
every once in awhile, we invite you to become a part of what Mercy Project is
doing in Ghana. When Mercy Project frees
their first group of children this month, we can all celebrate together.
Learn
more and get involved by –
•
Watching Mercy Project’s short documentary. [link provided below]
•
Following Mercy Project on Facebook. [link provided below]
•
Connecting with Mercy Project via Twitter.
[link provided below]
•
Spending some time on Mercy Project’s website.
[link provided below]
•
Sharing about Mercy Project’s work in Ghana with your friends. [link provided below]
Although
child trafficking, child labor, and the unstable economies that result in these
injustices are a tragedy, we’re grateful for what Mercy Project is doing to
protect the vulnerable and for allowing us to be a part of this story. While we’re commemorating labor laws and
ethical work in our own country today, we invite you to follow along on this
journey with Mercy Project to protect and free children in Ghana.
