Three years ago, I became aware of the alarming and confronting issue of modern day slavery, particularly involving children. I researched and learned just how widespread this problem is and how easily vulnerable children can become victims of this horror. Their poverty-stricken families, lured by money and the promise of a better life, sell them into slavery, often unknowingly.
Modern slavery is not always easy to recognise but it exists in every country and continent of the world, including Australia. Often unacknowledged, it’s most common in Africa and Asia. Poverty is not the only risk factor; others include barriers to education and living in countries experiencing conflict and with a poor record in human rights.
One story from Ghana that particularly touches my heart is that of Mabel, who found herself working for no income folding fishing nets on boats on a lake. If she didn’t do the work properly, she would be punished with insults and beatings. Often exhausted she was also forced to make lunches and dinners for the workers on the boats.
Mabel is one of the lucky ones. She was rescued at age 15 by former child slave James, and his organisation Challenging Heights. She was driven to a safe house before she was then sent to school where she learned how to read and write. Never having stepped foot inside a classroom in her life, she became their star pupil.
In a safe place, Mabel’s dreams finally came true. She transformed from a helpless child slave into a confident, strong, and successful young woman. “I want to become a nurse,” Mabel says. “So I can prove to my family that I can make it.”
I’ve never met Mabel, but I can picture her along with other children in Ghana in similar situations. In my mind I can see children forced to work in the dangerous mines of the Congo, mining gold and other valuable minerals to be sold on the black market. These images flash through my mind and haunt me. They give me a reason to continue to learn about child slavery and how to make an impact.
Encouragingly, the world is becoming more aware of this issue and working together to solve it. Vulnerable communities are being educated and worldwide there are organisations like Challenging Heights with safe houses, where rescued children can go to school and be equipped for the future. The concern is that these children, accustomed to a life of labour, often find it difficult to adjust into a safe environment. More often than not they end up back into the slave industry simply because it’s what they know.
There is more we can do to help them. These children deserve the right to their childhood, education, freedom and a future. Education will make a difference to children just like Mabel across the world.
‘You may choose to look the other way
but you can never say again that you did not know.’
-William Wilberforce
If you would like to learn more or find out how to make an impact, please contact us.
Child slavery is a flaw in humanity
Three years ago, I became aware of the alarming and confronting issue of modern day slavery, particularly involving children. I researched and learned just how widespread this problem is and how easily vulnerable children can become victims of this horror. Their poverty-stricken families, lured by money and the promise of a better life, sell them into slavery, often unknowingly.
Modern slavery is not always easy to recognise but it exists in every country and continent of the world, including Australia. Often unacknowledged, it’s most common in Africa and Asia. Poverty is not the only risk factor; others include barriers to education and living in countries experiencing conflict and with a poor record in human rights.
One story from Ghana that particularly touches my heart is that of Mabel, who found herself working for no income folding fishing nets on boats on a lake. If she didn’t do the work properly, she would be punished with insults and beatings. Often exhausted she was also forced to make lunches and dinners for the workers on the boats.
Mabel is one of the lucky ones. She was rescued at age 15 by former child slave James, and his organisation Challenging Heights. She was driven to a safe house before she was then sent to school where she learned how to read and write. Never having stepped foot inside a classroom in her life, she became their star pupil.
In a safe place, Mabel’s dreams finally came true. She transformed from a helpless child slave into a confident, strong, and successful young woman. “I want to become a nurse,” Mabel says. “So I can prove to my family that I can make it.”
I’ve never met Mabel, but I can picture her along with other children in Ghana in similar situations. In my mind I can see children forced to work in the dangerous mines of the Congo, mining gold and other valuable minerals to be sold on the black market. These images flash through my mind and haunt me. They give me a reason to continue to learn about child slavery and how to make an impact.
Encouragingly, the world is becoming more aware of this issue and working together to solve it. Vulnerable communities are being educated and worldwide there are organisations like Challenging Heights with safe houses, where rescued children can go to school and be equipped for the future. The concern is that these children, accustomed to a life of labour, often find it difficult to adjust into a safe environment. More often than not they end up back into the slave industry simply because it’s what they know.
There is more we can do to help them. These children deserve the right to their childhood, education, freedom and a future. Education will make a difference to children just like Mabel across the world.
‘You may choose to look the other way
but you can never say again that you did not know.’
-William Wilberforce
If you would like to learn more or find out how to make an impact, please contact us.
Britney Ross, 30 August 2018