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
Bloggers were asked to turn over their Labor Day blog to The Mercy Project. Please read on.
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.
As a mother, it’s difficult for me to imagine my children
working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.
I’m unable to wrap my brain around the thought of my 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.
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 –
• Connecting with Mercy Project via
Twitter. [link provided below]
• Spending some time on Mercy Project’s
website.
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.
