Providing School Supplies to 100 Children in Ghana

My name is Tomoko Shiroki, and I am the Managing Director and Co-founder of ACE. Thank you very much for supporting our efforts to end child exploitation in the world. 
 
Today, we have good news from Ghana! On November 29th, ACE co-organized a "National Stakeholder Dialogue on the Creation of Child Labour Free Zones in Ghana” with the Ghanaian Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), Ghana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) and our local partner CRADA. 
 
The conference was organized to bring various stakeholders, and more than 80 attendants including cacao farmers, a child who had experienced working as child laborer, a chief and teachers from cocoa producing communities, staffs from several NGOs, private corporations, international organization like ILO, local governments and the central ministries came to share experiences and learn from each other, and to start a discussion of how best to achieve the goal of ending child labour. It was a very rare occasion for all the stakeholders to get together in one setting and hold a conference like this in Ghana. 
 
It was the first time ever to hold a national-level conference on the theme of "Creating a child labor free zone mechanism” in the West Africa region, and we truly believe that we took a very progressive and advanced step. At the conference, all participants eagerly joined the discussion, which lasted unabated for hours. The event reminded us that we all share the same goal of elimination of child labour in the world.  

 We were honored to be able to make this progress together with people in Ghana. It was a great pleasure for us to hear that the deputy director of MELR mentioned in his speech that the presentation given by ACE at CLCCG (the Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group) meeting in Abidjan in July this year triggered to engage this National Stakeholders' meeting. 

 It has been 10 years since we first started our work in Ghana. In the beginning, it all started with one small activity in one village, and now we have become an organization capable of developing a big project with the Ghana government. This was made possible because of people who have supported us throughout the years. We would like to thank you for your continued support. 
 
This is just the beginning of us! We will work in solidarity with the people in Ghana to continue our activities to build a future without child labour in the world. 

My name is Akira Kondo, and I am the Project Manager for the Ghana region for ACE. Thank you so very much for supporting our efforts to end child exploitation in the world.

It has been six months since we started a new project in two villages. A volunteer organization, “Community Child Protection Committee (CCPC)” was organized in the villages as soon as the project started. Representatives visit families with children who do not attend school and persuade parents to send their children to school. One of the families, Paul’s family, moved to this area. Paul has a fourteen-year-old boy named John. John has not attended school since dropping out of elementary school when he was in the third grade. Paul himself never went to school and he did not understand what it meant to go to school. The family migrated from the northern part of Ghana, where language and customs are different, so they could not interact with neighbors well. However, thanks to the great efforts of members of the CCPC to persuade Paul’s family, John re-entered school in the fifth grade. He enjoys going to school every day and said, with his eyes shining, that he liked mathematics and wanted to be a banker in the future. Paul is now very proud of his son going to school.

Just like Paul’s family, there is a tendency for a lot of families who are involved in child labor and have migrated from other parts of Ghana to have difficulties interacting with other residents of the village. Also, such families often live far away from the school and it makes it difficult for children to attend school. We advise members of the CCPC to give special attention to such families. This CCPC’s attitude helps to make those migrant families to gradually open their minds. 

The CCPC supports children who have not been able to attend school, and due to their efforts, the number of children at school has increased. Thank you all for donating to this project. Because of your generosity, we could provide school supplies to the new students, giving them a good start on their education. 

However, since the number of children who attend the school has increased so rapidly, the school is now facing new challenges, the most immediate of which is a shortage of desks and chairs. The school administration has been discussing how to solve this problem, and are considering requesting support from the region, the district, or the national government, and whether they can ask for support of the parents of students or other village residents. It is quite a difficult issue, and we are trying to help them to find a sustainable solution.

Any further support that you can give will be much appreciated!

My name is Akira Kondo, and I am the Project Manager for the Ghana region for ACE. Thank you so very much for supporting our efforts to end child exploitation in the world.

The "Smile-Ghana Project" was initiated in 8 communities in the Ashanti region in Ghana in 2009 and was successfully completed at the end of January 2018. Due to the implementation of this project, we directly rescued 454 children from child labor, and have additionally helped to educate around 4,000 children from the project communities. We accomplished our goals and have left in place a system wherein sustainable child labor-free cacao production and educational opportunities are present.

In March 2018, after the project was over, we gathered the representatives of the eight villages that we had supported, and invited officials from the region to hold a "graduation ceremony.” I write to you now to present  a report on the ceremony.

In the ceremony, there were speeches from the government officials. The person in charge of the local social welfare department said that among the many projects that have attempted in the area this was the most successful, and had the greatest effect in spreading awareness. He also said that he would like to see this project expanded to other areas.

During the ceremony, children from each school performed theater and dance, and overall the ceremony was a successful and joyful event. When the project started, there were no such extracurricular activity as dance or theater in any school in the area, so the ceremony itself was a great reflection of the positive changes that have occurred in the area. I was really happy to see children enjoying themselves and learning through various activities.

At the end of the ceremony, a strong resolve was announced by members of the newly formed "Child Labor Monitoring Team”, who will be monitoring children all across the area to make sure no children are made to work again.

From this point forward, we will continue to follow the progress of the eight villages in the Ashanti region.

My name is Akira Kondo, and I am the Project Manager for the Ghana region at Action Against Child Exploitation (ACE).  Thank you so very much for supporting our efforts to end child exploitation in the world. 

I am extremely happy to announce the completion of the "Smile-Ghana Project" in 8 communities in the Ashanti state in Ghana. The project started in 2009 and was completed at the end of January 2018.

Due to this project, we have directly saved 454 children from child labor, and have additionally helped to educate around 4,000 children from the communities.  We accomplished our goals and have left in place a system wherein sustainable, child labor-free cacao production and educational opportunities are present.  

From February 1st, 2018, we have started new projects in 2 villages in the Brong-Ahafo, Asunafo-South District.

These two villages are located in a different state, but are in close geographic proximity to the 8 villages from our earlier project, and suffer from similar problems of child exploitation and lack of opportunity.

The educational environment is currently very dire in these villages, as about 40% of school-aged children are engaged in child labor, and are unable to go to school. 

Drawing on our experience working in the Ashanti state, we will collaborate with local people in the new communities to help children to go to school, and to open opportunities for adults to earn a decent income, so that these villages can also become ethical cacao-producing regions, completely without child labor.

I am currently in Ghana now and will be visiting the new villages, as well as the 8 communities of the previous project to conduct a "graduation ceremony" in which we will gather officials in the communities to acknowledge and celebrate the elimination child labor there.

Child labor has been ended in eight villages, but in Ghana, the fight is far from over. There are many areas of Ghana where child labor is still the norm, but with the continued support of donors like you, we will surely vanquish this problem and create a world where all people have the opportunity for advancement and freedom from exploitation.

Thank you for your continued support! We will post updates on this project, and all future endeavors.

In the cocoa producing area of Ghana where ACE conducts projects, there are many migrant workers. They come from northern Ghana as well as from foreign countries, such as Burkina Faso, Togo, and Mali to look for work.

 Among such migrant populations, there are cases of “human trafficking”, with children separated from their parents and brought to cocoa farms as workers.

 I would like to share with you one of ACE's experiences rescuing children suffering from human trafficking.

 Here is the story of Emanuel and Stephan.

In January 2010, we encountered two children who were walking with about 10 cattle. It was in the afternoon, and the temperature outside exceeded 30 degrees. They said that they were walking all day under the scorching sun, and that they were starving. It is a very dangerous task for children to attempt to control animals much bigger than themselves, and they were at a high risk of being trampled or otherwise grievously injured by the cattle.

 Their names were Emmanuelle (who was 11 years old) and Stephan (who was 14). They had left their parents who lived in Northern Ghana, and were brought to the Anglo village of Ashanti in Ghana. They lived there working for the peasant farmers who make their living through cacao production and pastoral farming. The employer's children were attending school, but Emmanuelle and Stephan were not allowed to go to school at all.

 Children brought by human trafficking from the northern part of Ghana to the southern part where cacao grows:

 Separating children from their parents and forcing them to work is human trafficking and is prohibited by both Ghanaian and international law. If children are found in forced labor circumstances, they have to be protected immediately. We wanted to save Emmanuelle and Stephan as soon as we encountered them, but it was much more difficult than we thought.

In order to actually protect them, many complicated judicial procedures were necessary, such as arresting the employer who was carrying out the illegal act of using child laborers acquired through trafficking, and put them in trial, and demand a court order.  The judicial procedure to rescue Emmanuelle and Stephan did not go smoothly. Every time we visited them, we checked their safety, but sometimes we felt helpless not being able to rescue them immediately.

 The moment when we resolved to save children from human trafficking:

In late May 2010, we visited them to check their situation.  Emmanuelle and Stephan told us that their employer made a promise to their parents that Emanuel and Stephen could go to school there.  Emmanuelle and Stephan also believed the employer’s promise, but in reality, they were not allowed to go to school, not even once.

They said that they were forced to carry the water barrels all day and were forced to prepare meals for the employer’s family. In the cacao harvest season, they were forced to work in the cocoa farms, climbing trees to drop cacao beans. They were threatened by the employer that "If you do not listen to what I say, there is nothing for you to eat."

 When we ask, if there was anything they want to ask, Emmanuelle said;

 "I want to get out of here right now, if that is possible."

 We heard his desperate voice, and that strongly moved us. Despite it was the weekend, we asked the county governor, the social welfare department, the judicial bureau, and the police to rescue them urgently. Because of our enthusiasm, people cooperated, and finally we were able to rescue the two children.

 After that, Emmanuelle and Stephan were able to receive doctor's check-ups and psychological counseling while living under the administration of the social welfare department of the county. In fact, we found that they had a number of diseases, and they were forced to work under severe condition while sick.  We strongly regretted that we could not have rescued them earlier.

Things necessary to protect children in human trafficking

Later, with the cooperation of the social welfare department, we found where Emmanuelle and Stephan’s parents were.  The north-eastern state of Northern Ghana, where their parents lived was so far away from the Ashanti state where ACE was conducting its project, and it was such a hard job to find where they were. We were so lucky that we found their family, and the children were able to reunite with their own family. Their parents didn’t know that Emmanuelle and Stephan were in the forced labor under inhumane conditions, and they cried when they found out about it.

In the Smile-Ghana Project, we are working to protect children from the suffering and abuse of human trafficking and to reunite with their families. In areas that ACE supports, we have found, protected and reunited several trafficked children.

The money we raise through this crowdfunding will also be used to support the education of children who suffer from human trafficking.

In order to protect children and return them to their families, it takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. The donations that you make here will be used to educate children who have suffered from such trafficking.

We appreciate your kind support, and thank you for helping reach the day when all children can have safe lives, educational opportunities, and the love and protection of their families.