NGO rescues 25 salve children

Accra, Sept. 7, GNA - The Association of People for Practical Life Education (APPLE), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) on child trafficking, has rescued 25 slave children from their slave masters around Yeji in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The children, aged between four years and 15 years, who were being used by their slave masters for fishing on the Volta Lake, farming and babysitting, were rescued from 16 communities around the town. A statement signed on Thursday in Accra by Mr Jack Dawson, Executive Director of the NGO, said the children were being camped at the Madina Social Welfare Centre.

Under the APPLE Rural Project, such children are rescued with support from community coordinators, who convinced the slave masters to release such children.

The statement said the programme was carried out every year with the aim of ending child labour and trafficking in such endemic areas. It said the children would undergo medical screening and counselling, and given basic school training.

This year, parents of the freed children would be trained in income- generating activities such as soap; batik; tie and dye making and sewing to enable them to cater for their children.