Child trafficking along the Volta Lake: what is the fight so far?

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• Joshua 9 years ago

  This is really a big problem especially in a country where majority are illiterates. We need to fight it together as a country

  This is really a big problem especially in a country where majority are illiterates. We need to fight it together as a country

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• Isaac Afari 9 years ago

  Well said, children indeed are our future and we must give them the best of care and protection.

  Well said, children indeed are our future and we must give them the best of care and protection.

  reply
• Military Man 9 years ago

  Hi Bernice,
  
  Thanks for educating some of us on what the government is doing to help in reducing this troubling issue.
  
  
  I know that this particular article concentrated on the Volta Lake area and the fishing industry in ...
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  Hi Bernice,
  
  Thanks for educating some of us on what the government is doing to help in reducing this troubling issue.
  
  
  I know that this particular article concentrated on the Volta Lake area and the fishing industry in that area, I think the farming industry is also is a culprit of this illegal activity. In every part of Ghana where cocoa is grown and harvested, child labour forms about 60%(just being liberal)of its labour force. As a matter of fact, I believe the cocoa farming industry popularized the child labour industry single-handedly in Ghana.
  
  Unfortunately, while there's a supposed crackdown on various industries for this vice, we still see kids of school going age peddling stuff by the roadsides and sometimes endangering themselves by moving through traffic to sell their wares?
  Do we classify this trend?
  Is it child labour?
  
  The last time, I came home for a family visit, I was shocked to come across 6-year old boys and girls of school-going age selling things like water, peanuts, tigernuts and other assorted wares by the roadside at a time when they should be in school. I was so disturbed that I stopped and started talking to one particular girl I felt sorry for...just about 5 years old selling satchetted water in the sun-baking heat. When I asked her why she was not in school at that time of the day, she told me she had to do that to help put food on the family table even it meant she had to skip school. A very sad story that seemingly applied to a lot of these kids I saw during my short holidays in Ghana. That brought back a lot of memories because as boy growing up in Ghana, I also did sell bread at Sekondi car station but my parents made sure I did that only after school and on weekends. That was how important education meant to my parents. Skipping school was a no-no and the profit I made definitely was NOT what helped put food on the family dining table. The money I made was solely mine. That experience helped give me character and appreciation for hard work and my parents did NOT compromise my education and today, I'm enjoying the benefits of that education.
  
  These days, life is so tough that parents put their kids through hoops just to make ends meet. Young kids are missing school and a good basic education which is a must if one is to get ahead in life.
  
  So the point I am trying to get at is that our political leaders have been a big disappointment because they've made life so difficult for the ordinary JOES that the education of our future leaders is a big question mark.
  
  So while on one hand, the government says it's fighting child labour, on the other hand they are promoting it by their mismanagement of the wealth of the nation through corrupt practices and thievery which has forced a lot of parents in the villages to force their children to work and help the family.
  
  And until a good working government is put in place, this trend will continue till our country is full of illiterate citizenry and the highest number kids working as child labourers.
  
  A very eye-opening articlce!!
  
  Keep them coming, Bernice!!!
  
  One question for you though... do you work for one of the media houses in Ghana or are you a student in Journalism School?

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