The Problem

Today, there are around 162 million child laborers worldwide and somewhere between 10 and 12 million child slaves. Many people are unclear about the difference between slavery and labor. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 

The term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:

• is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and/or

• interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

The ILO also writes, “The worst forms of child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age.” Anti-Slavery International adds to that definition: “Child slavery is the enforced exploitation of a child for someone else’s gain, meaning the child will have no way to leave the situation or person exploiting them.” You can read more about the differences between child work, labor, slavery, and trafficking at https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/child-slavery.

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On Ghana's Lake Volta, the world's largest man-made lake, an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children are trapped in slavery. An International Justice Mission (IJM) investigation revealed that children as young as 3 years old are forced to work in the fishing industry. The kids are under the control of harsh bosses and work under grueling and deadly conditions that include deprivation of rest and sustenance, mental and physical abuse, exposure to water diseases, and mangling with dangerous fishing nets caught in the branches at the bottom of the lake. Even when sick or injured, the children are required to continue working. Children who are too young to be on the lake stay on shore to untangle nets or do household chores. The girls are forced to de-scale fish to sell at the market. A hopeful development is that this issue has come to the attention of Ghana's Second Lady, Samira Bawumia, who is now a powerful advocate for the prosecution of child traffickers. 

Of the 25 million people living in Ghana, more than 9% of the population survives on less than $2 USD per day. To provide some comparative data, an inexpensive restaurant meal in Ghana costs $4 USD, a liter of milk costs $1.75 USD, a one-way ticket on local transportation costs $0.50 USD, a pair of jeans costs $23 USD, and monthly rent of a one-bedroom apartment outside of the city center costs $146 USD.*  

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With a high cost of living and low income, it is understandable why many people in Ghana feel desperate and destitute. Tricky bosses approach vulnerable families in Ghana's villages and promise that they will pay them compensation and take the families’ children to the cities to educate them and provide jobs. From there the bosses trap the children with the sad reality that they may never see their families again.

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We as 3D-FREE are a team of children who can't stand to see our brothers and sisters in Ghana living in these tragic conditions. These injustices should not be happening in our world, and we cannot sit by and watch without taking action. We want to not only pray, but to use our talents, our resources, and our connections in whatever way we can to look for solutions. Wherever you are, we invite you to do what you can to help these children who can't help themselves. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom, and we want to partner with God to be freedom fighters. We invite you to join us!

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*This information was provided by numbeo.com and was updated in October 2020.