Ormond and Isaac

We suspected there might be trouble ahead with Kweitey’s master, Christian. We made arrangements for George and Alex to conduct the parental visit before too much time lapsed. The visit was made and permission granted for us to take custody. The very next day we knew we'd made a wise choice in moving quickly when the very next day Christian made his move. He declared that Kweitey’s mom had asked that he retrieve him. Albert told Christian that he was a liar and that the mom had both talked with Kweitey and given us custody.

Sunday afternoon we traveled to the island of Old Nkomi to pick up Ormond. What a surprise! Ormond was dressed up, clean and escorted by a woman as well as the master who agreed to release him. We learned that 18 months earlier the master had gone north to the home of Ormond and his brother having heard that their mother was widowed. He offered her the equivalent of U.S. $130 along with the promise that he would “apprentice" her two sons and send them to school. She agreed to it. Some time later she learned that not only were her sons being deprived of school but that the apprentice training amounted to forced child labor and downright slavery at worst. She made the trip to the Volta Region, found her sons and was working off the money she’d received to set them free.

We were not able to secure Dada’s (the older son) release, but we are working on it.

Ormond was pretty frightened when the got to the boat.



As dusk approached, we made our way to the island of Akigogomi. Isaac and his “uncle” were nowhere to be found. It was almost dark as I walked into the village to see Isaac running straight toward me – and jumped into my arms. He was hanging on so tightly that we all broke in to joyous laughter!


Ormond had come along with us and seemed to be a little jealous of the whole situation so he got as close as he could so that he could get in on all the hugging.


We gathered our boys and boarded the boat to head to Kete Krachi in the dark.

National Lampoons "Ghanaian Vacation"

The next morning we were to leave before daylight because the film crew wanted to get some shots of the fishing boats and children at dawn. Alex threatened dire consequences if the transportation was not on the scene by 4:00 a.m. and a boat waiting at the dock.

Surprise! It happened! A “taxi” picked us up at just before 4:00 and we headed toward the dock. And what a taxi it was--an approximately twenty-year-old multicolored Datsun sporting a cracked windshield and only one headlight. There was probably a day when it’s doors may have actually opened and closed.

Amazingly we made it to the boat ramp to find a boat there—with a motor on it! The driver parked the “taxi” where the headlight would help in transferring our our gear to the boat. Alex and Julio placed the camera, batteries and film on the ground in front of the car. I had transported the rest of our things and aboard the boat when it happened:

“CLANK!!” The car jumped out of gear.

Alex made an effort to dive in front of the moving vehicle to rescue the expensive television camera but was knocked aside. It was no use. The car plowed over the camera—gaining momentum as it rolled down the ramp toward the boat (with me in it)! The driver jumped in front of the car but quickly surrendered before being crushed between the it and the boat. I drifted a ways into the lake after the impact. We all watched helplessly until the car was completely submerged—and there she came to rest…with her lone headlight shining faithfully up at us…through the dark waters of Lake Volta.

I can understand how this may sound like a scene from a “National Lampoon Vacation” movie—but believe me—no one there was laughing.

Julio was able to rig the camera together with bailing wire and bubble gum (okay, okay…it was actually super glue and tape) and he still had one battery which wound give us one hour at a time before requiring a charge.

We put the camera to use for the rest of the day by filming Kweitey’s visit to he clinic for his physical and to film some great shots of the children playing.

Pam's off to Vietnam and Cambodia

I'll be posting for Pam for next who-knows-when (this is her friend, Penny) I've been posting the last few days to bring you up to date with Bud's trip to Ghana. Bud is a member of the Touch A Life board--and so much more! He's a "Mighty Warrior" who has a passion for these kids that cannot be adequately described. I'll be explaining where we are with the buiding project at "The Golden Village" in a few days.

For now, I'd like to request prayer for Pam as she is traveling in Asia. Every trip to Asia that Pam has taken has been one filled with miracles. We're expecting the same this time.

She will be visiting all the shelters for children while in Vietnam. Touch A Life now provides love and care for 149 orphans in several different "homes". (More on that later)

In Cambodia she will be visiting the Place of Rescue (an AIDS shelter for families with AIDS and children orphaned by AIDS). Touch A Life is a supporter of this ministry--check it out at www.placeofrescue.com.

She'll also be traveling to Battambang, Cambodia to visit The Rapha House which is home to girls rescued out of prostitution and given a chance for restoration.

I'll be keeping you up to date as I can...meanwhile...back to the "Ghana" story!

Be sure to keep Pam and Amiee (her writer who is taveling with her) in your prayers.

Kweitey

It was after dark by the time we returned to Kete Krachi but our spirits were not dampened.

The film crew arrived the next night and we all agreed to rise early the next day to do some scouting. Typically, everyone was late and we departed later than planned.

Early on, however, we spotted a boat that looked suspicious.

As Albert talked with the master he became certain that we were dealing with a trafficked child. The young fellow was very quiet and diligent.

He was reluctant to talk with us but finally was persuaded to visit with Albert and Kofi. We learned he was working from a village that was on an Island named “Lala” (no wise cracks about my affinity with “Lala Land”!).

At approximately 1:00 we landed at Lala (tht’s tye typical time masters bring their catch ashore, mend nets, get food and a little rest before returning to the lake) and sure enough, there was Christian (the master) and Kweitey (the child).

After some very intense negotiations and a lot of pressure from the local “Opinion Leader” (sort of a village elder) Christian reluctantly agreed to release Kewitey on Monday. Alex (bless her!) was very assertive and after much pressure, Kweitey went home with us that afternoon.

Kweitey was initially very shy and somewhat fearful that things might be going from bad to worse.






However, by midday he was better and by the following day he was involved in soccer games with the others and showing a great deal of promise in an impromptu class taught by Alex.

Rescuing Ormond

During the visit to Village of Hope we had met Pat and Karen Stark and Andy who are from Arizona. The Stark’s just “happened” to be visiting Ghana seeking ways in which they could minister. Our paths just “happened” to cross and they decided to make the twelve-hour trek to Kete Krachi with us. They loved the children and the children loved them. They have decided to work with us to bring love and liberty to these precious children. God is sooooo good!

Another “Godincidence” was the visit by Alex Borges and her cameraman, Julio. Alex is a television journalist from Portugal who had heard of Pam’s efforts and had arrived just in time to participate in our team’s three rescues.

The rescue team included myself, George Achibra, Albert Mensah (who works for Wycliff Bible Translators but negotiates for us on the side), Kofi Kennedy (boys dean) and George Junior.

We visited two islands before the camera crew showed up, and were able to negotiate the release of two children. The first was Ormond, who was on the island of Old Nkomi.. He had been there for eighteen months. He was pretty shy until I wrapped my arms around him and shared some Super Bubble.



He and several village children warmed up after that. Arrangements were made to return in five days to take Ormond back to The Golden Village.



We then traveled to Akigogomi where they met Isaac. Isaac’s “uncle” reported that the child had come to live with him after the death of his father. He said he’d gone back home but had returned after the recent death of his mother. He agreed to release him and was asked to sign a custodial release in five days when they returned to pick him up.

Ghana: Rescue #3

The next few posts will be sharing from the September trip to Ghana.

A member of Touch A Life’s Board of Directors just returned from a month’s visit to Ghana, primarily to the Volta Region where Pam Cope was involved in the rescue of an additional seven trafficked children last March.

But first, an update on the “Magnificent Seven”: Mark and his sister and their buddies are doing great at the Village of Hope in Feteh, just east of the capitol city, Acrra. The “Magnificent Seven” are incredibly happy and healthy. They all expressed how they missed “Mama Pam”. These seven no longer resemble a special group of “rescuees” nor do they think of themselves as trafficked children -- instead they blend beautifully into the Village of Hope family.

After church services on the first Sunday we succeeded in the difficult task of rounding them up a picture. Just look at those smiles!




However, most of the time was spent in the Kete Krachi area where you will recall Pam and George rescued the second “seven” this past March. “The Golden Village” is under construction so the children (plus others added since) have been staying with George and Anna Achibra for the past seven months.

Regina sleeps in the main house with George’s daughter, Erica, and the boys sleep in a dorm George created from his office.

You will remember Pam’s exciting story of the rescue in March. Soon after that (in July) three more child slaves – Famous, Macho and Sakorah – having been left without food, decided to row their boat eighteen nautical miles to Kete Krachi in search of their master. Found wandering around town, they were taken to the Police, who took them to George for Shelter. The master showed up looking for them and was arrested. After spending three days in jail, he claimed he had received permission from their parents to work on the lake and he was simply acting as an agent for them. He was released to bring the parents in to testify. As expected, he did not return and the boys remained with George.

Our man found the children to be happy, well fed, well disciplined. Madame Katherine, a retired principal and schoolteacher, teaches them English and math. Classes are held in a church building located across the street from The Golden Village.



Anna has been preparing seven to thirteen meals three times daily for the rescued children since March. They keep a busy schedule by starting each day with chores at six a.m., followed by a shower and breakfast.

Anna dispenses a myriad of medications directly after breakfast and again each evening after supper – sometimes by candlelight. All of the boys who have worked on the lake are ill. All except for one has malaria and they all have Bilhadzei, a urinary tract disease caused from diving in and drinking form Lake Volta. Ingesting the lake water causes irreversible scarring of the bladder. Side effects are blood in the urine and sever anemia. Most of the children also have bronchitis and gastritis. However, they are much healthier now than when the arrived!

New kids at Golden Village

Here is a note from Randi George, who is in Kete Krachi working with the kids at the Golden Village...

The craziest thing has just recently happened. On tuesday, we were just hanging out expecting a non-eventful day of rest when all of the sudden some guys show up with three fishing children! Apparently, their master was near Kete Krachi building a house and left the boys unattended for a while. They took that as an opportunity to escape and paddled a conoe to the shore of Kete Krachi. They started running and a friend of George & family saw them and asked them what was happening. They told them that their master had been beating them and that they ran away. He immediately took them to George's house because they knew of PACODEP, etc. Immediatly, George got the police involved so that the fisherman sould be hgeld accountable. We went to the shore to collect evidence that these boys were indeed fishing children. We talked to the other fishing boys that were still there (it is unknown why they did not escape as well, but they looked in a lot better condition then those who did). They confirmed the story and told George that the fisherman had 12 children! We are now talking to the fisherman to gather more information. Fortunately because the children ran away, the fisherman has no rights to ask for any compensation in exchange for the boys. They came on their own free will- George did not go to do a resue of them. George has just obtained permission from the Woman and Children's Association to get custody of the children until their parents can be located and their situation can be assessed. We have bought them mattresses, clothes, soap, towels, toothbrushes, etc. They are so happy be safe and clean. They are finally able to eat 3 good meals a day, instead of one meagre one.

The boys are amazing and are so appreciative of everything! There is Sakura, Macho, and Famous.

Sakura is very skinny and malnourished. He has so much pain in his little face. He has been through so much in his young life and it is apparent in everything that he does: he is so quiet, timid, he walks with his head down, and has a little more trouble with eye contact than the other boys. He breaks my heart!!