By Nhyira Kwabi
The Chief of Hweda Community in Gomoa West of the Central Region, Omankrado Nana Ansah Eyison I, has warned parents and caregivers of the Community against giving their children away to traffickers who present interesting opportunities.
The Chief said parents who do not resist the act to shift the responsibility of caring for their children’s needs would be made to face the law.
He made this statement at the launch of a new survivor network of trafficked victims by the Ghana Survivor Network in Hweda, a Community within the Gomoa West District Assembly in the Central Region.
The group named Impact Makers is the 5th chapter of the Ghana Survivors Network for trafficked victims.
The launch is part of International Justice Mission, (IJM’s) contribution towards the fight against child trafficking in Ghana.
The Chief in his address expressed his pleasure for the Hweda Community to be a centre to birth a survivor network to curb the crime in the community. Omankrado Nana Ansah Eyison I, said the crime is on the rise in the Central Region due to the high rate of poverty in the region, hence welcomed the initiative with his council and township to eradicate the menace.
The Country Director for IJM Ghana, Anita Budu, in her speech said the network of survivors across the country is to bring together survivors to share their lived experiences and support each other. Madam Budu stated that, “what the survivors have been through, is not the full story, what they have been through is not the end of the story; and what they have been through is not the end of the road”.
She expounded that many times, victims feel intimidated and scared to share their experiences.
Therefore the network is to serve as a forum for the victims to publicly share their stories to motivate change in the communities and the entire country, adding that, “when there is no knowing, how can there be impact in the communities through the gathering of influences and leaders”.
The Director of the Ghana Education Service of Gomoa West, Madam Cecelia Aboagye who was the Keynote Speaker of the event in her speech stated that, ‘‘the work of the survivor network would be fruitful if parents involved in the act adhere to the call to be supportive’’. She emphasized that the sad testimony and struggle of the rescued victims need to be inspiring enough to urge the parents to rise to the rescue of their trafficked children and to make a firm resolve to never give their children away due to poverty.
In her admonition to the new Survivor Group, Madam Aboagye stated that ‘‘I encourage you to uphold this duty and mandate as you have received training to advocate for the rescue of more victims, do not give up!’’. Hence, the group: ‘Impact Makers’ was duly launched as a wing of the Ghana Survivor Network.
Director of the Department of Social Welfare, of Gomoa West, under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Esther Anim, who delivered her speech on behalf of her unit said the aim of the event is to bring together stakeholders to collectively fight against the practice which is widespread in the area.
She stated that ‘‘attributing the reason for giving children away as a result of poverty is not a just course, children are gifts from God to be catered for and not for them to rather work within their minor ages to cater for the needs of their parents’’.
The survivors numbering sixteen (16) expressed excitement as they were presented before the community.
The leader of the group, John who narrated his journey with the Community members revealed how he was made to work on the sea to fish and sometimes pushed into the water, left to survive. He explained that ‘’All these while, my mother thought I was living a good life, this happened to me after my father passed away and had no one to support me’’.
Some stakeholders who graced the occasion to inspire the survivors include: the Ghana Police Service who work hand in hand with partners to arrest perpetrators to face the law, Community Child Protection Committee, United Way Ghana; a non-governmental organisation who contributed to the impact story of the survivors, as their vision to work with communities to solve social challenges.
Also, representatives of the Gomoa West District Assembly who pledged their support and advised caregivers to be responsible for their wards to become great leaders to change the narrative as their family desires, through responsible and educative means.
