Absolutely Emotional Day in Ghana

Andy and I headed out with Eric and Eddy at 8am this morning. We drove to the rehabilitation center and met our rescued children. They were so excited to see us, and we were thrilled to see them after a brief, 10-hour separation. We had ordered a bus to take them to Never’s village so that we could film their narratives. Andy, Eric, Eric’s CUTE four-year-old son, Eddy, and I drove in the IOM SUV. I gave my digital SLR camera to Never and asked him to take pictures of the kids and the villages we passed for Shutterfly (new photos from Never on the new Shutterfly link).

We drove east for about two hours. We could see the kids singing and dancing in the bus behind us. The villages we passed became more and more rural. Never and I got out in one village and started taking pictures. When I turned around, he was trying to get photos of some small children. I ran to him to grab the camera, reminding him to only take shots of buildings. Some women started yelling. They don’t like us doing this. We ran back to the bus and both vehicles pulled out quickly. Lesson learned.

Never had the camera in the bus. When he got to the Volta River Bridge, he took a few shots of the water. It must have been hard for him, for this is the place where he was taken from his family on his journey north to the fishing villages. Every kid on the bus had been in this place before. They all left for lives as trafficked children from these shores.

Eric told us more about what the kids had been through. Beatings and starvation were commonplace. I looked at the bus and thought, every one of those wonderful young people have been through the worst that life has to offer. I again felt honored to just be near them. We have a lot to learn from them.

When we arrived in Never’s village, we were greeted warmly by the community. There is no running water or electricity. Women were washing clothes and cooking on mats on the ground. There were goats everywhere, and the men were out to see what we were up to. We met the chief, had a brief ceremony, and then shook everyone’s hands. I started with the Chief, working my way right. Turns out you are supposed to start on the right, go left, and end with the Chief. So, we did it again! Much laughter.

The kids then practiced their narratives under the beautiful trees and Andy and I took teams off one-by-one to film them with the Flips. Now that Gabriel is gone, we decided to make this project with just Flips. Andy and I worked hard to be professional and not let the kids’ stories get to us as we filmed. We heard of the kids being told they were going to school in the fishing village, only to find themselves as trafficked children forced to work 16 hour days and not getting enough to eat. One boy told about having a barrel of gasoline spilled on his leg. He showed me the scars on his leg as I filmed. His entire leg is scared from top to bottom, and he has thick keloids. We saw many scars from canes and knives as we filmed.

Never took us to his home to film his team’s segment. We wandered down the dirt path and came to his compound. There were clothes hanging on the line and his mother was cooking in a hut. He sleeps in his mother’s room on a mat on the floor. His father Napoleon has three wives and 22 children. Nine of them ended up in the fishing village. Both parents now understand what actually happened and both talked freely of it. Never’s father changed his son’s name to Never when he returned home…"Never again will my children go to the fishing villages.” Very good name.

All of the kids are grateful to IOM and happy to be home and going to school. They all ended their narratives describing how great their lives are now and with a call to action for viewers to go to the IOM website. We ended the day on a high-note, singing songs and playing volleyball.

We went to lunch in the open schoolroom so that we wouldn’t have to eat in front of the community. We had spicy rice and meat with Fanta and Coke to wash it down. We met other trafficked children at the school. School was out because of a national holiday, but two kids were studying environmental science on their own. That is how important education is to them.

When we got back to the village, we found that the kids’ van had broken down. We had to wait two hours for it to get fixed. Andy and I looked at the buildings and huts and decided we would buy one fixer-upper! Loved the village.

I sat with a teacher and some students as we waited. The teacher said, “We know that the castle is where the Dutch put stolen men before they were sold as slaves to America. But, what we don’t know is what happened to our ancestors once they got to America. Can you tell us?” Wow. I had an hour conversation about slavery, the Civil War, Jim Crow, 3/5ths law, Civil Rights, and modern prisons filled with African Americans. The kid’s mouths were wide open. They couldn’t believe it. I did talk about how many African Americans have become quite successful, and this made them happy.

We finally got on the road and bought provisions for the cooking staff at the center. Once we opened the window by the side of the road, and once we showed money, about 30 men, women, boys, and girls (all with their wares on their heads) swarmed the SUV. They do this every day, in hopes of selling something so that they can feed their families.

We are off in a few minutes to start making the films with the kids on the computers. Andy promises to blog today! Also, it takes too long to upload films on the Blog, so if you would like a DVD with the students' films, please email me at erikeleven11@yahoo.com, and I’ll get one to you.

E