First Day of Child Interviews

First Day of Child Interviews

This morning was the first day of child interviews, so I took a tro tro to Senya to gather data for the child trafficking research (This was my first time attempting the journey solo, but made it without problem). This data then gets entered into a spreadsheet, from which we create a report each quarter about the trafficking problem in Ghana. Today is an important day because it is the final day of the festival in Senya, and many families (and trafficked children) return home for the week to celebrate.

I met Hayford, who is the director of one of the local schools where we have many of our sponsored children in Senya. He is a well known figure in the community and works with a lot of the children throughout the town. Walking the streets with him is similar to walking with a celebrity as he must stop and say hello to everyone. Together we walked towards the shore to find some children that he knew were trafficked.

  

During the interviews, I try my best to fill out a questionnaire and use Hayford as my interpreter. He is able to explain what we are doing and speak to the children and families in the local language (which I cannot). Our first interview was with a boy that Hayford knew. He was 14 years old, and had been trafficked to Yeji by his uncle for almost 6 years. In Yeji, he would fish, mend nets, and help on the boats. He was often beaten by either his uncle or by his boss if he did not do as he was told. The boss would prepare two meals a day, but did not provide other supplies such as shoes, clothing, or personal hygiene products. He had to work 6 days a week and could then work on Sunday on his own in order to make some money for himself. Conditions were quite bad and he attempted to run away once, but was caught and beaten. After that experience he never again attempted to escape. One of the questions on the questionnaire asks, what he disliked and liked during time working on Lake Volta. Sadly, he could not think of anything he liked and could only describe the situation and the work conditions as bad. Most of his answers were short; it was obvious that his time fishing was not a memory that he wished to hold on to. He said that he was never seriously injured, but he did know of several children that died while in the water, normally getting caught trying to untangle the nets from the underwater hazards. These stories were not unlike others that I had heard and read, but having them told by such a small child made them much more real.  

While walking through the crowded neighborhoods, Hayford asked a local child if he knew where to find other kids that had been working on Lake Volta. Quickly, he led us to a neighbor’s house. The home belonged to a porridge seller and a large extended family all congregated throughout the living room. She told us that her sister and husband had moved with their family of 9 children to Yeji to work as fishermen. All 9 of the children were forced to work long hours with their father on the boats. Two children were now in Senya living with her, so that they could attend school. The girls had a similar story about their fishing jobs; lots of work and no free time, accompanied by beating when they did not work hard enough. They were very shy especially in such a crowded house to tell us any details, but they were happy that their parents allowed them to travel to Senya, in order to go to school instead of work on the boats. 

Our interviews were cut short today as it started to downpour as we were leaving the girls house. Luckily we made it to the school where we sat stranded for several hours until catching a tro tro back to Kasoa.