Unlike children in some tourist spots of developing countries, kids here are so innocent like angels. When you walk on the street, you can see that kids smile and call you “Ya-po!” They will be very excited and happy if you respond to them. Once, a little girl ran to me, embraced me and smiled without a word. It seems that they approach you just because they are curious about you, the foreigner. What they want is only your time and attention. They may be the happiest and most satisfied children in the world. The material they have is only a little, but a little thing is enough to make them happy.
The smiles of kids are beautiful, but the things happened to them are terrible. Child labor is still a big issue in Ghana. Many children are taken away from school and their family to work. Fishermen especially prefer child labors because they are cheap, easy to manage, and their size is small enough to work in the boat. The children may be taken very far from home, and some of them would die of sickness or in an accident. In addition, some children may be taken to big city such as Accra, and assigned to sell things on the street. They earn money for the businessmen, but their parents only get very little in reward. These things happen every day, like a story never ends.
It’s hard for us to imagine how the parents can sell their own children. The critical factor is the vicious circle of large family, ignorance, and poverty. The Ghana government has tried to stop the circle. They have established laws and regulations to against child trafficking. Furthermore, the welfare organizations help children to go home, help their parents to work and educate them family planning. But the problem they face is resource deficiency. They don’t have enough money to take care of all the victims.
Before the trip, we can say that we don’t know the situation. But now, after we see it by ourselves, it’s hard to ignore it again. We have to think as the speaker asked“What have you seen here? What can you do for these people?”
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