Journey of No Return!

“I thought marriage would bring me some sort of financial relief, however, things turned out for the worse. My late husband was a fisherman and a chronic womanizer who spent our little earnings lavishly on other women. As a couple, we never had any savings or investments. We were always in debt” – she said.

Harsh realities of life

Following the death of her late husband and the absence of extended family support, her family’s daily survival was at the mercy of benevolent neighbours. She narrated several encounters where she faced embarrassment from creditors who attacked her in the community following her failure to pay back loans.

“My children and I were left at the detriment of the harsh realities of life. I was desperate and had no other choice than to send 3 of my children into the fishing business with the hope of making money in return for their fishing labour. I used monies accrued to pay back some loans, however, I did not know that I was sacrificing the life of one of my children” – she said.

According to Rosemary, as part of the harsh treatments meted out to child victims, she lost one of her children in the process and as a matter of urgency and fear, she forcibly retrieved her remaining 2 children from the fishermen.

“I was devastated to hear that as part of physical abuses, the fishermen use the paddles to beat the children when they fail to go deeper into the water or show signs of weakness during the fishing process. It was on one of such encounters that my child died from being hit on the neck due to the intense impact of the oar’’ – she said.

To date, she still receives threats from the fisherman from whom she received money Five Hundred Ghana Cedis in exchange for her children’s labour in the fishing business.

“He calls me each time to request that for breaching our contract, I need to give him one of my young children to continue the fishing service, which I have bluntly refused. I am not going to risk the lives of any of my children now that I know how deadly the adventure is’’ – she said.

Intervention

Rosemary approached the Assembly Man of her community with a request for support. She was introduced to the Protecting the Future (PTF) project. As part of support to boost her family’s livelihood and enable the children to have access to basic care, the PTF project provided Rosemary with a grant to commence her porridge business which has enabled her to have a sustainable income-generating source.

‘’The PTF project also enrolled me in skills training on cooking and soap making among others. I was also sensitized on customer relations and bookkeeping processes. Now my children have access to basic social amenities, healthcare, education and decent clothing’’ – she said.

Rosemary intends to expand her business venture to include the sale of other items. She also intends to develop a piece of land she inherited from her late husband for the benefit of her children.

Protecting the Future (PTF) project is an initiative of SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana funded by Heimstaden with support from SOS Children’s Villages in Norway. It aims to reduce child labour and trafficking in the fishing industry and also to strengthen the capacities of communities, families and duty-bearers (Police, Department of Social Welfare, Ghana Education Service, the Judiciary) to effectively address child labour and child trafficking in two source districts i.e. Awutu –Senya West and Ada West Districts (with Challenging Heights as its implementing partner).