Tuesday 13 March 2012

A Ghanaian Hero: James Kofi Annan is setting captive children free at Challenging Heights…..


James Kofi Annan



School office and upstairs classrooms



KG and Nursery clasrooms




E-mail chproject500@gmail.com if you'd like to know more about sponsoring us or one of our friends!



Football time is by far the favourite time of the day!






Our seamstress Auntie Rose busily sewing uniforms for new students!






This little guy will have his Challenging Heights uniform very soon!






Volunteers and visitors brings smiles to our kids' faces




 "Showing off the Challenging Heights truck"





Hovde Foundation donated this bus to Challenging Heights. It's been used to transport rescued children from Yeji to the shelter, take our sports teams to matches, pick up volunteer groups from the airport in Accra, and to take children back to their homes after their time at the Challenging Heights Hovde House shelter comes to an end.


It's our dream to someday have a sponsor for every single one of these kids


"School's out for the day - see you tomorrow morning"




Wow a Ghanaian native fighting for the rights of children! Ghana Rising would like to take this opportunity to thank brother James Kofi Annan, the volunteers and donors for all their wonderful work. What they are doing for the children at Challenging heights is incredible, -may God richly bless you all. For more information or to donate visit: http://www.challengingheights.org/

Do visit FaceBook page -and LIKE their page via: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Challenging-Heights/76575852886

Challenging heights was founded by James Kofi Annan, who is himself a survivor of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor. James is the last and the only educated out of twelve children of his illiterate parents. He worked as a child fisherman in more than 20 villages along Lake Volta from the age of 6 to 13, before he finally liberated himself. At the time he could neither read nor write. James later rose to become a university graduate and also rose to become manager at Barclays Bank of Ghana. In April 2007, James resigned from Barclays Bank of Ghana in order to devote full time to mobilizing resources to promote the mission of Challenging Heights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenging_Heights


More info:
Profile of James Kofi Annan
James Kofi Annan is one of 12 children. When he was was six years old he, like most of his other siblings was sold as a slave. He was sent to work in the fishing industry on Lake Volta in Ghana where small children are used to do heavy work with the nets and are sent down to free the nets if they become snagged. James was beaten every single day.

After 7 years he managed to set himself free but he wasn’t welcome back either in his family or in his village where he was seen to have disobeyed his father. From then on he was on his own. James educated himself by becoming friendly with the children who were attending the local kindergarden school and used their books to teach himself to read and write.

James eventually was able to complete his university education and got himself a job with Barclay's Bank. However he could not leave his memories of slavery behind and set up a new organisation called Challenging Heights to help other child slaves like him.

Because James challenges the very profitable status quo he is vilified and attacked and receives death threats on a daily basis by email, text and phone call. Despite the threats and the danger James Kofi Annan won't cease his work to free the victims of child slavery and to end the practice in Ghana.

Asked why he chooses to do this dangerous work he replies:
“ I had nothing left to lose – I had already lost everything I had to lose as a child".





...............................................
The latest on Child Trafficking in Ghana….


N/R Police arrest human traffickers Date: 02-Mar-2012

The Northern Regional Police Command have rescued six people between the ages of 14 and 22 years from being trafficked from the Zabzugu/Tatale District to Kumasi.


Faustina Frempong, the suspected trafficker was arrested and later granted bail while Dabi Mbeido, the parent of one of the victims is still in police custody pending investigations.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Coudjoe, the Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), said one Bakari Abdul-Samadu, a staff of the Social Welfare Department, decided to board the Metro Mass bus in which Faustina Frempong was travelling with the victims and when they got to the Tamale/Yendi barrier, the complainant reported the incident to the police where she was subsequently arrested.

ASP Coudjoe said the victims who come from Sangbae-Tinshendo in the Zabzugu/Tatale District were made up of three females and three males who have since been handed over to the Social Welfare Department while investigations were underway to prosecute the suspect for the offence of human trafficking.

He said the suspect who is a trader in yams, plies her trade between Yendi and Kumasi and when questioned about the reason for the journey, she said her brother who is a cocoa farmer requested for some people to assist him in his farm
Credit: http://news.peacefmonline.com/social/201203/98113.php

No comments:

Post a Comment