Issues Affecting African Children #1: Trafficking Children-- or Protecting Them?

A scandle has erupted in Chad, central Africa, over the past week. Members of a French charity called L'Arche de Zoe (Zoe's Ark) have been arrested on charges of child trafficking. Reportedly, they took nearly 100 children from the Chad/Sudan border, dressed them to look injured, and attempted to smuggle them to France, where numerous families waited to take them in. These families had paid several thousand dollars to Zoe's Ark, though most have claimed they were to be hosts, not adoptive parents. Not only were the children all in relatively good health, but many of them were not actually orphans. The children never left the country, and efforts are being made to reunite them with their families. The arrested charity members claim they were saving the children's lives by taking them away from a potentially volatile situation near Sudan. (For more information, click here.)

The question I'd like to ask is this: was this simply a case of greed and child trafficking-- or an attempt at mercy? These children were stolen away from their families, the charity members even (according to BBC's Africa Today podcast) lying to the parents to get the children. Families in France paid large sums of money, essentially adopting these children illegaly. And yet, the people under arrest claim they were doing everything they could to save these children from a possible violent, painful death. On the border between Chad and Sudan, these likelihood must be realized.

So, all you blog lurkers out there, I'm asking you to make yourselves finally known. What do you think: trafficking or protection? Any thoughts on this issue are welcome, as long as no one attacks anyone else. I'll post my own thoughts in a few days, after a few of you have posted responses. This is an issue that comes up across Africa, not just in Chad. Let's try for an intelligent, thoughtful dialogue on this issue.

Sankofa Mbofra Fie

Sorry, it's been a while since I posted! I've been very busy getting the volunteer groups together, and working out all the details. But now, I've got a minute, so I thought I'd post about one of the orphanages we're going to be helping. They are called Sankofa Mbofra Fie (Return to your Roots Children's Home), and they are located in Eguafo, near El Mina and Cape Coast. It's a fairly new orphanage, within the last few years. Here's what their Facebook page says about them:

"Sankofa Mbofra Fie is a children's home established in 2006 by David Kwesi Acquah and Helen Martin. Located in rural Ghana the organisation provides free education, meals and shelter to 200-250 children whose families may have otherwise no other option but to turn them out onto the streets. It is also hoped that Sankofa Mbofra Fie can also function as an agent of social change in the village promoting women's and children's rights. Here goes!"

Both Helen and David are wonderful, caring people, and we're excited to be working with them next year! I'll give some updates on our projects after our first volunteer orientation tonight! Here's some pictures, too!




From the top: SMF children getting lunch. The nursery class meets in a church building. Class in session in the bamboo school house. The bamboo school David built in Eguafo when the church got too small; this is now also too small. An SMF student enjoys school.

Missing Them-- A Volunteer's Perspective

One of the difficult things about being a volunteer is that, eventually, you have to come home.

It's been over two years since I've returned from my 4 months in Ghana. My life has gone on; I've graduated from college, gotten married, and have a steady job. My life is good, and I love it. And yet, the part of my heart that will always belong to my children still beats a little more painfully than the rest. Some days, it's so painful that the rest of my heart feels it too.

My husband came home from work one day to find me sitting quietly on the couch. For some reason, that day was a missing day. I can never tell when those days will come, or why, but they do come. He sat down and asked me if something was wrong, and I began to cry. He thought something had happened until I explained why I was crying. I missed them. I missed them so much that it felt like my heart was seizing.

Strangely, I even miss the ones I never knew, I think just for the fact that I never knew them. I receive pictures from other volunteers who have recently returned, and I don't recognize many of the New Life crew anymore. The ones I do recognize have changed. Adjoa has gotten so tall. Benjie is speaking English like a pro. They are growing and changing, and I miss being there for that.

As a volunteer, you give and serve and sacrifice for the children until you have given them everything that is in you. In return, they give you their love. You feel like they have become yours, like you are the mother of 50-odd children. And you know that dozens of other volunteers feel the same way, and that really, you were only there for so short a time and sometimes feel like you've done so little. Yet you still miss them; the mother you've become regardless of how many others came or how little time you spent cries out to hold your children.

Sometimes you get letters that tell you they still remember you, that they still sing the songs you taught, and you are happy. And it only makes you miss them more. I would never give up the feeling of missing them. If I didn't miss them, it means I didn't love them, and if I never loved them, my heart would never know what that love feels like. And that thought hurts more than missing them ever could.

Comfort, Small Elizabeth (Adjoa), Shallee, and Elizabeth

Volunteer at an Orphanage in Ghana, West Africa!

I am very excited to announce that next summer, Families for Children International, who has partnered with New Life International Orphanage in the past, is sending two volunteer groups to Ghana! If you would like to volunteer abroad, volunteer where you are, or donate, please visit http://familiesforchildren.googlepages.com/ and follow the directions on the main page.

Volunteers will be volunteering at Families for Children's new orphanage/school, Sankofa Mbofra Fie Orphanage, and possibly New Life International! Please note that this is not sponsored by NLI, but will hopefully do much to help the children there and at the other orphanages.

This is an incredible opportunity to do what you can to help children in need. Even if you can't volunteer abroad, we will gladly accept any and all offers to help, or donations toward the projects we will be doing while abroad. Until then, I'll leave you with this video of my own host family, as a taste of the experience you could have!

I Love you Forever

I dream about Ghana fairly frequently. Usually, I dream about going back, like last night. Sometimes it's a good
Michael, appx. age 12/13, summer 2006
dream, and sometimes a bad one. Last night, I dreamed about my Michael, but despite that, it was not a good dream.

Like most of the volunteers, I came back calling the kids "my kids." After loving them so much, I couldn't help but feel they were a part of me enough to call them mine. But more than any other, Michael is my Michael. He was only 10 when I was there, and at the time, he didn't live at the orphanage. He lived with his mother and came to school at the orphanage. I never really knew him until the day he began throwing up at school. He asked for a cup of water, which he used to pour over his feverish head, then promptly proceeded to shiver uncontrollably. With help from a local villager named Patrick, I took Michael home. Michael was so ill, Patrick had to carry him on his back most of the way. I swallowed as I ran through the symptoms of malaria in my head.

I had heard stories from others about poverty, and even seen bits of it my self up to this point in Ghana. But Michael lived in poverty; to him, it wasn't a word spoken with disgust on the tongues of those who may or may not understand it. It wasn't poverty for Michael, it was life. I stared mutely around the mud shack, barely as big as my bedroom, glancing up at the sky through the bamboo roof. There was no furniture but a low stool. Patrick to laid Michael down on the concrete floor in the half of the room shielded by hanging clothes: the bedroom. Michael's mother, Grace, didn't speak much English, nor did her brother, who had helped take care of the family since Michael's father had died. Patrick was my translator, as I explained how he had gotten sick and gave them clean water. Then, I took a deep breath and asked if I could pray for Michael.

He was roused to sit on the one stool, looking ready to fall over as soon as he sat. I began to pray as Michael's small family stood over me. As I prayed for Michael to get well, listening to the gently murmured "amens" coming from his mother and uncle, I suddenly felt the greatest outpouring of love I had ever felt for this small boy. It was as though I was feeling God's love for him, and I knew that, whatever happened, everything would be alright.

When I returned to check on him the next day, I saw the first miracle of my life: Michael's beaming face as he peered outside, then ran to give me a hug. From that day, I loved Michael as deeply as though he truly were mine. We played together, read Love you Forever together, and loved each other. I helped his family buy food, and gave them money to start a small business selling banku. But then I had to leave.

Michael (far right) with his mother, uncle, and cousins.

As I stood crying the day at the tro-tro stop on my last day, Michael held my hand and cried too. The tro-tro came, and I knelt to hug my Michael.

"I love you," I whispered.

"Forever," he whispered back.

Since that day, I have had a constant subtle ache in my heart that reminds me to pray for my Michael daily. Not too long ago, I received a letter from him through another volunteer, asking me to help his mother build a house. Having just married and needing to get my husband through school, I had no money to send, and my heart broke trying to explain to Michael through a letter that I could not build a house for his family then.

And so, the source of my dream. In it, I was playing with some of the children when I saw Michael. Bitterly, he upbraided me for forgetting him, for not helping him. In his voice I heard anger, and his sweet face looked full of hate and loss. I woke up and wanted to cry, and have not been able to stop thinking about it all day.

There has to be a way to help my Michael. God made a way for him to be healed. God can make a way for him to soar out of his poverty. And I will find that way, because he is my Michael, and I love him forever.

Me with Michael, May 2005

Photo Updates on New Life International Orphanage!

As mentioned earlier, some volunteers returned from NLI in July having had great success with several projects! Below are a few pictures from Andrea, who went with a team this summer.

The beginnings of the square foot garden! These gardens bring in more crops in less space with less water.

Volunteers handing out supplies.

Keyboarding! The boys especially loved this one.

Pernel is showing off some of the books made by students in America to add to NLI's library.

More musical stars! Daniel, Belinda, and Frank show off their new recorders.

The beginnings of soap making!

Dorcas proudly displays the finished soap. There is enough to use and to sell, so it's an income possibility too!

Other volunteers have posted some updated pictures on the Yahoo group. To see more, join by clicking the botton to the right!

Education for a Former Teacher

NOTE: The orphanage directors have asked me to make note that this is not a sponsorship in the name of the orphanage. It was posted here because Nana formerly taught there, and a former NLI volunteer is helping. However, this is a private sponsorship, and is not connected with NLI itself.

Over the last little while at New Life International orphanage, a young man named Nana has been helping teach the children. Now, in return for his help in educating the little ones, one volunteer is helping him achieve his own education. Please read the letter from Emily below, and if you feel inclined to help, feel free to email her for more information.

"Dear all,
I volunteered at New Life last year and then went back again for a week just before Christmas - to take presents for the children.
Do you all remember Nana - the guy working at New Life? Great guy. Well I am kind of writing to you on his behalf. My parents are paying him to go to university from September this year, which is fantastic news as I am sure you will all agree. He is so so happy and grateful and it is just fantastic knowing that his life will be completely changed and he will now have so many prospects now. Anyway, for his studies, he needs a digital camera and a laptop computer, apparently. He has found prices for these although it seems quite extortionate, especially by Ghanaian standards. If any of you think you can help out in any way, please do get in touch with me and I can either put you in touch with Nana (who will be more than happy to give you his bank details) or I can try to sort something.

Hope to hear from some of you soon.
-Emily, emily_yeomans@hotmail.com"