Our partnership with Challenging Heights

The coastal communities of Ghana are source communities for children trafficked to Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world. Fishing is a way of life in the communities along the coast, and as such many children pick up fishing skills at an early age, making them appealing to traffickers heading to the lake. The 2016 Global Slavery index estimates that there are 103,300 people in Ghana in modern slavery, and that 21,000 of them are children on Lake Volta. The majority of children are too young to legally conduct the hazardous tasks inherent in many aspects of the fishing industry. Approximately one-fifth of children working in the fishing industry are six years old or younger.

One Day’s Wages partnered with Challenging Heights to support and empower survivors of human trafficking on Lake Volta. Through our partnership, we helped achieve the rehabilitation and reintegration of 15 children from trafficking and forced labor in Ghana. Upon rescue, these children were brought to the Challenging Heights Hovde House, where they received individualized psychological and physical care to help them heal from their trauma. After significant progress in their recovery, many children were finally able to begin school or apprenticeship work again and start to imagine a better future for themselves.