Slaves of the Lake - Documentary on Child Labor in Ghana

Lake Volta is an enormous man made lake in Ghana which sustains a large fishing industry. Unfortunately, child labor is being utilized at the local level and children are being sold into service on the lake by families and caretakers in poor financial situations. This film examines this practice and encourages action to keep families together and stop the exploitation of children for labor to support the fishing industry in Ghana on Lake Volta.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Child labor
• Ghana
• Fishing industry
• Lake Volta
• Slavery

[akolose]

I CANT STOP CRYING , AND I SWEAR ON MY LIFE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, EVEN IF IT COST ME MY LIFE...

[jadorenoaalafolie]

its incredible how many Ghanaians look onto this mess and dont do anything about it.......

[Debz1990]

I worked in Kumasi the last two summers with kids in an orphanage, I saw none of this, the kids i met were impoverished but there parents loved them and cared for them...this is not everywhere in ghana and while it is terrible not everyone in ghana can be held responsible

[rossezinga]

@akolose @akolose You can volunteer and get more information here challenging heights .org . They are the orphanage in the video who work to end child slavery. They love and are used to having volunteers!

[zondrah89]

why have a kid you know you can't afford to raise? why sell your own child into slavery? and what do your new husband and children think about what you've done?

[bman50cent]

@akolose thank you, i believe that we have the power to make Ghana better for these children. humanitarians, unite !!!!!

[payit4ward]

@r2dege

Poverty is the cause of this."Poverty is the worst form of violence"

Mahatma Gandhi

He was quite correct.

[Trigz1985]

After seeing these children in person the feeling you experience is a strange one. Part of you is telling you you should feel so sad regarding the hellish tortures to which they faced on a daily basis. However in truth, those that I came across did nothing but inspire me with the stereotypical smiles of a Ghanaian child, that degree of excitability over the most average of things. If you meet these children they shall inspire you to be stronger in life; I pray for the release of all in slavery!

[tylamasta]

"I told him that if he hit me again I would run into the lake and kill myself."

Oh God. Oh God. This is too sad. This video is very upsetting, but this issue needs to be more well-known. This is a very good documentary you've made here, and I hope more people watch it and understand this problem.

(It's also good research for the documentary I'm making in school on this topic)

[Trigz1985]

@r2dege A situation within a society has arose, in that the poverty of a country is so immense, that the nets themselves are more valuable than the human beings who occupy them. The economics of the fishing industry has forced the industry to resort to using children in this form purely because if they didn't, they would be costing themselves much more to live, so much so that their livelihoods would be non-existent. The desperate situation of poverty has created a 'dog-eat-dog' mentality.

[smartmannow]

why cant i copy the embeded code and share it