Recently, Touch a Life partnered with PACODEP, City of Refuge and Not For Sale to rescue Teiko, a 6 year old trafficked girl, from an island community on Lake Volta.  Lake Volta is home to thousands of child slaves who work 12-16 hour days on fishing boats.  The majority of these children are trafficked from various regions both inside and outside of Ghana and receive no health care and no education.

Teiko is an orphan who worked long hours preparing and cooking fish for her slave master in the village of Lala.  At first Teiko was very frightened to leave her familiar surroundings.  She was scooped up and comforted by Johnbull Omorefe, co-founder of City of Refuge where Teiko now resides.  As she was held by Johnbull, I began tracing her face and arms with my fingers and showered her with kisses and whispers.  At this point, I witnessed the miracle of love.  Soon, her eyes had come alive and she began smiling.  She settled into our boat at sunset and we began our journey back to Kete Krachi.  Teiko was taken to Village of Life – home to 35 other rescued children from Lake Volta – and was immediately welcomed by her new brothers and sisters.  I watched in delight as she laughed and played with the other kids and enjoyed the ice cream that was provided to celebrate her arrival.

Six other children were rescued during this visit to Kete Krachi.  Two of them now reside in Village of Life in Kete Krachi and five of them were taken to City of Refuge in Tema.  All will now receive health care, education and an abundance of love.

For more information on Touch a Life’s efforts in this region, please visit: http://www.touchalifekids.org