Meeting a Child Trafficker

Our recent blog post ‘Child trafficking in Ethiopia’ highlighted the danger faced by all orphans and vulnerable children. Gondar’s location close to the Sudanese border makes our local children particularly at risk. This is the shocking account of our recent face-to-face encounter with a suspected child trafficker.

With the smell of freshly roasted coffee circulating our phone rang.

“Did you know Adem is leaving Gondar?”

“No”

“He and another boy going to America with a man they just met”

My heart sank. This is a common trick.

Many - I’m even inclined to say the vast majority of – people in Ethiopia, see America as a promised land where everyone has a life of luxury. It comes as no surprise that poor families are willing to let their children go away with a stranger with a promise of a better life in the US. It is the honey-trap.

We raced to Adem’s house. There is no way this is legitimate I told myself. I’d recently been written a blog on child trafficking in Ethiopia and read too many stories about the lies of schooling and a better life in other countries used to deceive children and their families.

When we arrived Adem was there as was the man wanting to take him to the US. As Nigisti spoke to the children, I started talking to the ‘man from Sudan’ in the most unaccusing way I could muster. In all honesty playing dumb trying to solicit more information from him; Adem and his friend Robel might not be the only ones.

“Are you the man who wants to take the boys to America?”

“Yes” he replied

We talked in English for several minutes. It transpired he was from Sudan and wanted to help the boys and their families. They had helped him after a series of unfortunate events had happened to him leaving him with very little money, so he was going to take the boys with him. I was a long way from being convinced. Wherever you are in the world it is still very unusual to take a family’s child after knowing them less than 2 days.

I enquired more about how he intended to take them to the US. It soon transpired he had no US passport or even a visa. I informed him that it would be almost impossible to take a child to the US without being a citizen. He replied he knew people in the Embassy and it might take some time to sort out, which he admitted might take months.

“What happens if you don’t get a visa for them?”
“I know a man at the Embassy” he repeated
“I’m not sure it works like that. What happens if they don’t get a visa? What will they do in the meantime? Wouldn’t it be better to leave the boys with their families until you do get a visa arranged?"
“I hadn’t thought of that” he said

At this point his story started to become inconsistent and I’d started to become agitated. He finally tried a complete about turn saying that it was a misunderstanding and he wasn’t taking the boys anywhere. Their bags were already packed.

I told him about the stories just like this used to lure children away. As soon as they are across the border the illusion is shattered; the kids are beaten savagely to establish fear and control. Now in a country they don’t know, where they don’t speak the language, don’t trust the police, their misery begins.

We walked this suspicious character to the police station where he was held for the night but not before the police had ridiculed the children for being so ignorant.

It’s hard to explain what happened the following day. The families tried to defend the man who they believed to be taking their sons to a better life. They accused us of trying to limit their opportunities, despite recently arranging school sponsorship for Adem. They still believed he was going to take the boys to the US.

Despite the inconsistencies in his story the Police Inspector was dismissive. The man from Sudan was freed.
We could not be in a position to judge this man. He might have been honestly and very naively trying to help them. We don’t know, despite the evidence to the contrary.

Rollin, a volunteer and David a helpful local from Gondar spent the next two days informing as many children as possible about the threat posed by child traffickers and the methods they use.

We intend to start an awareness programme this year to tackle the problem, using drama, role play and retelling stories of affected children. If you can please pledge you support to our causes by donating to our child trafficking awareness programme.

Girls: the hidden problem

There are over 800 children sleeping on the streets of Gondar every night, over 90% are boys. Their situation is very tough, beyond what any child should endure. But where are the girls?

There are no statistics we can find however our every day experiences speak for themselves. Girls of all ages come to our office pleading for help. They are not homeless; mostly they are ‘housemaids’.

It is a common practice in Ethiopia for families to have a housemaid. This is not a bad thing; it provides vital shelter and income to many young women. However the reality of being a housemaid can be a harsh one.

Mostly invisible to people outside the household many girls are treated like slaves; given no wages, fed only scraps and often mentally, physically or sexually abused.

As part of our new 5 year strategic plan we hope to identify and protect these children. This can only be achieved by raising vigilance, improving education and working directly with community based organisations to build a network across Gondar.

With talks with new sponsors at an advanced stage we hope to announce the opening of a new shelter soon. This new home will provide a loving family environment for 17 girls.

If you are moved by this story and want to help please make a regular monthly donation to Yenege Tesfa through our UK partner Good Karma. The cost of giving a little girl a new family home with education, healthcare and a bright future is as little as €1.40 per day; no more than a cup of coffee.

Child trafficking in Ethiopia

Child trafficking is one of the most horrifying crimes imaginable. Children are bought and traded; sold into a life of servitude and abuse. Ethiopia is a child trafficking hotspot.

A recent ‘Trafficking in Persons’ report from the United States Department of State highlights the problem in Ethiopia:

“Ethiopia is a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. Girls from Ethiopia's rural areas are forced into domestic servitude and, less frequently, commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are subjected to forced labor in traditional weaving, agriculture, herding, and street vending.“

Families who struggle to maintain their families are often persuaded to sell their children, or even pay for them to be sent to a better life. There is a flow of rural children to Ethiopian cities and trafficking of children from cities to foreign countries.

As detailed on www.ChildTrafficking.org in 2005 a legal expert with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) counter-trafficking unit in Addis Ababa, Alem Brook, said internal trafficking of children in Ethiopia was one of the highest in the world. "The parents are often deceived with promises of money or that the child will be educated [...] we are talking about thousands of children each year."

The IOM warned that thousands of Ethiopian women were also trafficked abroad. At least 10,000 have been sent to the Gulf States to work as prostitutes, the agency said. "There are increasing numbers of young women being recruited from here for sexual purposes" Alem said.

In 2005 traffickers in Ethiopia were reported to earn around $800 for each victim they send overseas, this value is likely to have nearly doubled. If caught, they are liable to 20 years imprisonment but few are ever prosecuted. In fact in 2009 only five convictions were made country-wide, with only one offender imprisoned.

With a limited threat of prosecution and high returns it is little surprise that child trafficking and forced labour are on the rise in Ethiopia.

It is beyond the capability of Yenege Tesfa to tackle the traffickers, however our response is through education. Our social education programmes aim to tackle this issue by educating children and young adults in Gondar. We are also planning to start rural community training and awareness programmes to help combat this growing problem.

Please help us to start this new awareness programme by making a one-off or regular donation through our UK partner Good Karma. Thank you.

Away for the day: kids trip to Gorgora

Each year we plan a trip for the children outside Gondar to give them a change of surroundings and a wider look at this wonderful country. This year we went to Gorgora, a beautiful location on the northern shores of Lake Tana, renowned for its beautiful wildlife. The site of last year’s visit.

We had hoped to go a little further afield to Awramba, a non-religious cooperative who weave fabrics to support their self-sustaining community. It would be an interesting education for the children. However with fuel prices very high in Ethiopia right now we opted for a return to Gorgora.

The rented bus set off early from Gondar with the children full of excitement, joined by Fenta, Hanna, the mothers from each house and Dan’s mother Carolyn (visiting from the UK). All in all we were a party of over 40. The 65km journey seemed to take a long time and the kids streamed out the bus with great excitement when we finally arrived.

We played games, took mounds of photos and even went for a swim in the lake. One of the highlights of the day was when Tadessa got out of his wheelchair and clung on to Dan’s back as he took him for his first swim in the lake. The kids all love being in the water… if only Fasilides Baths in Gondar could be used as a swimming pool.

The mothers had brought a feast for lunch and we all ate well before the kids stripped all the local fruit trees of mangoes and berries. After a walk to the local church and yet more football it was time to jump back on the bus. The kids looked so happy and when most fell asleep on the bus on the way home, it was a sign that they’d all had a great day.

Thanks to our sponsors 13th Star for funding this memorable day.

200 Kids for Christmas

In Ethiopia we celebrate Christmas on January 7th. This year we were very lucky to have a generous donation from two longstanding Canadian sponsors to lay on some festivities for our kids. However we thought we could make the donation stretch to help the children even less fortunate than those in our shelters; there are still over 1500 children living on the street in Gondar.

Our plan was to have a big Christmas lunch with traditional food and entertainment in one of the local halls and invite the street kids along for a big party.

We handed out tickets to the kids we know to be those most in need and made preparations for the big day with ‘Shakespeare’ a local volunteer theatre group, who work with children to encourage creativity and teach them important lessons about HIV/AIDS through drama.

We’d initially planned for 150 kids to come but on the day, the door was jammed with kids of all ages all keen for a good meal and party. The kids with tickets came in first and enjoyed the music put on by Shakespeare. There was a really good mood all around, especially when we dished up food and a free t-shirt for them all. Rarely can so many kids have been so well behaved!

Visitors from Social Affairs also came down to visit and were charmed by all the good things going on. A big plus as we want as much support as we can from them to build our Home for Tomorrow, to find a home for these kids.

One of the most touching moments came when we let in more kids when we still had plenty of food left over. Inevitably they wanted t-shirts too but there were none left to go around. The kids from our shelters took their new t-shirts off their backs to give to the youngest of them. A moment that made us all very proud.

The afternoon was rounded off with music, singing and a talent contest, that included a Ms. Yenege Tesfa contest (with Leilt and Selamoit vying for the title), one of the deaf boys dancing and getting the crowd to sway, and a hilarious rendition of 50 Cent from one of the street boys – with everyone cheering and playing along.

It was a wonderful day, something we hope to do again next year. It was so nice to be able to give the kids a special day, at a time of year when family is so important. A massive thank you to our Canadian friends for making all this possible with their donation, and all our volunteers on the day for making it such a great success.