Two of the 11 children from Ekumpoano in the Central Region who were rescued last year from Kete Krachi, where they were engaged in various forms of child labour, are believed to have left for Yeji, another community known to engage in child trafficking.
The two children, who were enrolled together with the others at the Ekumpoano Catholic Primary and Junior High School (JHS) after their rescue, dropped out of school and later left town.
The headmaster of the school, Mr Alfred Dei, made this known to the Junior Graphic visited team which visited the school to check on the progress of the children.
He explained that the parents of the two boys, one in Class Six and the other in JHS One, did not inform him of the withdrawal of their children but he got the information from some residents of the town.
He was, however, quick to add that the remaining nine left in the school, who are all at the primary level, were doing well and picking up with class work.
One of them, Hannah, who is now in Class Two, told the Junior Graphic that she enjoyed her new life in school.
"I do not intend going back to Kete Krachi to work under those dangerous conditions again," she said.
She advised all mothers to take their children to school, instead of "sending them to engage in work that can affect their health".
Fourteen-year-old Benjamin, who is in Class One, had this to say, "When I first started school, it was not easy for me, but it's getting better."
When the Junior Graphic contacted the Director for Human Trafficking at the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs, Mrs Marylyn Amponsah-Annan, to check whether her outfit was aware that two of the children had dropped out of school, she responded in the negative.
According to her, since her outfit reunited the children with their families, it had been following up on their progress, adding that reports reaching the ministry indicated that they were doing well.
She said she would contact the chief of the village and do everything possible to trace and rescue the children from that island.
On measures to stop other children from running away, Mrs Amponsah-Annan explained that the ministry provided some money to the mothers of the children while the Ministry of Fisheries also organised training programmes on animal rearing and fishing so that the parents could earn some income to raise and support the children.
The May 30 to June 5, 2007 edition of the Junior Graphic reported that 13 children from Ekumpoano in the Central Region who had been sold into servitude had been reunited with their parents and enrolled in school.
They were among a batch of 25 rescued from Kete Krachi in the Volta Region where they were engaged in fishing.
Narrating their harrowing experiences to the Junior Graphic, they said they were maltreated by their masters.
Most of them looked stunted but could not remember the ages at which they were taken away from their families. They said they were beaten anytime they complained of tiredness while working.
Story by Augustina Tawiah
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