|
Martha's Story
Name: Martha
Age: 15
Country: Sierra Leone
 When things came down a little, the village was occupied by rebels and the situation was tense. Martha's father saw a steep decline in his business and was forced to move to a town deemed safe from rebel attack. There, he was able to rebuild his business and to send money and clothes to his daughter.
With her father gone, Martha moved in with her grandmother, who made a living by selling vegetables in the market. Sometimes, Martha had to help her and missed school as a result. But her situation took a sharp turn for the worse when her grandmother had a severe stroke, which left her unable to walk and almost unable to speak. Martha, by then 13 years old, found herself caring for her bedridden grandmother and with no news from her father. Poverty Sierra Leone
Time went by and, although barely able to keep up with school work, Martha managed to pass the National Primary School Examination, which allowed her to go on to high school. However, with her father gone and her grandmother no longer able to work, there was no money for the necessary school fees. Child poverty Africa
Martha's hopes for continuing her education now depended on her father, and she anxiously waited for him to re-establish contact. One morning, she received devastating news: her father had been murdered by the rebels.
"The whole world stopped for me," says Martha. "For the first time in my life I felt alone. I realised I was an orphan." poverty Africa
Martha is now staying with her stepmother, a woman her father married before his death and who she refers to as 'aunty', and her stepmother's three children. To help her new family, Martha sells biscuits in the street market, but she longs to go back to school. Luckily, her stepmother's new husband has shown sympathy to her plight and is willing to help. street children Africa
Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war (1991 - 2002) had devastating physical and psychological effects on thousands of children like Martha. Over 10,000 children were directly affected through family separation, random and indiscriminate violence, sexual assault, and abduction into the fighting forces. HELP SAVE MARTHA! HELP FIGHT CHILD TRAFFICKING! HELP FIGHT CHILD ABUSE (PROSTITUTION) IN AFRICA!
CHILD PROSTITUTION IN AFRICA (full story)
 LOME, 16 April - In downtown Lome there is an area known locally as "The Child Market," where girls as young as nine are offered for sex, sometimes for less than a dollar.
Child welfare groups complain that Togo lacks strong laws to punish the pimps who ruthlessly exploit these children. And the kids themselves complain that the police who patrol the district and are supposed to protect them, "simply demand sex for free." child prostitution Africa
Adjo is 11 years old and tries hard to look sexy in her black mini-skirt and skin-tight blue swimsuit top.
She said over a drink in a bar filled with cigarette smoke and drug dealers lurking in the background that she likes foreign customers best. They pay better and treat her better than Togolese men.
"The Ghanaians, the Ibos from Nigeria, the Senegalese and the other foreigners pay 5,000 CFA (US$10) and sometimes with a bit of luck they'll pay 10,000 CFA (US$20) - and despite that they treat us well," Adjo said.
"The Togolese maybe give us 1000 or 1500 CFA (US$2 or $3) and then want to rape us violently. They often hurt and insult us," the small girl said, visibly upset as she recalled such unpleasant memories. child prostitution Africa
Adjo's 13-year-old friend Amivi meanwhile complained that the security forces did nothing to help the girls by day and simply exploit them sexually at night.
"The soldiers, who are supposed to protect us when they are on patrol want to have sexual relations with us without paying and we are too frightened to say no, so we have to accept without turning a hair," she explained. child prostitution Africa
According to Adjo, she never knew her real parents. But she and Amivi hand over all the money they earn to a woman whom they call "Mama".
If the girls give this woman too little cash at the end of a shift, they run the risk of a severe beating.
"At the end of every day I have to give the money to a woman called Mama. "If I don't have enough money to give her, I get beaten," Adjo said.
Besides Adjo and Amivi, there are several hundred other young girls aged between nine and 15 who can openly be bought for sex in the downtown area of Lome called "Devissime". The name means "Child Market" in the local Mina language.
Many of these girls have been separated from their families.
"I never knew my parents," explained Adjo, "I was abandoned and I've always had to manage on my own."
Sometimes the girls sell themselves for as little as 200 CFA (40 cents). Only the better looking ones such as Adjo, can persuade their Togolese male clients to pay as much as 1500 CFA (US$3).
According to Adjo, " they vary from high school pupils and apprentice mechanics to wealthy members of Togo's ruling elite, who have children of their own back home." " These older men tend to be infatuated with the little girls", she added.
There are no reliable statistics about the sexual abuse of children in Togo, but there is a general perception among social workers and child protection volunteers that the phenomenon has increased alarmingly in recent years.
The issue came up for discussion earlier this week at a seminar in Lome on the trafficking and social exploitation of women and children in Togo.
The meeting was organised by two non-governmental organisations: the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) and the Africa branch of the World Association of Orphans (WAO-Africa). child Abuse: child prostitution Africa
Both organisations want to see more research undertaken to evaluate the extent of these problems.
"There is no documentation about this phenomenon that would enable us to gain a better grasp of the situation" said Cleophas Mally from WAO-Africa.
"We have launched an investigation which should give us more reliable figures that would enable us to deal with this scourge more easily," he added.
Mally noted that although many of the exploited children came from very poor backgrounds, some of them had drifted into the life of a child hooker from quite affluent homes.
The seminar brought together journalists, hoteliers, traditional chiefs and religious leaders in a bid to talk openly about the sexual abuse of children, which is still a taboo subject in Togolese society.
Mally said it was still virtually impossible to charge and convict those who fill their pockets from the sexual exploitation of children, because the country's present laws do not provide young people with adequate protection.
However, he noted that a new child protection bill had recently been tabled in parliament.
Investigations carried out by Human Rights Watch (HRW), have shown that many vulnerable children in Togo fall victim to traffickers who supply children as cheap labour or sex slaves throughout West Africa. child Abuse: child prostitution in Africa
The New York-based organisation recommended in a report published in March 2003 that Togo revise its laws to provide better protection to the victims of child trafficking and more help for them to be reinstated back into the community.
It accused the government of failing to make any headway in tackling the problem.
Meanwhile, these irresponsible men and women continue roaming about on the streets looking for little girls to devour and little Adjo, frightened of another beating, has to concentrate on earning more money.
She said it was worth spending some of her hard earned cash at the second hand clothes market to buy new outfits as she needs sexy gear to attract new clients.
"With 500 CFA (US$1) I can get two sexy outfits!" she said, bursting into laughter. Help Now! Help save little Adjo, Help fight child prostitution in Africa.
MALARIA ON THE RISE, CHILDREN MOST VULNERABLE
Malaria, one of the world's most important public health concerns, is on the rise again, causing over a million deaths a year, including an estimated 700,000 children. According to the WHO, in absolute numbers, malaria kills 3,000 children under 5 years old, every day a death toll comparable to that of AIDS. Effective malaria control programs have led to dramatic declines in death in some countries, but obstacles remain in many of the world's poorest countries.
Roll Back Malaria movement has clearly made extraordinary progress in many countries across the world, enabling hundreds of thousands of people living in poor communities to better access prevention and treatment services." according to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization. "But there remains much to be done. I hope that international and national agencies, encouraged by the progress, will commit additional resources so that actions to Roll Back Malaria can be scaled up and millions more can benefit." diseases in Africa : malaria
The rising numbers of people affected by Malaria overwhelms national health services, sustains poverty and weakens societies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where ninety percent of the cases occur. The cost of prevention and treatment consumes scarce household resources and the disease continues to have a negative impact on the health of children. diseases in Africa: malaria
"Malaria is much more than a health issue. In many countries, it is now endangering development, targeting the poor and especially children who have little or no defense." according to James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group. "We need to give them those defenses. We have seen in Asia, Latin America and some African countries, that malaria can be controlled with the right tools and resources. We need to work aggressively with local NGOs and with the private sector to fight malaria at the local level, and work with governments to scale up local programs into national strategies."
HELP FIGHT WAR AND MALARIA IN AFRICA
HELP FIGHT CHILD TRAFFICKING IN AFRICA
FIGHT CHILD POVERTY IN AFRICA
HELP FIGHT CHILD LABOR AND CHILD PROSTITUTION IN AFRICA
NEW!! NEW!! PLEASE COME JOIN THE COZAY FORUMS!! CLICK ON "COMMENTS" FOR MORE!
|
