It’s Human Rights Day, when the world commemorates the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to be free from slavery. Human rights are supposed to apply to everyone, everywhere, without regard to sex or race or age.
But in Ghana, three boys from a disadvantaged family were denied their basic rights until a local official working with Free the Slaves took a courageous stand to protect them.
Godwin, Ebenezer and Bright Anyimornu’s mother believed the promises of a fake labor recruiter. He said her boys would get schooling she could never afford to give them, apprenticeships that would lead to good paying jobs, and free healthcare.
But the man was actually a trafficker. After the boys left home to work in Ghana’s fishing industry, they endured malnutrition, overwork, beatings, dangerous conditions and no pay.
Our rights make us human. Support Free the Slaves to spread freedom worldwide.
The brothers are now growing up free after help from Free the Slaves.
Our Ghana program educates villagers about their basic human rights, and organizes community leaders to become advocates for change.
One of those leaders, an elected official, took action when he learned that the Anyimornu brothers had been enslaved for eight years. He pressured their mother to bring the boys back home, where they received medical, psychological, educational and vocational assistance in a shelter supported by your contributions.
Will you help us ensure children can enjoy their human right to be free from slavery?
The principle of leaving no one behind has been at the heart of the Free the Slaves mission since the day we started 20 years ago. As civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer famously declared, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
As we celebrate the holiday season, please join our end-of-year campaign to build a world where no child is left behind. Human rights should protect everyone, especially children.
