Anti-slavery campaigner to share his story
It is shared by the seventh secretary general of the UN and by a man who rose above unspeakable suffering to become a world champion of human rights.
Both men’s early lives could hardly have been more different. Although they were both born in Ghana, the former secretary general had a relatively privileged upbringing while James Kofi Annan spent his childhood in bondage.
Yet each share a passion for fighting injustice and have pledged their lives to ending suffering, particularly among the poor and underprivileged.
James Kofi Annan will deliver a lecture at University College Cork this evening (Dec 6, 2011).
James was sold into slavery at the age of six and forced into back-breaking and dangerous work on fishing boats in Ghana for seven years. He finally escaped, got an education, and founded a school to help child slavery survivors.
He can still remember his early life in the village, far from his home. He worked in 17 hours a day. Food and shelter were scant and abuse was constant.
“Every morning at 3am I would start working.”
Physically the work was very strenuous and James, along with his fellow slaves, often suffered savage beatings.
It is that memory that spurred him in 2003 to found Challenging Heights, a Ghanaian NGO dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating child survivors of slavery.
“The most important factor to prevent child slavery is education,” he says. “Child slavery is just not fair and that is why I have devoted my time and dedicated my life to fighting it. It makes me feel cheated — so I must ensure that others are not cheated.”
At 14, James couldn’t read or write but he was convinced that if he could only learn English, his life would get better.
He befriended children in local schools and borrowed their books so he could learn to read. He worked to feed himself and to pay for school. On standardised exams his scores broke records that have yet to be topped. James persevered and graduated from college.
Finally, his perseverance paid off and he landed a job at Barclays Bank.
With freedom and education came responsibility, so in 2003, he set up Challenging Heights to empower children through education. In some villages James has created peer programmes to get local children in school and away from traffickers. In 2007 James quit his job to dedicate himself to Challenging Heights full time.
For James, ending slavery is a lifelong commitment.
Tonight’s talk will focus on James work in securing the safety of former child slaves under the auspices of Ghanaian NGO Challenging Heights.
The lecture takes place in the Boole II lecture theatre at 6.15pm this evening, Dec 6, 2011.
