How equipping mothers prevents child exploitation

Born blind, Caimille didn’t have the access or adaptive resources she needed to earn a sustainable income, and relied on her husband’s income for her and her children. Without his love and support, she spent countless hours struggling to provide for her children. 

When a local fisherman noticed the family’s desperate fight for survival, it felt like a lifeline—especially when he offered to make her oldest son, Tano*, his apprentice. The fisherman offered to teach Tano how to earn a sustainable living by fishing for tilapia, oysters and catfish. He even offered to pay Caimille, so that she could support her other children. 

Believing this was her son’s only path out of poverty, Caimille agreed.  

She had no clue she’d just sold her son into child labor. 

Like many parents living in extreme poverty, Caimille was unknowingly manipulated by someone who understood how to prey on a parent’s love for their child and desperate hope for their future. These exploitive adults traffic more than 78 million boys a year for forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing, construction and hazardous work—like work that occurs underwater.  

A life of danger: Child labor on Lake Volta, Ghana 

At only 14 years old, Tano joined the 50,000 other children forced to fish the murky waters of Lake Volta in Ghana. Infested with Nile crocodiles—lethal, aggressive reptiles known for hunting humans—the lake is dangerous for experienced, adult fisherman. For children like Tano, it’s downright deadly.  

Children working on Lake Volta often face:  

— Drowning from attempts to untangle submerged fishing nets 

— Injuries and infections from long hours of heavy labor 

— Water-borne diseases from frequent, prolonged immersion in the lake 

— Physical abuse from their traffickers 

— Malnourishment from a lack of consistent, healthy food 

— Lack of access to a quality education which violates their rights and prolongs cycles of generational poverty 

— Childhood trauma that interferes with healthy development and often leaves lasting, lifelong physical and mental challenges 

“I was afraid,” Tano said. “I had never been on a river before. I was beaten a lot. Sometimes I would leap in the water to escape the assault. If I did jump out of the boat, he would paddle away and [make] me swim home as punishment.” 

Tano’s story could have ended here. Struggling to survive alone, abused and exploited, he could have been forced to continue this fatal labor until injury, illness or death stopped him.  

But because of compassionate partners like you, SOS Children’s Villages and our partners in Ghana rescued Tano and reunited him with his family! 

“It was devastating to leave home. I didn’t want to leave my siblings,” Tano reflects. “I was so happy to be reunited with my family. I would surely be dead if I hadn’t been rescued.”  

Learn more about how we end exploitation and violence against children.   

Why rescue isn’t enough: Breaking the cycle of exploitation 

Rescuing a child from the horrors of child labor is essential, urgent work. But rescue alone isn’t enough to keep children safe from predators long-term. 

For many children who are rescued from child labor and returned to their families, the cycle threatens to continue. Their exploiters will often send someone new to the family—someone they haven’t interacted with before, but who knows exactly how to manipulate a parent’s desperate circumstance.  

Without addressing the root cause—poverty—rescued children remain vulnerable to re-exploitation.  

How economic empowerment protects children from exploitation 

SOS’ family strengthening program ensures children are protected by delivering the holistic support families need for immediate help and long-term stability.  

With economic empowerment resources like vocational and skills training, business mentorship, savings groups and more, parents can earn a reliable sustainable income and provide their children with the nutritious food, professional health care, quality education and more that they need to thrive. 

For Caimille, this included accessible trainings and adaptable tools so she is equitably equipped to provide for her children.  

Plus, positive parenting classes and child protection programs help inform parents of their children’s rights, identify common exploitation tactics and direct them toward local resources for help.  

With this education, parents like Caimille learn how exploiters manipulate parental love—helping equip them to ensure their love for their child isn’t used against them. 

How you can help equip mothers to protect their children 

Mothers like Caimille wish for nothing more than to provide for and protect their children—but they need lasting support and resources to make this dream a reality. 

With your monthly gift, you can give another mother the resources, training and support she needs to care for and shield her children, invest in her community and create a brighter future.  

Your generosity spans generations—equipping a mother with the skills and resources she needs to keep her family together, send her children to school and build lasting financial security! 

Join us in preventing child exploitation today by empowering mothers today.  

*Names changed to protect privacy.   

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