April 2016
In This Issue: The Art of Freedom
Micro Grant Success!
The Art of Freedom
The Right To Be Free Club at Lincoln Community School in Accra, Ghana, thanks to a generous grant from the school's Lincoln Loyalty Fund, spent seven months planning and implementing their arts based community service project. Collaborating with Ghanaian artists, child trafficking survivors and students, the club organized and hosted a series of art workshops to raise awareness of child trafficking and funds to support the work of RTBF. The first workshop was featured in ourDecember 2015 newsletter and subsequent newsletters have highlighted the entire art workshop series.
The Art of Freedomwas a public exhibit at the Alliance Francaise d'Accra where all the artwork created from the workshops was displayed from April 6 - 20. Opening night was on April 6th where an estimated 200 guests attended. The participating artists generously donated artwork for the silent auction. The event was a huge success and $2,650 was raised to fund the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficked children in Ghana!
Opening night of The Art for Freedom
Eric Peasah (left) Executive Director of RTBF/Africa, shares information about child trafficking and expresses his gratitude for the support of his work to rescue enslaved children.
Beautiful collages were created from the art workshop with Lincoln Community School teacher Andrew Shuttleworth, who has taught art to students throughout the world.
Christian (left) shared his experience as a survivor of child trafficking and said "I have hope for the future." August Brown-Augdal (right), founding member of the RTBF Club at Lincoln Community School, was among the student speakers. Behind him are murals from the workshop with artists from Nima Muhinmanchi Art (NMA).
Members of the Right To Be Free Club at Lincoln Community School in Accra, Ghana. RTBF/USA board members Alex Papp, LCS teacher and RTBF club advisor (front left) and Jennifer Brown-Augdal (front right).
The success of The Art of Freedom event underscores what our youth can achieve when their compassion for others is supported and encouraged. Julie Olson, LCS Elementary Principal, said "What a truly great demonstration of student action realized. I'm very proud tonight. The cause is undoubtedly compelling. Child slavery in Ghana and elsewhere in the world is horrific." Larry Yussif, one of the participating Ghanaian artists from NMA, said "I really believe that Art has the power to unify us as people from different diversity, irrespective of your social, political, economic and religious class."
Thanks to LCS, for fostering an environment where students are inspired to give back, to the students, parent volunteers and Ghanaian artists who contributed to the success of the workshops and The Art of Freedom, and special thanks to Alex Papp, Jennifer Brown-Augdal and the members of the Right To Be Free Club for all their hard work to make a real difference in the lives of enslaved children.
Micro Grant Success
After her husband passed away two years ago, Joy struggled to provide for her family. She was suddenly a single mother with no means to provide for her family. Her brother in law offered to help take care of her two daughters, Mabel and Peace, age eight and six at the time, and two younger siblings. Joy agreed, believing the children would be better off living with their paternal uncle. Unfortunately, he also struggled to care for them, so he sold Mabel and Peace (featured in the February 2015 newsletter) to a fisherman in exchange for funds to support their two younger siblings. Since poverty is the common cause of child trafficking, families struggling to survive often fall prey to traffickers' deceptive practices. They are unaware of the abusive lives the children endure.
During a routine trip by RTBF to monitor the communities along Lake Volta, Joy sought RTBF's assistance and Mabel and Peace were rescued. After undergoing the six month rehabilitation program, both girls are happily living out their childhoods and going to school. Mabel says English is her best subject and she still plans to be a teacher someday so she can be a positive influence in the lives of others who may have gone through what she experienced. Peace continues to love to read and has changed her plans to be a nurse. She now wants to become a medical doctor.
After Mabel and Peace completed the rehabilitation program, RTBF helped the family relocate to a town near Accra and gave Joy a micro-grant to start a business. Initially she traded charcoal, but later switched to smoked fish, because there was more demand.
Joy sets up her smoked fish stand at the wholesale market near Accra.
Twice a month, Joy travels six hours by bus from her home to Lake Volta. She spends a week traveling to the various islands along the lake, buying smoked fish from villagers. While she is away, her oldest daughter who recently finished senior high school and is now working, takes care of Mabel, Peace and their younger siblings.
When Joy returns home, she spends a week selling the smoked fish in the wholesale markets. She arrives early in the morning at dawn to sell her smoked fish to her regular wholesale customers who buy in bulk. Joy factors in her travel costs to and from Lake Volta, as well as her food and lodging during her week there to determine her wholesale prices. Sometimes she sets aside a basket of fish to sell for retail in her own neighborhood to increase her profits. Joy would like a micro-loan in order to grow her business so she can buy more fish to increase her profits, to adequately provide for her family's needs.
Joy said "Thanks to RTBF, I have seen a positive transformation in my life and those of my children because my business is doing well."
RTBF effectively combats human trafficking through education and providing vocational training, micro grants and commerce opportunities. We help impoverished families overcome poverty so they can build financial security for their themselves and their children.
Mother's Day is on Sunday, May 8th. Join us in honoring mothers by helping us give the gift of freedom to more children like Peace and Mabel, and assist single mothers like Joy, who are working hard to build a better future for their children.
All operating costs are funded internally, so 100% of every donation directly supports victims of child trafficking.
If you are an Amazon shopper, please support RTBF when you shop online. Amazon’s Smile Foundation will donate .05% of your purchase to Right To Be Free. Your account is exactly the same on Amazon and AmazonSmile and your shopping activity and purchases remain private. Use AmazonSmile's link once to shop for the benefit of RTBF and in the future, type “Smileamazon.com” (instead of Amazon.com) in your browser and your Amazon purchases will help save a child’s life!
