Riding for Salasi

Selena Larson and I are on about month three of training for the big Babes Blocking Traffic ride across the United States, and I’m finding that I gain a lot of drive and determination by thinking about the faces of the children I know we will be impacting.

A major part of our fundraising goal for this Compassionate Journeys project is to change the mindset of the people in the fishing communities along Lake Volta through education and the creation of economic opportunties, especially for women and girls. Child slavery is such an ingrained part of the culture there, partly because fishermen need to use the children as cheap labor to fish and support their own poverty-stricken families. Girls are used in farming fields, and also as house help to lift some of the burden off of wives, who are often doing the same work themselves. In the process, though, both boys and girls become “property” and are not valued as children. They sleep on the ground or in boats, are malnourished and are denied education, respect and love.

It is only when the culture changes from the inside out that real change will happen for these trafficked children.

So today’s 42-mile ride (it’s Phoenix and it was hot!) was for Salasi. Salasi is four years old (maybe five – no one really knows their age in these villages), and he was the first child I met when I arrived in Bakpakope a year ago. His eyes are haunting, and he always has a cautious and alert expression on his face. He is the grandson of the only teacher in the area, but even he misses school often because he has to help with fishing.

When I met Salasi, he was very shy, but he inched over to me as I talked with a group of adults. I pretended not to notice, and when he finally got close enough to touch my leg, I pretended not to notice that, too. Slowly, he made his way around me, touching my hair (I don’t know that he’d ever seen blond hair), my shirt and brushing over the blond hairs on my arm, fascinated. Eventually, he made his way onto my lap, a spot he has made his own many times during my visits.

Like other children in the village, Salasi has hope that we will bring more teachers to his villages. There was only one for 160 primary students when I first arrived. Now, thanks to sponsors, there are three. We still need more, though, and we need to replace the aging mud hut for kindergarten through third grades with a concrete building that will not need as much maintenance.

On the day we took photographs for sponsorships, Salasi wore his best clothes … a jean jacket and a pair of jeans his grandfather had gotten him for the occasion. It was a sweltering 90+ degrees and humid outside, but Salasi stood proudly, hoping someone would pick him to sponsor.

So, for Salasi, and all of the children in the Bakpakope area, I will continue to get up early nearly every morning and hop on my bicycle.

If you would like to sponsor a Bakpakope area child’s education, just $25 a month pays their school fees and helps us to hire more teachers. For more information, visit here: http://www.compassionatejourneys.com/Sponsor_a_Young_Child.html

To find out more about Babes Blocking Traffic and fighting child trafficking, visit www.babesblockingtraffic.org. Together, we really can make a difference!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/babesblockingtraffic and on Twitter at @babesbt!

Amanda Christmann Larson is Director of Compassionate Journeys, a volunteer organization dedicated to bringing resources and awareness to empower people in Ghana, West Africa. In the summer of 2012, Amanda and friends will be traveling from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida with Babes Blocking Traffic to spread awareness about child trafficking. Visit www.compassionatejourneys.com  and www.babesblockingtraffic.com for more information.