Ending modern day slavery

Edmond Vanderpuye. Video and photos by Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Let's unite to end modern day slavery in the 21st century. This is the message that Edmond Vanderpuye will be bringing to a Tauranga audience at a dinner on Friday evening.

Edmond is the CEO of International Needs (I.N) Network Ghana, invited here by International Needs NZ which has its NZ office in Tauranga.

'There are 45 million people held in various forms of slavery all around the world,” says Edmond. 'Slavery was supposed to have ended with the UN declaration in 1948.”

The 1926 Slavery Convention or the Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery was an international treaty created under the auspices of the League of Nations and first signed on September 25 1926. As of 2013, 99 countries have signed to commit to the convention, with New Zealand signing in 1953.

'However, there are many more slaves today than at any time in the history of the world,” says Edmond.

'In very subtle ways, modern day slavery is perpetrated. The main ingredients are really this, if any human being acquires another human being whether by outright purchase, by coercion or by deception; controls that individual, denies them the opportunity of freedom of right, and exploits their labour for personal gain; it amounts to slavery.

'These were the elements when you look at the transatlantic slave trade. When you see these elements happening in our world today, you can't help but come to the sad conclusion that slavery is still existent, and very present in our world today.”

In the Volta Region of Ghana women and girls are enslaved by an occult practice and are commonly referred to as Trokosi or Fetish Slaves. I.N Network Ghana began in 1984, and in 1991 commenced a project to emancipate these Fetish Slaves. In the past few years the organisation has been a catalyst for many villages, emancipating over 3,500 women. Their work has been featured by the New York Times, the BBC and CNN.

'Fetish Slaves is a practice in Ghana where young girls are taken away from their families, placed in a shrine and they become the property of the fetish priest, to serve the offences or wrongs that have been committed by a family member,” says Edmond.

'We've worked over the last 20 to 25 years to make sure we set free women held in bondage; and provide skills training, counselling, and start-up capital to help them find life and live again.

'We received funding from the NZ Government to work in various communities in Ghana to make sure that young girls who are sexually exploited for commercial purposes have the opportunity to get a better life and get out of the practice.”

In 2006, I.N Network Ghana's project of Commercial Exploitation of Children in Fishing was judged second in the Annual Africa Initiative Awards organised in Paris by the People T.V.

'We have worked with the NZ Government to support children who have been trapped in the fishing industry and denied the opportunity of schooling and education,” says Edmond.

'Their development and growth is endangered because they are engaged in hazardous work.

'As we speak now, we are working on a child trafficking project where we are trying to rescue children who have been trafficked from their families to the middle part of Ghana, and handed over to fisher folk who employ their services in fishing.

'They sit in wooden dug-out canoes which fish in an area that has a lot of tree stumps. When they cast the net, sometimes it gets entangled, and the job of these children is to dive into the river to untangle the net. It is hard work and they are prone to danger. There are tree stumps in the water where they dive. We had a case of a young guy who had his leg amputated, because there was an accident.”

Ghana has a population of over 29 million, and has had a democratically elected government since 1992. In 2002, Ghanaians witnessed the first-ever transition from one democratically elected government to another.

As it is in many other parts of the world, slavery is not accepted in Ghana.

John Elen has been the NZ Operations Manager for International Needs since 2014.

'One of the things that makes International Needs very unique is not that we send people to show them how to do it,” says John.

'But we scan for very high quality skilled passionate people in their local community, like Edmond, and to the best of our ability empower and equip them to transform lives and change communities in their particular area and nation.

Edmond Vanderpuye and John Elen.

'Edmond is here this week to promote and make people aware of what's happening in Ghana and how we as New Zealanders can play a part.”

International Needs started just over 40 years ago by New Zealander Ray Harrison who now lives in Wellington. It now operates in 35 countries around the world.

'Our purpose is to transform lives and change communities,” says John, 'and we do that through things like child sponsorship and community development programmes.

'International Needs is a uniquely Christian organisation in that we unashamedly believe that when it comes to transformation and changing communities, yes, we can build schools and other buildings, educate and equip people, but unless real change happens within a person's heart, within their soul, then it's not really going to happen.”

'In the 30-plus countries that are part of the International Needs family, there's NZ, the UK, the United States, and Canada; that support and do our best to support leaders like Edmond and his team in Ghana.”

International Needs helps communities help themselves. The Mamanwa Tribe, in Leyte, Philippines, used to live as squatters on mining slag, without water or sewerage. The organisation helped fund 23 houses on their own land.

In Fiji, International Needs NZ collaborated with NZ Aid and Youth for Christ Fiji to help solo mums. Fijian single-mothers are amongst the most vulnerable; they are ostracised and shamed, with no support from the government and no real support from family. They live in extreme poverty. The ‘Solo Mum Programme' trains local single mums to run their own businesses. The women are taught practical business and life skills over the 3-month course. The training is for women with little or no income who can't provide for their children and lack the confidence or means to change their circumstances. Once training is completed they return home with renewed faith and confidence in their abilities.

Other I.N. projects and sponsorship is happening in Bangladesh, Bougainville, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Turkey, Uganda and Vietnam.

'My particular role,” says John, 'is to build relationships between community groups, trusts, funders, and churches here in NZ, and like-minded partners overseas. We don't actually go and do the work, we just try and equip people and build the relationship. It's like being a broker between NZ'ers that really want to make an impact in the world, and people overseas that want to be impacted.

'International Needs is very much about relationship and connection. We can get reports from overseas, we can get photos, but there's nothing like meeting the person in the flesh and hearing directly from them, about the changes that are happening in people's lives, because of their involvement and support.

'That's why Edmond's here, to put that personal relationship component and connection into our support base.”

Edmond has a career background in accountancy, and is married with four children. He is in New Zealand for 21 days, visiting supporters.

'I'm loving it here. Every moment has been wonderful,” says Edmond. 'As John mentioned, regularly we take opportunity to come back to our support base and our partners around the world to share with them what God is doing in our respective countries. In this case Ghana. We report on projects, on initiatives that have been funded by friends and churches and foundations in NZ. So that's really what the trip is all about. And of course to explore new possibilities in regards to developing partnerships.”

On Friday night at The Nautilus, Edmond will be talking about modern day slavery at a dinner for interested people.

'Modern day slavery is everywhere,” says Edmond. 'You can find the footprints of it in Asia, India, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. What we need to realise is that the nature of man, irrespective of race, is one that is broken, and is depraved; and so man at all times wants to be self-seeking, and wants to exploit and dominate. Much as people may like to think about it in terms of race, it's actually a human problem. And we must work together to ban all forms of slavery, anywhere in the world.”

'Six main types of modern day slavery have been identified. There is forced labour; bonded labour; descent based slavery – where families were born into a slavery relationship and they continue to serve generation to generation. Then there is child slavery, all forms of child abuse, child trafficking, child exploitation and child labour. These all come together into one broad definition of child slavery.

'Human trafficking is big, and that's what you find mostly around our world today. People migrate, sometimes not by their own free will. They are compelled to migrate after being presented with very attractive offers. But really when they get on the ground they find it's not as it was described to them. Their passports and travel documents are taken away from them so then they are unable to move and remain stuck. They have to work for hours or years, to pay whatever initial investment was made to bring them to that location.”

'Our form of transformation is holistic,” says Edmond. 'You can do the buildings, you can do communities, you can do everything else but we believe in the mandate of Jesus Christ, when at the start of his ministry, in Luke 4:18 he said ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.'

'If you believe that, it's about us going out into the world, healing the sick, and setting people free. That's what International Needs is all about. Transformation and change. One life at a time.”

Education plays a very big role in stemming the growth of modern day slavery.

'Education opens up opportunities for people,” says Edmond. 'Education empowers and enlightens people and makes it possible for them to make informed decisions and choices.

'So any opportunity to educate young people, put them in school, access education, learn a trade, learn a skill – it's one way of ending forms of modern day slavery.”

There are several ways that NZ'ers can be actively involved in helping International Needs reduce slavery and support children and communities. One way is via child sponsorship directly through the website www.internationalneeds.org.nz.

As well as Friday's dinner Edmond will also be speaking at Katikati Baptist Church on Sunday August 19 at 10am, and Mount Baptist Church on Monday August 20 at 7.30pm. To attend Friday's dinner or find out more, contact John Elen on 07 578 6198 or email operations@internationalneeds.org.nz

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