The Association of People for Practical Life Education (APPLE), an anti-child trafficking non-governmental organisation, with support from INTERVIDA/EDUCO, a Spain-based organisation, has rescued 100 children from child traffickers and helped to reunite them with their families.
The children, 50 boys and 50 girls, aged between five and 17 have been given educational items like school uniforms, schoolbags, shoes and socks, exercise books, pens, pencils and erasers, to enable them to go back to school.
They were part of 400 children rescued from some fishing communities.
This came to light at two separate durbars organised by the organisations at Atitekpoe in the North Tongu District and New Bakpa in the Central Tongu District, both in the Volta Region.
Their benefactors also paid the children�s parent-teacher association (PTA) dues and printing fees.
The children are currently in schools at Atitekpoe, New Bakpa, Devime, Aveyime, Mefe and Dove, all in the Volta Region.
APPLE has also trained 10 community volunteers comprising five males and five females in the prevention of child trafficking.
The volunteers will hold community awareness programmes in 20 targeted communities in the North Tongu, South Tongu and Central Tongu districts of the Volta Region to help prevent child trafficking in those communities.
The reintegration of the children formed part of a project aimed at identifying victims of child trafficking, opinion leaders, guardians and parents in communities and educating them against child trafficking and abuses.
The Project Director of APPLE, Mr Jack James Dawson, said the project would collaborate with the district assemblies and the Department of Social Welfare in the districts to curb child trafficking in the various communities.
The project, he added, would be extended to villages in the districts where traditional leaders will be mobilised to convince fishermen and families to stop trafficking children and also release the children from slavery.
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