BBC Radio 4 Appeal

13 March 2002

On a dusty roadside in the capital of Gabon, sits a young girl selling food. Twelve-year-old Yolande gets up at 4.00am to cook, then she sells the food all day long. But she's not there of her own free will - Yolande is a slave. I met her while I was working on a documentary. She told me
about "Maman": a trafficker. When Yolande was nine years old, Maman lured her away from her family and village with promises of work, high wages and education. But the promises proved to be false and she was sold into slavery.

It was the charity Anti-Slavery International that led me to Yolande.
Anti-Slavery is the world's oldest international human rights organisation - and I'm asking you to support them - because the need for their work is greater now than ever.

This worldwide trade in children is getting worse. You may remember the news last April, about a ship carrying children into slavery. Some were as young as five-years-old. These stories grab the world's attention for a few days - then they disappear, as if the problem has gone away. But tens of thousands of children are trafficked each year in West Africa - and their stories remain untold.

They are transported long distances, often by sea, packed into canoes. Sometimes they have no food or water. The journeys can last for days.
At their destination, they work as servants, on market stalls or in farming. In quarries they are used to break rocks and dig pits. Some of them told me they were forced into prostitution, regularly beaten and made to work long hours. The children are not allowed to make friends or go to school.

Anti-Slavery dedicates itself to ending slavery around the world. In West Africa, it works with local organisations helping the victims to recover from their ordeal. It supports projects to make local communities aware of the dangers of trafficking. And it puts pressure on governments to punish the traffickers and make helping the victims a priority.

Anti-Slavery needs your help in order to stop this modern-day slave trade. With your support Anti-Slavery can protect more children like Yolande.

Whatever you are able to give will help. You can make a donation.