Approximately 500 students are enrolled – enrollment is ongoing as the school year just began (there are only 11 classrooms).
The school day begins with an all-school assembly at 7:30 (have you ever heard 500 children between the ages of 3 and 18 recite The Lord’s Prayer and the Ghanaian pledge in unison? It’s a beautiful thing). Read more
Child slavery survivor tells story at Grand Valley event Abolitionist James Kofi Annan will describe his life as a child slave in Ghana and his efforts to stop the brutal practice, in a presentation hosted by the Frederik Meijer Honors College at Grand Valley State University.Read more
James on CNN Sankor, Ghana (CNN) -- A former child slave is rescuing victims of child trafficking in Ghana and has built a school to help give them a better future. Once a child slave himself, James Kofi Annan is turning what would be a crippling experience for many into a drive to stamp out child trafficking. Read more
Hovde Foundation assists Challenging Heights in Ghana Challenging Heights does a lot of work in the coastal fishing village of Winneba, a known source community for child traffickers. Children are often taken from Winneba to Ghana’s Volta Lake to work in the fishing industry. Here they are enslaved and abused. The children who are rescued by Challenging Heights are usually suffering from disease, injuries and emotional scars.
2008 Winner of the Frederick Douglass Purpose Award. 2008 Freedom Awards James Kofi Annan | Ghana Winner of the Frederick Douglass Purpose Award to a former slave helping others find purpose.
James was enslaved most of his childhood in the fishing villages of Ghana.
He almost died in the nets. But his story is one of rebirth and hope as he
escaped slavery and graduated from university.
He was motivated by the belief that other children must not be cheated out of their childhoods as he was.
Every day hundreds of children are helped by his organization, Challenging Heights
Why Challenging Heights’s work is so important This boy is 12 years old but he has stunted growth. He has no footwear and had to be given a cloth to wrap around his shoulders. He has been in slavery for about 3 years and has been physically and emotionally abused. His right hand is swollen, blistered, and badly bruised. He doesn’t cry, he doesn’t smile, he just stares straight ahead, and reluctantly speaks when asked a question. Survivors of trafficking often are in this condition when rescued. He is an example of why it must stop now.Read more
