Godwin was a bright, happy kid and a confirmed bookworm who loved to study. His Aunt Jessie, recognizing his intelligence, took him in and made sure he could consistently go to school.
Godwin was thriving. But one day a woman came to town during a school break, insisting that she was his father’s relative and that Godwin needed to come with her to meet his extended family. Reluctantly, Aunt Jessie agreed to let him go. And being a true A-plus student, Godwin brought all of his textbooks with him so he wouldn’t miss a single opportunity to study.
The woman didn’t introduce him to distant uncles and cousins. Instead, she sold Godwin to a man living on an island in Lake Volta. Trapped, his schoolbooks were thrown away, and he was forced into a life of slavery.
Every day, Godwin had to fish in treacherous waters. When the fishing nets got caught on submerged trees, he and the other trafficked children were forced to untangle them. Sometimes children would get tangled in the nets and never make it back to the surface.
Godwin suffered on this island with little hope for three years, until his aunt discovered his location and reported it to IJM and the authorities. Then you sent IJM, and Godwin was finally rescued and brought to safety.
But he wasn’t ready to go home yet — there were still many other children waiting for rescue on that island. “I don’t want to leave alone,” Godwin told police and IJM. “There are other people there that are even suffering more than I am doing.” He bravely chose to go back to the island to help IJM and local police rescue dozens of other trafficked children.
If you were partnering with IJM at this time last year, you might remember hearing about Geoffrey,* a boy who was instrumental in helping us rescue Esther.* Godwin is that boy! Because of support from people like you, his traffickers have been brought to justice, and we can share his story with you using his real name.
Now Godwin is a courageous leader among his peers. He’s picked his schoolbooks back up and is pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor.
John, support from people like you made it possible for Godwin to pursue his bright future again.
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