Freedom to Play

BY: International Justice Mission

Content Warning: This story discusses child trafficking, forced labour and abuse. We share it with permission and great care to honour the courage of survivors and their families. Some readers may find aspects of this story difficult to read.

At 14 years old, Gerald* believed he was leaving home for a better future.

When his father came to take him from the community where he lived with his mother, he promised something every child deserves: an education. His mother, a fishmonger with limited means, wanted opportunities for her son. Trusting that his father would care for him, she agreed to let Gerald go.

Instead of a classroom, Gerald found himself trapped in forced labour.

For the next two years, he worked on fishing boats on Ghana’s Lake Volta. He spent long days pulling nets, bailing water and performing demanding labour. Food was scarce, education became impossible and physical abuse was common. Over time, Gerald was passed from one fisherman to another.

While other children were learning, playing and imagining their futures, Gerald was simply trying to survive.

Eventually, the abuse, hunger and neglect became unbearable.

At 16 years old, Gerald made a courageous decision. He would escape. With little idea what might happen next, he fled the fishing operation and headed toward the shore, determined to find his mother.

At the very same time, his mother was searching for him.

“I cried,” she later recalled. “I cried a lot. And I told them I will search for my son and find him.”

Then something remarkable happened. The boat Gerald boarded during his escape was carrying his mother.

Neither knew the other would be there.

After years apart, they were reunited in a moment that changed everything.

But the reunion was also heartbreaking.

Gerald’s mother was shocked by her son’s condition. Years of exploitation had left him severely malnourished. He was suffering physically and emotionally from the trauma he had endured.

Together, Gerald and his mother reported what had happened.

With support from local social welfare officials trained in child protection and assistance from IJM, Gerald began the long journey toward recovery. He received counseling, nutritional support and ongoing care aimed at helping him heal from both physical and psychological trauma.

Yet Gerald’s courage did more than change his own future.

During interviews with aftercare staff, he shared information about other children who were still trapped in forced labour. His testimony led authorities and partners to identify and bring ten additional children to safety. One young person’s decision to speak up became a pathway to freedom for many others.

Today, Gerald’s story looks very different.

His health has improved. He is back in school and thriving academically. He has served as a class prefect and dreams of becoming both a tailor and a footballer. He plays football with his local team and talks passionately about how he wants to use his future success to strengthen his community.

His ambitions reach beyond himself.

Gerald dreams of helping improve his school’s facilities, providing access to clean drinking water and bringing electricity to his island community. His vision reflects something powerful: when children are free, they don’t just rebuild their own lives – they help build stronger futures for others.

Gerald’s story reminds us what Freedom to Play is all about.

Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, laugh, dream and play. Yet millions of children around the world are denied those fundamental parts of childhood because of violence, trafficking and exploitation. Freedom is more than the absence of harm. It is the presence of possibility.

Today, Gerald is no longer defined by what was done to him.

He is a student. A football player. A leader. A young man with dreams for the future.

And he is reclaiming the freedom every child deserves.

Because everyone deserves the freedom to play.

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Images Supplied: *Names, details, and images may be changed or represented by actors to protect identities. All stories and images are used with informed consent and safeguarding practices.