Edward’s Story.
At a young age Edward was orphaned. He was exposed to the true ugliness of the world. He felt hopeless, defenseless and broken. He had to watch his friends being brutally raped and violated once again when they were given the equivalent of a clothes hanger abortion. At this point in his life the only thing that made him happy was that he was a boy and only had to face the brutal beatings. The nightmares never seemed to stop. The sad part was that this horrible existence was the difference between starvation and death.
At 14 his life became more desperate, if that even seems possible. His Aunt came to visit him and sold him into slavery. He woke working on a coco plant. It was long hours and little food. Edward, yet again found himself with the sadness of being alone and having no control over his own life. His master owned him now and the idea of being educated and free was all but extinguished.
Edward kept thinking to himself that even he, an orphan, deserved more than beatings, being owned like property and barely being feed. Edward did hold on to a little hope, which can be a dangerous thing. He had met a woman, a Guardian Angel while he was at the orphanage. He prayed that she would find him, and find him she did. In 2010 Edward was rescued and brought to a safe house in Accra, Republic of Ghana.
In Accra, Edward has been able to start to heal from his life of beatings, betrayal and suffering. He now believes that he will never again be alone or abandoned. He has created a family for himself by forming bonds with other young adults in the house. Most importantly he has broken the cycle of slavery in his family. Edward now has a bright future, as he started a new and rewarding journey in January 2015. Edward is going to college and he is going to follow his dream and become a teacher.
Imagine what Edward can teach to humanity!
My Story.
I met Lillian, now Lillian Bradley, a few years ago through a mutual friend Allison Debona. Sometime after that, Allison, a First Soloist at Ballet West in Salt Lake City, organized an amazing event featuring Fahodie for Friends, Lillian, and a fantastic night of interpretive dance involving several dance groups, all around the theme of human trafficking. As I was a minor part of this event, I chose to be involved through art, so I painted this portrait of Edward after learning about him. His story (like too may others) is one of extreme suffering at the hands of adults who should, in my opinion, be erased from this earth. If only, right? After finishing this painting, so I thought, I came back to it a week or so later because it never felt finished to me. Edward seemed too clean if you will. So I added all the chaotic lines which to me defined his suffering. Something he will not only carry with him through life, but experiences which hopefully will empower him to levels far beyond those who abuse these innocent kids.
Where we began is in 2012, precocious 16-year old, Lillian decided that one person, even a teenager, can make a di erence... and she created a project called Friends for Friends, which has now evolved into Fahodie for Friends.
The Ghanaian word “Fahodie” means “Freedom.”
By working together we can be the generation to end human trafficking and slavery. We can change the lives of children and provide them with a new future... a future full of hope and freedom through the power of education.
The Friends for Friends project began in 2012; however, several members of the Fahodie team have been working to end slavery and rescue children in Ghana for more than 10 years. We envision a world free of human-trafficking and modern day slavery. We hope this will be the generation that will finally put an end to human trafficking. We hope individuals, families, schools, organizations, teachers, governments, corporations, preachers, universities, politicians, and law enforcement agencies will advocate for laws and implement programs and business practices to end the nightmare of trafficking and slavery.
We envision a world where all children have the freedom to achieve their maximum potential through education, hard work, financial independence, and healthy lives.
Our mission is to make this vision a reality by working tirelessly to ignite a worldwide social movement. We will strive to mobilize millions to action – to get involved, to care, to advocate, to give, educate, serve and to volunteer.
And we will hold ourselves accountable to this cause. We will never quit. And we will never give up. www.fahodieforfriends.org
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