This past week John was out walking through one of the rough neighborhoods of Accra
in Ghana when he came across a group of men violently beating a young woman. When
he intervened they told him that she was a prostitute who had stolen the phone of
her latest client. He gave the men some money and they followed him home, where he
paid the rest that they claimed she owed. They then left, leaving the girl behind
with John.
The girl told John that her name was Joy. A couple had brought her to Accra from
Nigeria. They had compelled her to agree to a contract to prostitute for them for a
fixed amount of money. When she was completely in their power they demanded three
times the amount she had agreed to, basically locking her into a form of continuing
sex slavery to them. She had finally run away and was trying to survive on the
streets by herself.
Unfortunately prostitution is a common way for the extremely poor girls in Accra to
earn a living, such as it is. John has wanted to set up a small business for girls
like Joy to support themselves by selling hard boiled egg dishes at the market. But
for now that is only a dream.
John has rescued Joy and she is living temporarily in a room on the second floor of
his house. He has been careful to observe the proprieties and her room has an inner
lock so that she can protect herself from any who might want to bother her. In the
meantime he will try to find a better situation where here, including hopefully a
way for her to earn a living without prostitution.
She still has many challenges to overcome to right her situation, but one step at a
time.
