This story is part of a series of child worker voices that Beyond Trafficking and Slavery gathered in the Lake Volta and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana, areas frequently targeted for intervention by people seeking to end child labour. The children were asked to describe their work, why they do it, and how the country's decision-makers could help them. Their answers were translated out of the local Twi language and edited for clarity.
I am 14 years old. My older brother and I make our living selling coconuts. Our parents are farmers, but they are both old and can’t work as much as they used to. Sometimes the produce is left unharvested or goes rotten unless my brother and I help out. My mother’s health is also bad; she often needs someone to look after her.
For these reasons I had to miss a lot of school. I was already not doing well, and one day I decided to stop going. My parents were not happy at first. But after a while they stopped hassling me to attend.
