The plight of two teenagers

Page 17: April 19, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
The problems confronting young boys and girls who migrate from the rural areas to Accra and other urban centres in search of non-existent jobs are enormous.
Apart from the fact that they have nowhere to lay their heads and therefore sleep at lorry parks, under trees and in front of shops at night, they also do not have access to medical facilities and are exposed to all forms of social vices.
The story of two 13-year-old girls, who absconded from their homes in Kumasi and Ashaiman in search of greener pastures in Accra, and were taken to the Department of Social Welfare, further buttressed the issue. They were picked from the beach behind the Arts Centre, where they normally cook and loiter till night fall.
The two girls, Kadijah Razak and Zenab Azaglo, claimed they were not blood relations but only met in Accra and decided to stay close to make a headway in life through menial jobs.
They took their bath in the house of a man they identified only as Mustapha at Osu in the mornings and then went their ways after that.
Narrating the circumstances that brought them to Accra, Kadijah said a friend she identified only as Esi brought her to Accra from Kumasi to come and work and make more money.
She said while in Kumasi, she was assisting her aunt in selling banku.
She said Esi told her that she would make more money in Accra hence her decision to follow her to Accra without the knowledge of her aunt.
According to Kadijah, Esi paid her transport fare to Accra but abandoned her under a tree at the Railways station in Accra.
She explained that she later met Zenab at the same place and the two of them decided to stay close to each other.
She said they later met Mustapha who took them to his house at Osu for them to keep their belongings but later decided to sleep at the Arts Centre and only went to Mustapha’s house in the morning to bath.
For her part, Zenab said her mother, who she identified as Fati Ali, disowned her and chased her out of their Ashaiman residence about three months ago.
She said since then, she had been roaming the streets of Accra doing menial jobs for her upkeep.
Zenab said she did not want to be reunited with the mother because she would be sacked from the house after the officers had left.
According to Mr Dela Ashiagbor, the officer in-charge of the Social Welfare Unit attached to the Accra Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), there were many such children roaming the streets of Accra.
He said the difficulty the unit faced was how to take such children back to their families.
He said although Kadijah was willing to go back to her family in Kumasi, the unit did not have the resources to fund the cost of transportation.
Mr Ashiagbor said under normal circumstances, an officer should even accompanied her to Kumasi to be handed over to the Social Welfare Unit in Kumasi, which would in turn take the girl to her family.
That, he explained, was necessary to facilitate follow-ups and ensure that the girl was doing well.
Meanwhile, the two are back to their base doing business and their struggle for survival continues.