(from our correspondent) "It is a very lucrative business, because the women are sold more than once explains sister Henriette -. The girls are promised non-existent jobs and are forced to swear they will keep their secret through some traditional rites and are provided with false documents and visas. As they start walking through the desert, as they meet the remains of the other women who starved to death before them, they begin to realise what unlucky fate awaits them". Once in Europe, their documents are taken away and they are forced to become street prostitutes. A trade that also concerns children, especially street children, who in Kumasi alone total 200,000. Sister Perpetua Essien works in the street children project promoted by the archdiocese of Kumasi, which provides education, professional training and social rehabilitation. "Most of them come from northern Ghana to look for a job and support their families says sister Perpetua -. The girls hope they will find work as housekeepers and get married very soon, but they are often involved in prostitution or forced to hard labour from 6 am to 10 pm".
