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Aicha: building a new life after being trafficked

Aicha was trafficked from her village in Togo to Nigeria

AICHA: BUILDING A NEW LIFE AFTER BEING TRAFFICKED

Aicha was just 10 years old when she was trafficked from her village in Togo to Nigeria, to work as an unpaid domestic servant.

"The woman who took me to Nigeria left me in a small town,” she remembers.

“I thought I was going to stay with her, but she took me to a strange house which was fenced and locked with a key.

"I worked all day long from 4am to 11pm. I had to take care of children, do the housework and wash dishes and clothes.

“I was alone and had no one to talk to. I never went out of the house throughout the three years I spent there.

“The woman told me she would come back soon to fetch me, but she only came to receive the salary from my work from the house owners and went back."

The bosses I worked for did not give me anything for the three years and when I escaped, I returned to the village with nothing.

Supporting girls to rebuild their futures

Back home in her village, Aicha has been working with Plan Togo to rebuild her life.

She’s part of their Fighting Against Child Trafficking Through Education and Vocational Training project, which supports vulnerable children and those who have survived being trafficked.

The project also works with young people and their communities to help them prevent children being trafficked from Togo’s villages.

“Plan has supported my apprenticeship and monitored it to ensure that everything is going well. Thanks to Plan, I have learned dressmaking,” Aicha explains.

“When I finish my apprenticeship, I will be able to settle down in my own workshop and feel at ease."

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