In Ghana, they have a tradition that when two people meet for the first time, they sit, preferably under a mango tree, and share; this is where my journey has been, and this is where I see myself moving forward. Tragically, on June 16, 1999, Pam and Randy Cope lost their 15-year-old son Jantsen to an undetected heart ailment. Jantsen’s Memorial money was the seed money that birthed Touch A Life.
In November 1999, Pam and Randy Cope traveled to Southeast Asia to visit some friends who operated an orphanage in Vietnam. Walking the streets of Saigon, their hearts were broken as they witnessed children forced to beg and live on the streets sleeping in alleys and on park benches.
It was here that everything changed.
After returning home, Pam began to read about the problem of street children in Vietnam, commonly known asdoi moi, or “dust of the earth”. She read about the beatings and fear they endured, their hunger and malnutrition, and, worst of all, their chances of being picked up by child traffickers and forced to work in hard labor conditions or sexual bondage. Touch A Life started out small, working with like-minded nationals. They would identify 15 children, rent a simple apartment, and hire houseparents. For the first time, these children were provided three meals a day, clothing, an education, and a closely-knit family to keep them safe. The effort became a preventive measure that prohibited these exploited and vulnerable children from becoming absorbed into the trafficking ring in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam was a pathway that led to Ghana, Africa. In October of 2006, Pam and Randy read an article in The New York Times about Mark Kwadwo, a six-year-old sold into slavery by his parents to work in the fishing industry of Lake Volta. They reached out to the Ghanaian abolitionists referenced in the piece and, after working together, they were able to help provide long-term care for Mark and six other children after they were rescued from exploitative conditions on the lake. This expanded Touch A Life’s scope to include Ghana, West Africa, and 18 years later, we are thrilled to share that we are still passionately committed to serving Ghana’s vulnerable and exploited children.
Mark at time of Rescue
Mark Today
Ghana
In 2006 Pam and Randy read an article in the New York Times about the horrors of child labor trafficking on Lake Volta which led Touch A Life to expand their work into Ghana, West Africa. Thousands of children, some as young as five years old, are sold to work in the fishing industry or as domestic servants in the Lake Volta region of Ghana. After learning of the neglect and abuse these children are forced to endure on a daily basis, the Copes knew that Touch A Life needed to get involved.
To date, working in partnership with a remarkable team of Ghanaians and the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare, Touch A Life has rescued over 100 children from slavery and built the Touch A Life Care Center, the only long-term rehabilitative care center in Ghana for formerly trafficked children. It is here that these former slave children can live, receive an education, and have a chance at restoring and rehabilitating their lives.
Touch A Life is committed to providing holistic customized child care for the children in our programs, complete with regular medical and mental assessments, rehabilitation plans, and educational and vocational empowerment. We hope to equip them with life skills, traditional education, and vocational training to live a full and productive life.