Susan’s story
This is the story of Susan who was trafficked to Nigeria.
Susan is around 25 years old now, but when she was brought to Lagos from Benin, she was young enough that she can’t clearly recall how old she was. All she remembers is that she was taken from her home by someone she knew as a family friend and that no one had made it clear to her why she was being moved or where she was going.
At that time, she was called San. And she was one of many children in the region caught in a situation of modern-day slavery. Sometimes, this comes about because poverty compels parents to send children out to work in the hope they will provide for the whole family. In some cases, children pursue the work themselves for the same reason. In other instances, they are deceived by relatives with false promises of a better life. In the end, though, their freedom is sold for money that does not make their way into their own hands. The promise of a way to provide turns out to be a false pretence and they often remain trapped in an abusive situation through various forms of coercion – whether physical or psychological or both.
San was sent to work in the home of a family in Lagos who treated her badly, subjecting her to various forms of domestic abuse.
After that, she was moved and forced to work for another family. She remained trapped with them for seven years – working all the time but never receiving any payment. The family moved around a lot, taking her with them wherever they went and making it impossible for her to contact the people who had brought her from Benin. Susan describes how the family beat her. How she had no one to turn to. How she couldn’t find a way to get in touch with her own family. How she cried, asking to be sent back to her parents. How her pleas fell on deaf ears.
Eventually, she managed to run away.
Feeling desperate and with nowhere to go, Susan was in tears by the side of the road when Aishat, a member of one of Tearfund’s local church partners, Amazing Destiny Christian Center in Akobo, Ibadan, saw her and stopped to ask what was wrong.
Deeply moved by what she heard, Aishat took Susan to see the pastor’s wife, who also listened carefully to what she had to say.
When the church pastor heard Susan’s story, he immediately sought legal advice on what could be done to help Susan.
Then, he took Susan to the immigration department to try to find details of where she’d come from and how she might find her family. Sadly, because the people who had brought her from Benin had not done so legally, there was no trace. The authorities couldn’t find anything about Susan, where she had come from or who her family are.
What the authorities did manage though, was to arrest the people who had been mistreating Susan!
The pastor tried to find other ways to connect Susan to her family and the embassy carried out searches for information about Susan and her family for eight months, during which time Susan was given a place to stay with Aishat.
Once the embassy had finished making their enquiries and been unable to find any information for Susan, and after receiving legal advice in the matter, the pastor got the authorisation from the legal authorities for the church to adopt Susan – taking on responsibility for caring for her and supporting her and giving her a new, safe home and a new name.
Welcomed as a daughter
Susan was welcomed as a daughter into the home of another church member called Dele – bringing her into a new family, but this time one that would value and help restore her strength and dignity, not cheat her of them as the ones who had kept her trapped in slavery as a child had done.
Susan was enrolled to assist at the school that the church runs so she could have the opportunity to learn how to read and write.
She also took part in Tearfund’s Transforming Communities programme that the church runs, which encouraged Susan to look for ways to start to build a sustainable income for herself. Through this, she received training to become a hairdresser. Putting what she learnt in the programme into practice, Susan looked around for a way to get some money together to create a small business. She came up with the idea of selling pastries to earn money while she continues to work on her hairdressing and literacy skills.
As she began to be able to build a new beginning for herself, Susan’s confidence started to grow.
Now, her life has completely changed and Susan says she is hopeful and praying for a better future.
Tearfund believes in the power of the local church to be the place where transformation starts – both in individual lives and in whole communities. To find out more and to be part of this work, click here.
