Zoe Ackah’s West African Journal

West African Journal: Ghana's School of Hard Knocks

Frankly, school is where childhood ends for children in Ghana. It is, however, the nicest place where innocence is crushed here. Those who can't afford school quickly enter the world of work, with all its dangers.

West African Journal: Where Teenagers Do Chores

West African Journal: 'Chatting as a Girl'

When you hear of the exploitation of children in Ghana, it's most often about child labour on cocoa farms. Living here though, one quickly learns that, unlike North American children, kids here are expected to help out on the farm during the brief harvest season. They may take some time off of school to get the harvest in, but it seems more like cooperation than exploitation in most cases.