“It’s an unbelievable feeling that someone is free because of what you did. That’s thanks enough.”
Over the years, how many teachers have inspired us? Introduced us to a world we never knew existed…perhaps, encouraged us to pursue a career that we never would have considered?
When Evan Robbins started teaching almost 20 years ago, he no doubt hoped that he might one day be that teacher and touch a student’s life in a transformational way. We doubt that he ever imagined that one day he would literally save many young lives; lives of young Ghanaian children sold by their parents into a life of slavery to the fishermen working on Lake Volta in that country.
The NY Times article that described the life of one of these children inspired Evan to bring the subject up in one of his social science classes where enthused students decided to raise money to help such children. The rest, as they say, is history.
From that initial class effort came Breaking the Chain Through Education, an organization whose goal it is to rescue children from slavery. While Evan’s students still work on behalf of BTCTE, the effort expanded beyond the school community when non-profit status was granted.
To date, 40 young people have been rescued, gone through a period of rehabilitation and are now in school. In addition, BTCTE raised enough funds to build a school for 240 children in a remote village. In exchange for the school (and housing for teachers) the village agreed to ensure that no local children would be sold into slavery.
Evan makes regular visits to Ghana as he continues his quest to save young lives. It is no accident that he has received numerous awards for his humanitarian work including the prestigious Reg Weaver Human and Civil Rights Award (last bestowed upon President Jimmy Carter) from the National Education Association.
When we met Evan he inspired us as well and the Good People Fund’s initial grant has made it possible for BTCTE to better tell its story through an improved website and logo.
