By Scott Brinton
Light shone in from the right, illuminating half of his face. His right eye, so wide and bright, yet so sullen and forlorn, could pierce even the darkest of souls.
Mark was an indentured servant, sold into slavery by his parents, who had no money to care for him. The couple received $20 a year from Mark's "owner," Kwadwo Takyi, while Mark endured 14-hour work days, hauling in fishing nets from a rickety canoe on Lake Volta in Ghana, two days' journey from Mark's hometown. He received no education while in captivity.
Mark was featured in a story in the Times last October on child slavery in Ghana, "Africa's World of Forced Labor, in a 6-Year-Old's Eyes," by Sharon LaFraniere. The article caught the attention of TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who said that Silva's photograph of Mark, a simple composition that incisively captured the boy's psychic pain, haunted her for months. Winfrey sent her special correspondent, Lisa Ling, to Ghana to investigate indentured servitude there -- and to find the boy. Ling met with slave owners, and Winfrey dedicated a show to her findings, "A Special Report: The Little Boy Oprah Couldn't Forget," which aired in February.
Because of LaFraniere's article, international efforts were under way to rescue Mark from slavery before Ling arrived in Ghana, and when she landed there, he was already safe at the Village of Hope, a local orphanage. But untold numbers of children remain trapped in a cycle of destitution and slavery in the tiny West African nation of 23 million.
From Winfrey's special report, a nonprofit organization, One Is Greater Than None (1>None), was born in April. Eight close friends -- a Lynbrook High School sophomore and seven Merrick teens, all freshmen at Kennedy High School in Bellmore -- felt horrible after watching the show together, and formed the group to help Ghanaian child slaves any way they could. The organization's aim is simple: to raise money to buy children out of indentured servitude. And Kayla Barnofsky, Chelsea Genden, Hayley and Jessica Feldman, Sammi Malis, Anjelica Mantikas, Ariel Stern and Sammy Walnick are achieving their goal by selling bracelets and necklaces that they craft by hand, a skill they learned at summer camp.
All of the money that One Is Greater Than None raises goes to the International Organization for Migration, a relief agency that negotiates with slave owners in Ghana to buy children's freedom. Sometimes IOM pays the masters cash. More often, it provides better nets and boats, enabling them to fish more efficiently, thereby reducing the need for indentured servants. After children are freed, IOM provides education and counseling for them, with the eventual goal of reuniting the youngsters, ages 4 to 16, with their parents.
One Is Greater Than None members originally set out to raise $4,300, enough to save one child -- hence the name of the group. But word about the organization's efforts spread quickly last spring via the Internet. Media outlets like WABC TV came calling, and bracelet and necklace sales took off. To date, the group's founders, seven of whom are 14 and one 15, have raised more than $30,000, enough to buy eight children out of slavery. And they are just getting started.
Teen Vogue magazine will feature One Is Greater Than None in its upcoming December/January issue. The magazine shot photos of the teens in September at Julian Lane Park and Levy-Lakeside Elementary School in Merrick.
And this Saturday, the group will launch its own clothing line at the Penny Auntie shop on King Street in Chappaqua -- the Westchester County adopted hometown of former President Bill Clinton, who was invited to the event. The teenagers hope Clinton will show, because he is promoting his new book, "Giving," which is about grass-roots efforts to change the world for the better.
Clinton "is fully aware of the girls, and he's thrilled," said Kerry Gillick-Goldberg, a 1989 Calhoun High School graduate who grew up in Merrick and is acting as One Is Greater Than None's clothing merchandiser.
Gillick-Goldberg struck the deal with Amcan Charter Imports, a Montreal-based clothing manufacturer she represents, to produce the 1>None line, with a portion of the proceeds donated to IOM. Gillick-Goldberg met one of the teenager's mothers, Karen Barnofsky, by chance at a women's business networking meeting. They got to talking about Barnofsky's daughter's efforts to aid child slaves, and Gillick-Goldberg developed a line of T-shirts, tank tops and sweats from there. The 1>None clothing line, woven from unusually soft bamboo fibers, will be sold in 40 stores, and Gillick-Goldberg is negotiating with Macy's to offer the line as well. By this time next year, she hopes to have the line in "a couple hundred" stores.
One Is Greater Than None's founders will appear at Max & Gino's in Merrick on Nov. 10 to promote the clothing line, as well as at the Simon Evening of Giving at Roosevelt Field Mall on Nov. 18. Meanwhile, they will continue crafting the bracelets that jump-started their organization, studying hard at Kennedy, playing sports and taking part in a range of student activities, from freshmen class government to the culture club. And the girls add that they are "bffs" -- "best friends forever" in the shorthand of instant messaging.
"We just want to make a difference," said Sammi Malis.
Anjelica Mantikas piped in, "We want to show that not all 14-year-olds are snobby and self-absorbed."
Indeed, they are doing just that.
How to help
To help in One Is Greater Than None's efforts to save children from slavery in Ghana, see the organization's Web site at oneisgreaterthannone.org. You can also log onto the group's blog at oneisgreaterthannone.org/webblog/one.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
