first aid kits or protective clothing . Most never see their families again .
They have never tasted chocolate and most of them do not even know what chocolate is . They sleep on wooden planks and live in unclean , disgusting huts , only allowed out to work . The only toilet they have is a bucket . Their work is hard , and they sometimes die from it . If they fall down while carrying the big sacks of cocoa beans , then they are beaten with bicycle chains or sticks until they get up .
“ The beatings were a part of my life ,” a freed slave told reporters . “ Anytime they loaded you with bags of cocoa beans and you fell while carrying them , nobody helped you . Instead they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again .”
1.4 Effects on children
Sometimes slaveholders control their slaves not only with violence , but also with psychological terror : they tell the slaves a tale that they are under a magic spell , and that if they try to run away they will be paralysed . Some still dare to run away . Once recaptured , as they almost always are , the runaways are stripped of their clothes , their hands tied behind their backs , and then viciously whipped over several days with the farmer repeatedly demanding an answer to the impossible question , ʺHow did you break my spell ? ʺ Some boys do not survive ; those that do are put back to work as soon as they can walk . If their wounds become infected , they can expect no help from their captors , as the captors do not value them .
The brutality , isolation , hunger and exhaustion often break the spirits of children . Those very few that survive , and are rescued or escape , bear the scars in their hearts , as well as on their bodies , for years and years . They can also become emotionally isolated . Even after they are no longer in slavery , the children are more fearful of other people and less confident of themselves . They also have trouble readjusting to their families .
7
Life is not a piece of cake – especially for the slaves .