{story courtesy of Free the Slaves, check them out at www.freetheslaves.net}

When Drissa was a teenager, he decided to leave his village in Mali to look for work….

There were many boys Drissa's age looking for jobs in and the around the village, and precious few jobs available. Although it was difficult to leave his family and friends, he decided it was worth it to try his luck elsewhere.

Drissa crossed the border into neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, where he heard there were many jobs available for people who did not mind working hard. When he arrived in Korhogo, he was pleased to be offered what sounded like a good job on a cocoa plantation. Drissa agreed on the payment and work arrangements, and then went with the employment recruiter to begin his new job.

Drissa's new job suddenly turned into a nightmare. He became a slave.

Drissa and 17 other boys and young men on the cocoa plantation were forced to spend long days tending the cocoa plants and collecting the pods. Besides the back-breaking work, the heat was oppressive, the biting flies constantly swarmed around them, and they had to watch for snakes in the undergrowth. The slaveholder gave them little to eat, and many times only braised banana for months on end. Weak from hunger, they staggered under large sacks of cocoa pods. If they slowed in their work, they were beaten. At night the slaveholder locked them all into a small room with only a tin can to use as a toilet.

Drissa was trapped. He was more than 300 miles from home in a new country, far from any settlement, and he did not even know exactly where he was. One evening before being locked in, Drissa attempted to escape, but the slaveholder caught him and savagely beat him. He still has the scars from those beatings. The next day, Drissa was forced to work, even though the wounds from the beating were still raw. Flies feasted on his exposed flesh.

Drissa and the other slaves on that farm were eventually rescued by an official of the Malian government. After their rescue, Drissa and his friends were given medical care and a safe place to stay until they could return home.

Drissa's story helped tell the world about slavery in the chocolate we eat. As a result, Free the Slaves and other human rights organizations helped convince the world's chocolate companies to end slavery in cocoa production.