The saddest thing about Touch A Life: Child Slavery on Ghana's Lake Volta is that it depicts real events that are happening right now. When we hear the word slavery, we might think of the Middle Passage or some other past injustice. And yet here is this film, telling us that a child was rescued from slavery only two months ago, in September 2008.

Inspired by a New York Times article about the horrors of forced African labor that was published on Oct. 29, 2006, activists Pam and Randy Cope quickly set about trying to save as many children as they could. There are thousands of them working in the fishing industry in Eastern Ghana, many sold by their parents for $20. Some are as young as 6. They speak of being beaten by their masters. They're afraid of being attacked by crocodiles and electric eels, and live with the ever-present threat of drowning. Some of the girls end up getting pregnant. We see a prepubescent girl holding a baby. They should be siblings, but nothing that "should be" seems to exist on this continent.

Touch A Life (named after the foundation that the Copes founded) is essential, gut-wrenching viewing. It reminded me of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Darwin's Nightmare, which deals with the effects the fishing industry has on the population of Tanzania. Unlike that film, Touch A Life has upbeat moments, like when we see the smiling faces of the rescued children and the orphanages many of them have been taken to. But the filmmakers are careful not to end the movie on a positive note. The Copes can't save everyone. Some children are reunited with their parents and then sold back into slavery and returned to the fishing boats. How does that word sit with you? Slavery.