Photo: Sosa and Paul running a modern slavery awareness session in a school
When Sosa Henkoma was eight years old, he didn't know he was being groomed.
Like many children caught up in child criminal exploitation, what began with friendship, attention and a sense of belonging slowly became manipulation and control.
There were no obvious warning signs, and no one had given him the knowledge to recognise what was happening.
Today, Sosa is helping to ensure other children don't have to learn those lessons the hard way.
Thanks to an initiative supported by the Diocese of Rochester, Sosa, alongside former police officer Paul Withrington, has spent part of the summer term visiting primary schools across the Diocese, leading interactive workshops on child criminal exploitation, with a particular focus on county lines.
County lines is a form of modern slavery where urban gangs persuade, coerce or force children and young people to store drugs and money and/or transport them to suburban areas, market towns and coastal towns
Some of the workshops were supported through funding from the Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust, while others were delivered through wider diocesan support and are part of the Diocese's wider programme of work to tackle modern slavery
Further workshops are already planned for the autumn in secondary schools.
Changing the conversation
Magali van der Merwe, the Diocesan Lead Community Engagement and Social Action Adviser, says that for many people, modern slavery feels like a hidden crime that happens somewhere else to someone else.
However, they are unaware that this could literally be happening on their doorstep:
"Across Kent and Medway, we know children and young people are being targeted every day by those seeking to exploit their vulnerability. As a Diocese, we wanted to help change that narrative, not simply by responding when harm has already occurred, but by helping prevent exploitation before it begins."
Magali says that she sees education as one of the most powerful forms of safeguarding against this:
"The Church has a responsibility not only to care for those who have experienced exploitation, but to help prevent it from happening in the first place. By giving children the knowledge to recognise grooming and manipulation early, we're helping them recognise risk, make safer choices and know where they can turn for help."
She adds, "As St Paul reminds us: 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.'" (Galatians 3:28-29)
More than a lesson
Paul and Sosa have developed practical, age-appropriate workshops for Key Stages 2 and 3 that move far beyond a traditional classroom presentation.
Rather than relying on facts and statistics alone, every workshop invites pupils to step into realistic situations where seemingly innocent decisions can have serious consequences.
One exercise designed to demonstrate how grooming works stayed with many of the children.
Sosa invites a pupil to the front and asks them to hold his favourite pen. Like most people would, the pupil simply agrees without asking any questions.
Through a series of simple requests, Sosa gradually builds a scenario showing how trust is established and how seemingly harmless favours can slowly escalate.
Only later does he reveal that the "pen" represents something illegal, such as drugs or a weapon.
The pupil is then asked to pass the pen to Paul. In the context of the scenario, what began as a simple favour has now become possession of an illegal item and then passing it to another person.
Paul explains:
"It's a powerful moment of reflection, not because the child has done anything wrong, but because everyone in the room suddenly realises how easy it is to agree to something when you trust the person asking.
"That's exactly how grooming works. It isn't about making bad decisions; it's about being manipulated step by step."
The interactive workshop also explores the warning signs of exploitation, how criminals manipulate children, the dangers of county lines, and where young people can go for help if they ever feel unsafe or concerned about a friend.
Two voices. One purpose.
Reflecting further on the project, Paul says:
"I passionately believe that if you are young enough to be exploited, you are young enough to be educated. Sosa was only eight when he was groomed, so we must start the education process young.
He adds:
"The combination of my law enforcement background and Sosa's lived experience allows us to engage children in ways that are both relevant and memorable. It has been a privilege to visit schools across the Diocese and see just how engaged pupils have been throughout the workshops."
The response from schools has been overwhelmingly positive. Teachers have consistently spoken about the impact Sosa's story had on pupils.
"The workshop had a significant impact. Many children now have a greater awareness of the risks associated with county lines and a much better understanding of how to keep themselves safe and what to do if they ever find themselves in a concerning situation."
The children's own reflections perhaps say the most.
"Sosa explained that he wasn't educated about county lines, so he didn't realise what was happening to him. Because we've now learned about it, we know the warning signs to look out for and how to keep ourselves safe."
Another pupil reflected:
"We think it is easy to say no, but actually it is so easy to be tricked."
Planting seeds of hope
"The workshops are only the beginning," says Magali.
"Every conversation, every question asked and every practical exercise has planted seeds of awareness that could one day protect a child from exploitation."
Bishop Simon Burton-Jones, the Bishop of Tonbridge and a patron on the Clewer Initiative, the Chruch of England's response to modern slavery reflects:
"A mark of a culture shaped in the character of God is how well it cares for its most vulnerable members, and a slave is as vulnerable as it gets."
For Sosa, every workshop has been an opportunity to transform his own painful experiences into hope for someone else.
Because sometimes the most powerful way to fight exploitation is not by rescuing a victim afterwards, but by ensuring a child never becomes one in the first place.
As Bishop Simon adds says:
"Thank God he is one step ahead of evil by keeping his eyes on the margins and not just the horizons. For it is in the margins where slaves – people Christ died for – get picked off, and where our eyes should be drawn as well."