this is bbc news. these are the headlines: celebrations are continuing in britain, following the wedding of the queen's grandson, prince harry, to the american actress, meghan markle. the couple ended the day with a private party for around 200 close friends and relatives. the bride will now be known as the duchess of sussex. investigators in cuba have recovered the flight recorder of a plane which crashed shortly after take—off, killing 110 people. officials say they are trying to identify all those who died when the boeing 737 plunged into a field and exploded after taking off from the capital havana. more residents have been rescued from their homes in hawaii as molten lava continues

to pour from the ground following the eruption of the kilauea volcano. helicopters were sent to assist residents on the big island as a series of explosions sent ash clouds hundreds of metres into the sky. now on bbc news it's time for our world. this is ghana, west africa. when i was seven, i was brought to this country, and forced into a system i knew nothing about. this is me. i was held as a slave in a religious shrine. what crime is this child paying for? translation: her uncle committed adultery. thousands of women across west africa have lost their freedom because of a practice called trokosi. and it is still happening. does she know why she is here? now i am on a journey to try

and understand what happened. to find answers to questions i have had on my mind for years. what is trokosi? and why did my family give me away? hey, this is brigitte... yeah, you are my uber. my name is brigitte sossou perenyi. i live and work in accra, the capital city of ghana. it is the city where i feel most free. but my first memories in this country are among my darkest. i was trafficked here from my home in neighbouring togo, and held in captivity as part of a practice called trokosi. trokosi is illegal, and it is not

often talked about in accra. but to my surprise, richard tells me his own grandmother is living as a trokosi. this same system robbed me of my childhood. 20 years later, i am on a journey to understand what really happened. i was told i had to leave home, to go and live with my uncle. i was placed on the back of a motorbike. i didn't even know the driver.

i thought it was the strong wind causing my tears, but i think i was actually crying, because i was being taken away from my family. and then i was left at a place i had never been before. i didn't even understand the language. they took away my clothes and wrapped me in a purple cloth. they even took away my name. how old is this girl? seven years old? do you know why you are here? in 1997 i was filmed by an american news crew at the place i was being held, a shrine run by a priest dictated to the worship of deities. i was labelled a trokosi,

a ‘wife of the gods,‘ paying for a crime committed by a family member. do you miss your parents? yes. i rememberfeeling a range of emotions. neglect, rejection, isolation. adding to that the idea of, that could have been my life, that could have been my life. and that's why i feel like i don't watch it much. but this report changed everything. with the help of a charity called international needs, an american viewer flew to ghana to negotiate my release. his name was kenneth perenyi, and he would become my adoptive father. he took me to the us where i spent the next 13 years. i was relieved to be out after about a year in the shrine.

but there was a huge emptiness that could never be filled. i was still thinking about my togolese family, my birth family. but it was in my heart in my mind. i never stopped thinking about them. a few years later, my american dad and i agreed i should go and look for them. the charity that freed me helped me find my village and filmed my return. my family had no idea i was coming. i didn't even know if i would find all of them alive. i hadn't seen my mother since i was seven years old. ifound out i even had a little brother who i had never met.

that day was so surreal. almost like a dream. now that i'm older, i feel ready to explore the cultural background of trokosi. it is practised in parts of ghana, togo and benin, by various ethnic groups, one of which is the ewe. i am driving into ghana's volta region, a lush area of lakes and rivers, where trokosi is most prevalent. right now we are following richard whom i met on the first day of the journey.

after our chat in the uber taxi, richard invited us into his community to speak with a group of ewe elders. to mark our arrival, they were saying prayers and pouring libation to their gods. but they believe if you offend the gods, they can bring misfortune. i would like to know if there has ever been human sacrifice. he is talking about trokosi, where you are banished

from the community to pay for the crimes of your family. another elder tells me that two of her relatives were sent to the shrine. given this fear of punishment from the gods, i can understand why the trokosi practice has survived for over 300 years. but for me, life in the shrine meant no life at all. each day, i was walking at 5am, and sent to fetch water. i had to carry heavy buckets on my head. it was hard, physical

work for a child. i was made to sweep the compound and work long hours on the farm. i wasn't allowed to play, or even go to school. i was in total isolation. 0n the campus of the university of ghana, i am meeting up with dr robert ame and reverend walter pimpong. they are both experts on the trokosi practice. they have spent their lives raising awareness of the abuses that go on in the shrine.

sexual servitude was common, and many women will bear the children of the priests. i was liberated before puberty, so i didn't have to go through this. but i wanted to know why someone would serve time for another person's crime. it is believed that they have a right to select any member of their family to serve in the shrine, whether that person committed a crime or not. by the collective principles, they believe they are doing the right thing. when i left the shrine in 1997, there were about 5,000 trokosi women and children in ghana alone. thousands were liberated and trokosi was made illegal in 1998. but no priest has ever been prosecuted, and the practice still goes on. i meet back up with

richard, the uber driver whose grandmother is still living as a trokosi. she is one of the few who became a trokosi after she married and had children. speaking to her, it seemed she is happy to be serving as a trokosi, because she believes it protects her family. as night fell, a young trokosi girl wearing a blue cloth came to speak to me. i felt sad because she misses her mum. and i know how that feels. for me, growing up without a mother was

devastating. what kept me going was a few cherished memories of my early childhood. i remember my mum and dad and four siblings, all girls. i'm the second. i was closer to my dad. i think i was a daddy's girl. for dinner, he would build this big fire. he would dig the ground around it and roast corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes and yam. it was so good. it was really good. i remember at night, we would lie under the stars and the moon. life was simple. i'm going to visit my family

in the village in togo where i was born. it is at least a day's journey from the volta region in ghana. i haven't been back for a few years. ifelt apprehensive. i have spent my whole life wondering why they gave me away, but i have never had the courage to ask. this time, i feel ready to find out the truth. this is it. 0n the right. it is right here, on the right. since i left at the age of seven,

i have lost my mother tongue. i have visited a handful of times but i have to use a translator. my youngest sister, and her baby. my niece. i wanted to speak to my father. all i knew was that one of my uncles had sent for me, but i have never known what my father had agreed to. my uncle's house was in the capital lome, a long way from my village. to find some answers, my father went to a soothsayer.

are you aware now where i was taken? he took me to ghana, the volta region of ghana, and i was left in a shrine, he left me. i was forced to be there for the rest of my life. you are not understanding me.

i don't want to use the word blame. for many years i was sad because i was not with my family but now i am ready to put it behind me. if i was angry at my family, i want to blame, i wouldn't be here. i wouldn't. sometimes it is easierjust to carry on with your life. accept the way things are. when things don't make sense, tracing your roots and asking questions is too much, the emotions are too much and the weight is too much. by now, my head hurts. i have a headache. last night's conversation with my dad was really difficult, but i needed to know the truth.

i was dwelling on the fact that i couldn't communicate with them and i was taken away and that is because, that's why can't speak french, that's why i can't speak ewe, i was taken away. so i was sort of dwelling on the negative. my parents were lied to. they thought they sent me to live with my uncle to get a better education. they didn't choose to send me to the shrine, and that was a huge weight off my mind. from this point forward we can only build, and the last few days is a start to building that bridge, it's a start to building that relationship, building that connection. i'm back in the volta region of ghana, close to the village where i was held captive in the shrine. being here is not easy for me.

but feeling the love of my family has given me strength to return. there was a young girl, i was doing the chores with, and her name is christiana. she was the only one i remember. we parked up near the shrine. i was paralysed with fear. what i remember about this place is pain and loneliness and sadness, and isolation. and, um, getting out and walking about, doesn't feel natural to me. i wanted to see if christiana was still here. i found her still living in the town. 20 years after we were both freed, we recognised each other right away. do you know who i am? yes. who am i? thank god for your life.

we haven't seen each other in so long. i miss you. laughs. thank you. i missed you too. i have always thought of you. after spending five years in the shrine, christiana was also freed after appearing in the 1997 news report. she had never seen it before. are you happy here? do you want to run away? and why don't you run away? where are your parents? they died? translation: when my father died i stopped going to school, even though i had wanted to become a doctor. i feel very sad because by staying here, i have lost my chance at an education. that's not your life any more.

you're out. why are you crying? what's wrong? yes, we were not supposed to be in there, but we are out now. we are out now. it was amazing to hear about christiana's life outside of the shrine. i'm free. i can decide to go to anywhere. today i can eat, if i say today i will eat, then i can eat, if only i have money. ican wearanything.

she showed me her tattoo celebrating her reclaimed name. how does that make you feel when you see that. i feel happy. why? because i am... i am that i am. laughs. that is my name. yes. the name that my parents gave to me. sometimes, your past is worth getting back to. not to hold you back to strength in your future. my deep faith in god and the love of my family and friends have allowed me to grow into the person i was born to be. somebody decided that was supposed to be our lives. it is incredible that we have been given a second chance, to have life. good morning. with the world's eyes fixed on the uk on saturday, the weather certainly came up trumps.

you and i know it is not always like this. but through this coming week, there will be more warmth and sunshine to enjoy but a few exceptions. those exceptions will be mainly today across parts of scotland and northern ireland. the weather front edging in, bringing breezy and cloudy conditions and occasional rain. with high pressure in the south and east, we go into the morning dry and for many, clear once again. there will be mist and low cloud in east anglia and the south—east. here, the coolest of the weather. three or four degrees in the countryside to start the day. the mist and low cloud in the south—east will break up and burn back to the coast through the day but we will stick with the cloud across western scotland and northern ireland, particularly with outbreaks of rain. sunshine a bit hazy across northern and western areas. for the south, blue skies away from the coast. there could be some patches of mist and sea fog through the english channel. inland, light winds, could be a degree warmer than it was on saturday. as i said, sunshine a bit hazier further north and breezy. still pleasant in eastern scotland, only the small threat of a shower, 21 the high in the murray firth. northern ireland and western

scotland, including the northern isles, always that bit cloudier, occasional rain but there will be dry weather, too. these areas into sunday night will turn wetter and the rain becomes heavier and more persistent but we will see skies clear through eastern scotland and down through much of england and wales with the risk of some mist and sea fog around the coast. temperatures by night not dropping as much as they have done recently. one good news for the gardeners. the bad news is high pressure will still dominate through the start of the week so not much in the way of wet weather. plenty of watering of plants to be done. the wettest weather on monday confined to scotland and northern ireland. heavy, persistent rain to start the day but with that high pressure building from the east, it will nudge off westwards. so many of you, including eastern parts of northern ireland and much of scotland by the end of monday, dry, sunny and warm again. an outside chance across southern counties of england of a small thunderstorm or heavy shower. same too on tuesday.

most will be dry. a bit more cloud on tuesday through scotland and northern ireland but not much in the way of rain. the only thing is, it may take us into slightly cooler air in the far north of scotland, whereas further south, we stick with temperatures in the high—teens and low to mid—20s. indeed through the coming week with high pressure generally dominant, ok, there's a small risk of one or two showers in the south but most places will stay dry with some warmth as well. bye for now. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is nkem ifejika. our top stories: the kiss that says "we're husband and wife" — prince harry and meghan markle take their vows in a ceremony they made their own. the bride was accompanied by ten bridesmaids and pageboys, in a service watched by millions around the world. i, harry, take you, meghan.

to be my wife.