the headlines... the indonesian government says it will install a new tsunami warning system next year after the existing technology failed to warn of the large waves that devastated parts of java and sumatra on saturday. at least a29 people are now known to have died. president trump says the partial shutdown of the federal government is going to last until his demand for funds to build a wall on the mexico border is met. a0 migrants have been picked up in operations in the english channel. a number of boats were intercepted this morning and a number of people were discovered by officials in folkstone in kent. the queen and the pope have both appealed for people to put their differences aside in the hope of greater understanding in their annual christmas messages. those are the latest headlines on bbc news. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of 2018 from our documentary series our world. in this award—winning film,

my stolen childhood, brigitte sossou perenyi takes a journey through west africa to understand why her family gave her away to a religious shrine 20 years ago. 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. on 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 i 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. hello and let's see what the weather

has in store for the rest of christmas and of course it has been very mild across most of the uk so far at this christmas and it is likely to stay mild over the coming days. having said that, it was very cold in the highlands of scotland, minus eight celsius so not mild everywhere. here is what it looks like on wednesday on boxing day. within the mild air is a big high—pressure which is dominating weather across many central parts of

europe and that does mean frost that night where the sky is clear but during the daytime it is not that cold out all. looking at the forecast for boxing day itself, winds are blowing generally out of southwest here, double figured temperatures across the uk and a few spots of rain where we have weak weather fronts affecting the country. thursday morning may bring a touch of frost across southern areas of the uk but elsewhere it should be frost free. thursday, a very good change, high—pressure across europe and we get the high—pressure things do not tend to change an awful lot and any weather fronts change an awful lot and any weather fro nts gets change an awful lot and any weather fronts gets stuck to the west of our neighbourhood. very little change with increasing amounts of sunshine particularly across southern and central areas on thursday. into friday we see one weather front making some progress in affecting parts of scotland and that means early on friday morning there will

be wet and windy weather but it will not last for very long and is out of the way very quickly and then the weather improves. 0nce the way very quickly and then the weather improves. once again little change and the high—pressure across the south of the country so partly cloudy skies. another weak weather front of low pressure moving into scotla nd front of low pressure moving into scotland which will bring some rain around at least this time and it does not last very long. it is in the morning then out of the way on saturday. some showers which are not looking that at all and showers around ten or 11 degrees. not much change at all on the thermometers so it is nine or ten most days. on sunday the weather fronts try to make progress but remember they cannot as long as the high—pressure isa cannot as long as the high—pressure is a cross western parts of europe. quite mild but the really mild air is still waiting to the west of us.

further east where it is colder. temperatures are around 10 degrees which is above average for sunday this time of year. on monday you get a sense of the high—pressure there across southern parts of the uk and winds blow around high—pressure, in the clockwise fashion so partly cloudy skies at nine or 10 celsius. into the new year, high—pressure again to the south of us and weather fronts try to move in but it looks as though the high—pressure keeps on winning and then also some mild air and cold air is actually across scandinavia and some colder air towards germany and france. the indication is that as we head into the new year it will be a bit dry which is the best guess at the moment and maybe a bit of frost in the night. but that will be all. goodbye. this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall.

the headlines at 10. indonesia says it will build a new warning system, following the tsunami on saturday which has killed nearly 430 people. in her christmas message, the queen spoke of a busy year with weddings and babies and highlighted the importance of people with opposing views treating each other with respect. i believe his message of peace on earth and goodwill to all is never out of date. it can be heeded by everyone. it's needed as much as ever. hundreds turned out to greet the royal family for their traditional church service at sandringham. british and french authorities have rescued a0 migrants from boats trying to cross the english channel. president trump says the partial us government shutdown will go on until his demand for funds to build a mexican border wall is met.