2006 Child sponsorship report from Tema
29/11/2007
These are last years sponsors' letters from Ghana which we did not post when they arrived.
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The year 2006 is just about to close and we are happy to give you some of the major news that happened in our SOS Children’s Village in Tema. The SOS Village is currently a home to 127 children with a few more to join in the next couple of weeks when social investigations are completed into applications received. There are 27 boys and girls in the Boys and Girls’ Youth Homes. Transitional education is going on to prepare some of the youth currently in the Village for the Youth Home.
HEALTH
Everybody is in good health. However, baby “J” has a problem with his digestive system and is receiving attention at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The doctors say they may have to correct the defect through surgery in February 2007.
EDUCATION
The Village continues to work hard to improve upon the educational standards of the children. This September, three (3) children entered the Kindergarten, four (4) children also entered Hermann Gmeiner Primary School class one. Three (3) children from the village, who completed their basic education in April this year, have also passed the highly competitive entrance examination and gained admission into the Hermann Gmeiner International College in Tema. One of them whose story touches the heart is “L” he was in the Junior Secondary School in the Village and was in stage eight going to stage nine. He could not be promoted to stage nine because of poor academic performance. He was asked to repeat stage eight. The Village Director with the consent of his mother sent him to a boarding school far from the Village. The change of environment had such a huge positive impact on him and without the preparations that his brothers, sisters and colleagues made for the examination in the Village; he successfully passed the entrance examination to the Hermann Gmeiner International College. He is now happy, cheerful and coping well with his studies.
Four (4) Youth have enrolled at Hermann Gmeiner Vocational Training Centre to do a course leading to Diploma in Business studies. Two (2) girls who completed the senior secondary schools have also gained admission into the University this September, whilst the youth who did his national service as a teaching assistant at one of the leading Universities in the country “Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology” has gained admission to the same University to read a master’s degree in Art Education. Yet another youth “F” is currently reading her master’s degree. Congratulations to all of them for making us proud.
2006 LONG VACATION (SUMMER)
This year, two (2) of our children “E” and “M” were among a number of children chosen from a number of childcare institutions in Ghana to enjoy a two-day trip to Banjul, the Gambia, on an American Airline. This special treat was part of the celebrations of American Airline’s one year operations in Ghana. Whilst in the Gambia the children stayed in a plush hotel and had the opportunity to visit the SOS Children’s Village in Bakoteh. They claimed the trip was an experience they will never forget.
As part of an exchange program between SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana and Benin, initiated two years ago, some mothers from Benin spent some days in SOS Villages in Ghana whilst some mothers from Ghana visited the Village in Benin for four days. Later in the year too some mothers from SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana and Nigeria spent one week in exchange programme to encourage themselves in their very important work.
In the same vein 25 children from SOS Children’s Village, Benin and four (4)children from SOS Children’s Villages, Togo spent 4 weeks in Ghana trying to learn the English language whilst twenty (20) children from Ghana spent four (4) weeks in Benin trying to learn the French Language. The children were happy about the opportunity given them and promised to make good use of it. Interestingly, eleven (11) educators from SOS Kindergarten in Benin spent one week in the SOS Kindergarten in Tema.
In addition to the holiday classes that were organized for the children in the village during the holidays, all the children, from Kindergarten to Junior Secondary School, spent the greater part of the holidays visiting important places in the Tema/Accra metropolis. Their visit started from the Hermann Gmeiner International College where the Principal Dr.(Mrs.) Margaret Nkrumah so generously met the children, introduced her staff to them, gave them pep talks and conducted them round the facilities in the college. All the children were inspired and promised to work hard to merit places at the college in future. One of the place(s) that was compulsory for all the children to visit was the SOS National Office in Accra. Almost all the children never visited or knew the National Office. The National Director, Mr. Kojo Mattah, who had the children’s school reports with him during the visit discussed the reports with them and encouraged them to take their studies seriously and work harder. The children found the trip very useful because they were exposed very well to their immediate environment and they felt confident to venture out into the cities without any fears or apprehensions. The children visited most of the important educational facilities in the national capital in addition to other national places of importance.
DONATION
An American lady who is a regular visitor to the SOS Children’s Village in Tema shipped a container full of clothes, shoes, books, bicycles, medical supplies and toys to the village. The goods were shared between the two SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana whilst some went to support the SOS Family Strengthening Programme.
SPORTS AND OTHER SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
The children continue to be part of Ghana Football Association league matches as ball boys and girls. They take part in little league baseball competition with other teams in Ghana and they are also active in playing soccer. Some children are learning to play hockey and Cricket. One of them “A” has been identified as a boy with a huge potential in baseball in future.
The brass band group too is still very active and younger children have been invited to join the group.
Two of the adult ladies from the village are teaching the younger children chorography that involves very intricate dance movements and steps. And the good part is that they are doing it for free as part of their contribution to the village for taking care of them.
An exciting part of life in the village is the weekend activities. The Village has drawn up a whole year’s programme of activities for the weekends. Some of the activities are film shows, quizzes and debates, variety shows, musical nights and dances, excursions, community services on Saturday when the whole village cleans its surroundings, talk shows, evening with mentors, role models and church services on the last Sundays in every month. The children never want to miss their Friday and Saturday night activities.
This year’s Christmas cards were made from the paintings of the children in the village and they were simply fantastic pieces of artworks.
VISITS
The village continues to play host to visitors from all over the world and within the country. The village played host to staff from the SOS Children, SOS Central/West Africa regional office and other countries within the sub region. Other visitors have come from many countries to visit Ghana. Recently the SOS Children hosted a team from Holland to do a documentary towards fundraising for SOS Promoting Association in Holland.
The second SOS Regional Youth Development Team Conference was held in Ghana in May this year and the Tema Village played host to the team members from the Central and West Africa Region.
End of year report for Asiakwa
As we approach the end of the year 2006, we are happy to submit a report on some of the activities that took place within the SOS Children’s Village in Asiakwa. The SOS Village in Asiakwa, currently has the following facilities: eight (8) family houses, a kindergarten, primary and junior secondary schools and a clinic. The Village is currently a home for sixty-six (66) children. The boys and girls youth homes also cater for thirty-three (33) young adults.
ADMISSIONS
Within the year, ten (10) admissions were made into the Village from various areas in the country. All the children have settled into their new homes without much problem. However, in two (2) instances, SOS Children’s Village, Asiakwa had to collaborate with the Police to take custody of two girls who had been sold into slavery after the death of their mother. It was traumatic for them but they have all settled well in the SOS Village.
Baby with the longest name turns one (1) year old
One of our baby girls’ who was admitted three days old, turned one year in October 2006. It was a real time of joy for all children in the village; this baby has the longest name in the village.
TRACING OUR ROOTS
During the period under review, the pedagogical team made a fruitful trip to a remote village in the Volta region of country to trace the roots of a group of our children who are now teenagers and have requested to know their biological family. It was like a journey to the unknown, but as luck would have it, the team chanced on two young men who volunteered to assist them to trace the aged father who had returned to the village from his sojourn in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Finally, the team met the father who was shocked and lost for words. According to him he least expected to see his children again. Despite the anxiety and near despair of the team, it turned out to be a very beautiful but emotional re-union for the children, their family and the team as well. This step has brought a new light into the lives of the four children, who have suddenly realized the need to be more serious, with their studies in order to become useful to themselves and their poor family at home.
Other children in the Village who were told of the outcome of the trip have suddenly realized the need to begin to appreciate all the efforts of the SOS Children’s Village in making their lives so meaningful.
MOTHERS’ AWARD
Six (6) mothers of the SOS Children’s Village, Asiakwa were given the “SOS Ring Award” at a colourful but simple ceremony in the Children’s Village in Tema during the recent visit of Mr. Helmut Kutin, President of SOS Kinderdorf International. The “SOS RING” is a prestigious and a token award specially designed for mothers who dedicate their services to the organization for ten and more years. These are women who have helped nurture several children, some of whom are now in tertiary institutions. This was a moment of pride for the mothers, children and the entire staff.
EDUCATION
The SOS Children’s Village in Asiakwa presented six (6) children for the 2006 Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.ECE). All the 6 children have now gained admission into various senior secondary schools of their choice in the country. Once again we are proud of our children chalking success.
One of our youth (boy) completed his course in Business Administration at the University of Ghana. He is currently awaiting his National Service posting to one of the Financial Institutions in the country. One little girl also graduated with honours to Hermann Gmeiner Primary School. The annual SOS Kindergarten graduation was a very colourful ceremony which attracted parents and people from the community.
SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS AND SPORTING ACTIVITIES
The Children participated in cultural activities like drumming, dancing and singing within the year. This reached its peak during the visit of President Helmut Kutin and his entourage to Ghana. The children also put up splendid performances during our monthly inter-denominational church service.
The children have also witnessed two wedding receptions involving community members in the Asiakwa Township.
The Play Soccer activities continued in earnest with many more children participating. Our youth organized various sporting activities with other youth in the Kibi and Asiakwa communities. The special games involving our youth and the Asiakwa community were particularly exciting.
The youth homes had a time of interaction with opinion leaders in their community. It was a time for the adults to advice the youth on behaviour, dressing, appearances and several other issues that would help them in life.
The Hermann Gmeiner School (HGS) FIFA Field in Asiakwa turned into a mourning ground when the HGS lost to Cocoa Research Institute Ghana (CRIG), Tafo in some friendly games in football, netball and table tennis. CRIG won all the games expect netball where HGS beat them by 7:4.
HIV/AIDS SEMINAR FOR THE YOUTH
The youth department organized an HIV-Aids seminar for the youth in the village and the Junior Secondary School as well. The speaker at the forum was an HIV-AIDS victim who made the situation so real for the youth. It was a good time of interaction for the children, since they had the opportunity to ask probing questions on the reality of the virus.
NEW PROJECTS
The SOS Children’s Village in Ghana will soon start a construction of four (4) more family houses and two (2) residences for the Social Worker and Nurse respectively. This is welcome news with regard to the increasing number of applications for admission into the SOS Children’s Village in Asiakwa.
MOTHERS VISIT TO BENIN AND NIGERIA
Three (3) Mothers from Asiakwa Village joined their counterparts in Tema on a one week visit to the SOS Children’s Village in Calavi, Benin and SOS Children’s Villages in Nigeria. It was an exciting exchange programme for the mothers who returned with various ideas to share.
FAMILY STRENGTHENING PROGRAMME
The family strengthening Programme (FSP) initiated by SOS Kinderdorf International in 2004 to help prevent child abandonment is operating so well in the SOS Children’s Village in Asiakwa. Currently the programme supports one hundred and thirty (130) families with a total of four hundred and fifty (450) orphans and vulnerable children. The programme supports them with regular monthly food package.
Twelve (12 care givers) were also given money to start or expand their businesses. This brings the total number of caregivers who have benefited from this package in 2006 to forty three (43). Beneficiaries also took part in seminars on topics like methods of Family planning and child care which is aimed at improving the knowledge of all the care-givers. Ten (10) orphaned children also received educational support in the form of school fees, books and school uniforms. In addition, community volunteers have been paying regular home visits to beneficiary families to ensure all children of school going age are in school. Community volunteers continued to provide counselling and education on relevant issues such as nutrition, education, self esteem, hygiene and prevention of diseases.
We are always grateful to you for the wonderful support towards our child welfare work in Ghana. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Yours sincerely,
Kojo Mattah
National Director
Relevant Countries: Ghana.