AfriKids 2007 Annual Report

Annual Report January – December 2007

“AfriKids is a new kind of NGO. Indigenously run and sustained, it will eliminate the need for handouts and put itself at the centre of the local economy. AfriKids has potential for replication across the continent, and provides a model for genuine, sustainable development in Africa” Zac Goldsmith, Chairman of the Ecologist Magazine

www.afrikids.org Haskell House, 152 West End Lane London, NW6 1SD AfriKids (UK) Registered Charity Number 1093624 AfriKids Ghana Registered Charity Number SWD/3024 1

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Contents

Reflections from the International Director AfriKids’ Objectives Why Africa? Why Ghana?

The AfriKids Teams AfriKids Ghana Director, Nich Kumah’s Special Mentions AfriKids’ Future AfriKids’ Organisational Structures International Recognition An Overview of AfriKids’ Projects Five Years as a registered charity The AfriKids Ghana 2007 Awards James Hutton-Mills visits Sirigu on behalf of the ALMT Moving on – Timothy, Talata and Ayinde’s story AfriKids Supporters go to any length From Britain to Bolga AfriKids Volunteer Placements AfriKids UK Internship Scheme Brigadier Gerald Blakey visits Bolgatanga AfriKids Core Projects AfriKids Partner Projects AfriKids Sustainability Projects AfriKids Financial Summary How was this report developed and funded?

“There were many times we were moved to tears by the work and heartfelt dedication of AfriKids’ staff. Your projects are well designed, thoughtful, and inspiring.”

Danielle Varnes, EWB-NAU

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Reflections from the International Director

This year our annual report has a lot to live up to. It’s a genuine challenge to do justice to the achievements of 2007 and to the 120 staff who have spent the last 12 months delivering AfriKids’ most successful year to date.

It is these staff, with their indelible commitment to their own community and to the children whose lives depend on them that have driven all of our success.

The major awards they have won this year are a hard-earned testimony to their abilities and commitment.

As individuals, they are remarkable in themselves. They are teachers. They are doctors and nurses. They are fieldworkers and night watchmen. They are accountants and administrators, social workers and foster parents. They are project managers and community development workers.

But if ever

there was a case of a team whose whole is greater than the sum of their parts, this is surely it. Their work creates vibrancy, focus and hope, and above all a great sense of self belief, for the wider community they work in.

I remain humbled by our staff’s commitment to their country and its people as they peel back the complex layers of ancestral traditions and economic difficulties. I won’t ever stop feeling shocked and angry when I hear of children who have suffocated at the bottom of mine shafts, or beautiful young women crippled by disease. I know such sentiments also resonate amongst our Ghana staff yet the success of their work is rooted in an unprejudiced respect for personal beliefs and the cultural legacy of the region. They have proved themselves capable of overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles in pursuit of their goals. They

have negotiated the rough terrain of Ghana, physically and culturally developing inclusive and pragmatic solutions that are community-led and will genuinely last.

What they are building will endure and grow, and with it will grow the opportunity and potential for generations of Ghanaians who follow them. As supporters of AfriKids, your contributions have been essential to their endeavors.

Your interest and support has fuelled their belief, and that belief has given rise to new ideas, new projects and new successes.

Our ultimate goal is to create something that will endure for generations by itself. Charity is a helping hand, a starting point and therefore by its very nature should be temporary; an organisation that teaches people to rely on its support gives no support at all. AfriKids

must evolve beyond charity; it will become a facet of the local community with exclusively local management and local staff. AfriKids’ future

should not and will not depend on outside help, no matter how vital that help is now.

While AfriKids builds itself up to self reliance we continue to rely on you and I hope as you read the story of the last year, you will look to the year ahead and commit yourselves again to supporting these extraordinary people and the children and communities they serve. Over the

next few years your donations will matter more

than ever before as we make significant capital investments in large scale economic enterprises that will truly form the basis of a self sufficient organisation.

Yet, both we and our donors should know that, for AfriKids, indefinite fundraising in the UK is not the answer; it will be the means by which the vibrant and successful work already underway in Ghana will be continued indefinitely and independently.

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With thanks from us all, Georgie Fienberg

AfriKids’ Objectives To empower and support existing local organisations, Civil Society Organisations and agencies to develop and sustain their work which they have initiated in response to a clear need, and which ultimately supports child rights To directly address the needs of children and their communities where appropriate support is not already being delivered To facilitate and enhance the understanding and use of best practice and collaboration between local, national and international organisations, Civil Society Organisations, agencies and individuals To develop a small UK based team to raise funds in accordance with AfriKids’ values, provide guidance in the best and proper use of these funds to all individuals and groups benefiting from them and empower and enable the Ghana team to control the maximum possible range of organisational operations To develop a core team of experts in Ghana who are capable of advising partners and developing core projects and enterprises in such a way that they reduce, and ultimately end, dependency on the UK team To contribute to the development of the Upper Eastern Region’s economy with the aim of increasing children’s and their communities’ access to the benefits and opportunities of an enhanced economic climate

“I feel so proud to have worked with you..... the comments on the ground in Bolga regarding AfriKids are mind blowing. You have a reputation for being the one NGO who always delivers what it promises - reliable and entirely trusted.”

Sally Macdonald, journalist and regular visitor to Bolgatanga

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Why Africa? Why Ghana?

Everyone has their own perception of Africa. Too often, this perception is of a continent without hope; a lost cause ravaged by war, poverty, disease and famine. Most disheartening is the image of suffering and hardship as unchanging; it seems to everyone who takes an interest that there has been no progress or improvement since Africa’s troubles became prominent over twenty years ago.

For many people, Africa exists only in outline; a single, dark shape that we all recognise, hanging desperately from the bottom of Europe. It stands for destitution, despair and catastrophe.

Little attention is given to the African nations as individual countries, with a series of individual problems- problems that are neither limitless nor insurmountable.

Our challenge today is in bringing Africa into clearer focus; presenting it as it really is - 54 countries with their own landscapes, economies, populations, promises and issues. Meeting the challenge that Africa represents to the world, requires us to break it down into smaller elements that we can envisage more clearly, understand more easily and support more effectively.

Ghana is just 6 hours from London. We sit in the same time-zone and the same ocean. It is closer to us than New York.

Yet Ghana struggles for support from us; it is in many ways a victim of its own achievements. Ghana is a stable constitutional democracy. Its elected government is taking every difficult step forward to secure the country’s future.

As the country quietly pursues improvement and development, media attention lights on its more volatile neighbours, where corruption and civil war are commonplace.

Yet it is in Ghana where a generation is growing up within reaching distance of their dream of self sufficiency, stability and sustainable development.

It is for this generation that AfriKids needs your support, especially now when they are so close to pulling themselves up from their reliance on economic assistance from outside. Right now, just as you read and learn about the promise the country holds, so do the next generation of Ghanaians. The

story that you read with them is one of hope and optimism. AfriKids works with the local

community in northern Ghana to nurture and support the children who are on the fringes of the country’s development, providing food, shelter, education and medical relief where it is needed most.

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The AfriKids Teams AfriKids UK AfriKids is about local people working to change their own communities for the better. The Ghana staff work at a grassroots level allowing the projects to be very nuanced and bespoke to the individual communities’ needs. This style of working ensures beneficiaries get the most appropriate support but challenges AfriKids as an organisation to structure itself in a way that allows diversity to flourish. To achieve this we have developed simple analogous structures for AfriKids UK and AfriKids Ghana with clear synergies and processes.

In the UK we have three functions: 1. Fundraising The fundraising team is responsible for generating all of our donor related income. This ranges from funding generated through large foundations such as the Big Lottery Fund right through to our valued regular supporters and from large events to schools assemblies. Equally they ensure that all donors receive detailed feedback on the impact of their funding and feel informed and appreciated.

2. Project monitoring and assistance with operational development It is our responsibility (and our pleasure), to monitor every aspect of each project and to measure its outputs against the proposed aims and objectives. We also provide tailored managerial and operational assistance to the AfriKids Ghana Senior Management Team.

3. UK internal financial control and administration As a small team with a big challenge we need ensure that we operate as efficiently as possible. As AfriKids is committed to operating in a transparent and ethical manner, effectively managing our UK operations from financial audits to paper purchase is a big challenge; our success at this underpins the entire AfriKids operation.

The UK office has three departments, one for each function, each headed by one staff member; add to this the Director and two additional fundraisers and you have the AfriKids UK team.

AfriKids International Director Georgie Fienberg

Head of Finance & Administration Laura Parrett

Head of Fundraising Sally Eastcott

Fundraiser Sarah Devine

Head of Programmes and Strategy Andy Thornton

Fundraiser Julia Hickman

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Sally

Andy

Georgie

Laura

Sarah

AfriKids Ghana AfriKids Ghana is a team of local experts in grass roots development, child welfare, education, accounting and IT some of whom began working with AfriKids through partner projects whilst others were openly recruited. All of the team have proven their commitment to child welfare time and again.

The AfriKids Ghana team are the lifeblood of the organisation, their main areas of activity are as follows: To provide training and support to partner projects in areas which are vital to the successful operation, including budgeting and accounting, IT and contracting To monitor and assess all AfriKids projects’ delivery and accounting procedures through monthly visits and reports To be AfriKids UK’s main point of contact and bear ultimate responsibility to the International Director for the successful delivery of all projects and transparent use of the donors’ money To run outreach services for the community as a whole, currently including a free IT academy for middle school leavers, educational and vocational training scholarships and support for individuals with exceptional health needs To develop initiatives which will stimulate the local economy, provide greater opportunities for young adults and generate an income for AfriKids Ghana To launch and run projects where desperate needs are not already being met by a local group or NGO (these projects are known as AfriKids ‘Core Projects’). The need for these projects is often highlighted by work AfriKids’ in partner projects and the two work closely alongside each other

Senior Management Team

Finance Manager Solomon Ali Baba

AfriKids Ghana Director Nicholas Kumah

Head of Microfinance and Sustainability Didas Azanoore

External Affairs Manager Linda Marfoh

Head of Core Projects Cletus Anaaya

Head of Partner Projects David Pwalua

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Cletus

Nich

Solo

Didas

David

AfriKids Ghana Director, Nich Kumah’s Special Mentions Peter Ayariga AfriKids’ driver Former beneficiary of The Next Generation Home

In 1998 an eight year old boy by the name of Peter was the smallest of eleven street children who were recruited from a life on the street to the House of Restoration, now The Next Generation Home and part of Operation Bolgatanga.

Peter has suffered more tragedy in his life than one could imagine; born in to a life of abject poverty, at age seven he would carry his elder brother. who suffered from polio around the streets begging for money and food. He lost his two brothers, his father and a sister in just a few years to a combination of disease and suicide and became the sole breadwinner to his pregnant sister and blind mother.

Operation Bolgatanga supported Peter through formal education and three years ago he completed Junior High School.

Following that, desperate for work Peter found a job with a family member in a donkey abattoir. The work was draining and poorly paid so Peter sought the counselling of Felix Amenga-Etego and myself, his former carers at Operation Bolgatanga. As early as 6:00 am Peter would come to my house to discuss his situation asking to be assisted in any way; seeing such a committed and hard working young man suffer so much broke my heart. By the close of the day I told myself I could not afford to fail him; his presence on my doorstep meant he still confided and trusted in me. Knowing Peter’s love of cars, Felix and I planned to send Peter to a driving school and within a week the UK had found him a sponsor; 6 months later he graduated with flying colours.

When in November AfriKids needed a second driver, there was only one name on my lips. Anytime I see Peter behind the steering wheel, it moves me to have more compassion for children. Ten years of parenting a street boy has not been in vain. Endurance pays I told myself.

Nich Kumah, AfriKids Ghana Director

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Asokipala Atingabono AfriKids Medical Fund Beneficiary On my way to visit a friend on admission at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital in October 2006 I was met by the sight of a little girl who lay face down with most of her body burnt. The child was in horrendous pain and almost everybody around her had thrown up their hands in despair. Talking to the doctors it became clear that the only hope for her survival was an expensive transfer to a specialist in Kumasi, 700km away.

This decision to take Atingabono to Kumasi to seek specialist treatment has been life changing. Atingabono returned home last October to a new house that was put up by AfriKids. Then in November I went to a traditional festival of drumming and dancing and as one of the youth groups entered the arena, in their midst I saw Atingabono dancing and singing with them.

Words can’t explain what it feels like to be a part of AfriKids at these moments.

Nich Kumah, AfriKids Ghana Director

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AfriKids’ Future

AfriKids’ future is governed by one word, sustainability. We hope that in our future we can achieve something truly pioneering, to make AfriKids Ghana entirely free from dependence on external assistance.

Currently this assistance exists in two principal forms, financial and organisational. In 2007

AfriKids Ghana has taken great strides towards independence, generating two thirds of the cost of the 2008 Senior Management Team staff salaries from the Medical Centre profits and forming new managerial structures to proactively drive internal development.

In 2008 and beyond AfriKids Ghana with the support of AfriKids UK will go still further, developing the Medical Centre and Fair Trade projects as well as kicking off our largest investment in sustainability and the local economy to date, the AfriKids Eco Lodge.

The end point to all this work is simple, when AfriKids Ghana is fully financially and organisationally independent then AfriKids UK will have achieved its goals and will dissolve; this

will leave AfriKids Ghana to continue their inspiring work as a truly autonomous local organisation. AfriKids has always been about local people

working for their communities. By investing in the local economy to generate the funds for development, AfriKids will break the cycle of dependence and allow local people to continue this work indefinitely.

As with much of AfriKids’ work, the difficulties we need to overcome on the path to sustainability are substantial, however we will be spending a significant amount of time in 2008 resetting the AfriKids business plan to achieve this goal. We have two new Senior Management Teams in the UK and Ghana, both developing the scenarios and milestones for the sustainability plan. Meetings and workshops are scheduled right through 2008 for the teams to come together to share and discuss ideas. The

output of this full year’s work will be a business plan and associated departmental strategies that clearly document the individual activities and milestones that will take us towards our shared vision.

As this is an unusual trajectory for a charity to take and one that has, to our knowledge, not been achieved on this scale before, we are having to carve our own path. The road is not easy. It requires significant investments of time, expertise and money to be successful.

“AfriKids is a dynamic, focussed, flexible and pragmatic organisation; we believe in this vision, our experiences show it is achievable and we are committed to seeing it succeed whatever we encounter on the way.”

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AfriKids’ Organisational Structures Organisational Structure in 2007 AfriKids (UK) Board of Trustees AfriKids (UK) Board of Trustees

AfriKids International Director

AfriKids Ghana Board of Trustees

AfriKids Ghana Board of Trustees The Very Rev Father Moses Akebule (Chairman) Christopher Y Babooroh Joseph Jesse Panin Samera Adwoah Ghanem Apambila David Aberimah

AfriKids Ghana Director

AfriKids Ghana

John Hickman (Chairman) Hugh Taylor Anna Maria Kennedy Nick Fry

AfriKids (UK)

Proposed future organisational structure AfriKids is planning to develop a structure that will facilitate AfriKids Ghana’s move towards becoming an autonomous sustainable organisation. In the medium term AfriKids UK and Ghana will become parallel organisations sharing a vision and carefully linked so that AfriKids Ghana has the freedom to develop autonomously whilst working closely with AfriKids UK to ensure this development is well managed and sustainable.

AfriKids Ghana Board of Trustees

AfriKids (UK) Board of Trustees

AfriKids Ghana Director

AfriKids UK Director

AfriKids Ghana

AfriKids (UK)

Rev. Father Moses Akebule Chairman of the AfriKids Ghana Board of Trustees

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International Recognition Winners of the award for the Defence of the Human Rights of Children for Operation Sirigu International Service 2007 Winners of the award for Accountability and Transparency Third Sector Excellence Awards 2007 Finalists for the award of Small Charity Big Achiever Third Sector Excellence Awards 2007 Short listed for The Beacon Prize for New initiatives The Beacon Fellowship 2007 Highly Commended for The Beacon Prize for Leadership The Beacon Fellowship 2006 Runner up for the award of Women of the year YOU Magazine/Clarins 2005 Shortlisted for The Beacon Prize for Young Philanthropist The Beacon Fellowship 2005 Winners of the award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Ghana GPA Awards 2004 Shortlisted for The Beacon Prize for Young Philanthropist The Beacon Fellowship 2004 Highly Commended for The Beacon Prize for Young Philanthropist The Beacon Fellowship 2003

“We trust you implicitly in terms of judgement and spending priorities. Indeed from your proposal we are very happy 14 to be guided as to where the money is best spent�

Anonymous corporate donor

Operation Sirigu Wins the 2007 International Service Award for

'The Defence of the Rights of the Child'

Baroness Lynda Chalker with Joe Asakibeem, Operation Sirigu manager and Cletus Anaaya ,Head of Core Projects Operation Sirigu's project manager, Joe Asakibeem, was flown over by the International Service to receive his award, presented by Jon Snow, at the House of Commons on 5th December.

The Judges referred to Operation Sirigu as an "outstanding" project. They were impressed by the bravery shown by the project for tackling such a deep rooted cultural phenomenon and the great sensitivity with which the problem is confronted. They felt Operation Sirigu's approach was subtle, sophisticated, practical, and with a significant sustainable impact. “...we would like to register our sincerest appreciation to the International Service for recognising our work. A lot of NGOs are doing great work assuring children are afforded their rights and for AfriKids to be selected for this award above all others means so much to us...On behalf of everyone in Sirigu I say thank you for the recognition and thank you to everyone who is here today who has supported AfriKids and, in particular, Operation Sirigu's work to stem the belief and save children's lives. Thank you.”

To read Joe’s entire speech, visit www.afrikids.org

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An overview of AfriKids’ Projects 21 Programmes

120 local staff

99,493 beneficiaries

The AfriKids Ghana Head Office is a formidable collection of local development experts who have extensive knowledge of child rights, project management, finance, social development and micro-finance. The Head Office directly delivers AfriKids’ core projects and monitors and provides support to partner projects, as well as driving the organisation’s development, managing donor relations, providing micro-finance and training, developing sustainability projects, liaising with external stakeholders and disseminating two support funds, the AfriKids medical and education funds.

Core projects Operation Fresh Start A ground breaking project preventing child trafficking, streetism and labour, as well as resettling children back home who have been trafficked to, or are living on, the streets of Kumasi. Funded by the British Big Lottery, OFS is recognised for its extensive collaborative efforts with local and national NGOs Operation Sirigu An award winning project that empowers local communities to move beyond damaging traditional belief systems and protect the rights of local children with a particular focus on the ‘Spirit Child Phenomenon’ Operation Sunlight A challenging yet successful initiative which tackles child labour in small scale gold mines by removing children from the mines and offering a viable alternative, preventing children entering the mines and improving safety conditions for those working there. It is delivered in partnership with the UN International Labour Organisation AfriKids Academy An innovative IT academy improving the employable skills of children and adults across the greater Bolgatanga district, with the aim of widening choice and opportunities in employment and business development for the local economy Creative Minds An inspirational co-operative of visually impaired people who are provided with micro-finance to fund their creative business venture weaving local furniture and craft products, thereby increasing their capacity to care for their children AfriKids Emergency Relief A flexible fund designed to alleviate the short term suffering of those families and schools worst affected by flooding in the communities in which AfriKids has a presence, and to empower them to sustainably rebuild their homes and livelihoods School of Night Rabbits A pragmatic and pioneering night school that provides education to street children and young mothers in Bolgatanga on their own terms AfriKids Medical Fund A flexible fund to cater for the medical needs of local children that are not being addressed by one of AfriKids’ projects, which has transformed the lives of sick and injured children AfriKids Education Outreach Fund 16 A responsive education fund that is used by the Head Office to increase local access to primary, secondary and tertiary education

Partner Projects

Operation Bolgatanga A long standing community led programme that promotes human and social development of vulnerable children, especially street children and other young people at risk, by providing care and educational facilities, and through community initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of streetism Operation Smiles A programme that empowers vulnerable young mothers to provide better support for their children through the provision of direct urgent care and micro-finance loans Operation Mango Tree An inspirational foster home transforming the lives of some of Bolgatanga’s most vulnerable children Bright Academy A sustainable primary school in central Bolgatanga which gives an education free of charge to children who live or beg on the streets, as well as providing impressive facilities which attract fee paying students Federation of Muslim Women The provision of micro-finance and business skills training to a local collective of Muslim women Single Mothers Association A women’s co-operative in Bolgatanga who work together to provide each other with emotional and financial support Operation Zuarungu A rural youth development project and centre, which provides education, micro-finance and skills training to local children as well as reaching out to the surrounding community to improve their circumstances Operation SINGh An impressive local initiative providing education and micro-finance support to some of the most vulnerable rural areas in the Upper East Region Street Child Development Programme (directly partnered with Operation Fresh Start) An innovative anti-streetism project in Kumasi, which surveys and registers all street and working children to ensure the support they receive is tailored and appropriate and the prevention work in the north is targeted to the right children Shekeena Needy Trust (directly partnered with Operation Fresh Start) A remarkable grassroots NGO working directly with the children and young adults who live and work on the streets of Kumasi providing support for their basic needs, counselling and identifying those who are ready to be resettled back into their home villages through Operation Fresh Start

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Organisational sustainability projects

AfriKids Medical Centre A professional, flexible and oasis like medical centre in Bolgatanga run by AfriKids to facilitate access to healthcare and locally raise the funds needed to transform the lives of local children AfriKids Eco Lodge A pioneering eco-tourism business venture that will transform the local economy and lead the way for the independent sustainability of AfriKids Ghana AfriKids Fair Trade An international business initiative creating new areas of investment in, and markets for northern Ghana and generating funds for AfriKids’ projects

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825 children were sponsored through through formal primary and secondary education

305 Young adults were supported through apprenticeships in 12 different trades

96,088 people across northern Ghana were supported by AfriKids

777 children and young adults benefited from Home based care

51 children with special needs benefitted

350 people were given IT training AfriKids gave 500 goats to families and project farms

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Five Years as a Registered Charity AfriKids thanks its donors at GlaxoSmithKline House 2007 was the fifth year that AfriKids has been a registered charity in the UK and to mark this mile stone we held a huge thank you event, which was very kindly sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and our Patron, Dr Gunther Faber. The aim of the evening was simple, to thank all of AfriKids’ supporters for helping us reach where we are today.

AfriKids wanted to take the opportunity of having so many supporters gathered together to tell everyone about the work we are doing and instead of asking for more money, show the donors what the money they had already given us had helped achieve.

The other focus of the event was to tell our supporters about the future of AfriKids. As we’ve explained in this report, AfriKids’ future plans are far from traditional and we want to be clear to all our supporters why we are taking this route and the benefits we feel it gives us.

The evening was crowned by speeches from Dr Gunther Faber (Vice president of GSK Sub Saharan Africa), Trevor Pears (Executive Chairman of the Pears Foundation), Georgie Fienberg (AfriKids International Director) and Nich Kumah (AfriKids Ghana Director). Gunther and Trevor spoke of their experiences with AfriKids and the work we have already done, Georgie and Nich spoke about our future and ambitions. All of the speeches are available on the website.

To complete the evening a short video was played.

Two years ago, we called on our donors to help us build Mama Laadi and her ever-expanding foster family a permanent home. She and her 47 children sent their personal message of thanks to everyone and from the feedback we received this was many people’s highlight of the evening. Thank you again to everyone who attended.

“The philosophy of measurable and sustainable goals is at their core and marks them out from many charities that are working in Africa. AfriKids does not do things to the communities in northern Ghana; it works with and through local NGOs and the communities. An American friend of mine very much involved in such work once told me that it is 'hard to do good'. Depressingly I have found this to be very true – I am thankful therefore for organisations like AfriKids which makes 'hard to do good' a lot easier.”

Trevor Pears, Executive Chairman of The Pears Foundation “AfriKids is committed to generating its own income, not just sourcing it from generous people and organisations in the UK. This will require significant capital investment, to create substantial enterprises that will truly form the basis of a selfsufficient organisation in Ghana that continues to carry out AfriKids' work. What this means is that your contributions now and in the coming years are more valuable than ever. Yet both we and our donors should know that, for AfriKids, indefinite fundraising in the UK is not the answer; it should be the means by which we become less reliant on future fundraising.”

Georgie Fienberg, AfriKids International Director

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The AfriKids Ghana 2007 Awards Core project staff member who works the hardest

Most impressive core project

Linda Marfoh, External Affairs Director

Operation Fresh Start

Most improved project

Partner project staff member who works the hardest

Operation Bolgatanga

Felix Fred Amenga Etego, Project Manager, Operation Bolgatanga

Most impressive partner project Operation Mango Tree

Best New Member of Staff Richard Amoah

Community Impact

Behind the scenes

Operation Fresh start

Abaane Akolgo AfriKids Medical Centre

Above & beyond the call of duty Dramani Isiah

Best Monthly Reports Operation Fresh Start

Member of staff who represents AfriKids the best Linda Marfoh, External Affairs Director

Accountability and Transparency Operation Sirigu

Best Field Worker Emanuella Awuni, Operation Zuarungu

Member of staff who achieves the most Joe Asakibeem, Project Manager, Operation Sirigu

Best Sustainability Achiever

Best Teacher

AfriKids Medical Centre

Daniel Anamkulna, Class 3, Bright Academy

Special Award from UK Visitors Raymond Ayinne “Lastly, it is worth mentioning in passing the annual awards ceremony that AfriKids has for all its employees and its extended family. I loved the fact that this event simply existed because I felt it was a wonderful and very clever way of showing recognition for hard work. I felt it was also an excellent way for all the different projects and people behind the projects to bond, share ideas and create incentives for continued hard work on behalf of the local communities.

It made me very proud to be a Ghanaian to see how so many people were prepared to work so hard for each other and were happy to share so much in the pursuit of the greater good.

While it sounds glib and clichéd to refer to this “awards ceremony” almost as if it was a team-building exercise, to me it just seemed like a wonderful celebration of everything that the charity was about – kind and strong people working together to help those around them.”

James Hutton-Mills, Donor and Visitor to Ghana 2007 Daniel Anamkulna collects his prize for being the best teacher in 2007

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2 year old Latifa helps her family rebuild their compound following the devastating floods in September 2007 Operation Fresh Start

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In October 2007 James Hutton-Mills visited Sirigu on behalf of the

Angus Lawson Memorial Trust Here are extracts from his report “…My first introduction to Tamale was the beaming Dramani who picked me up at the airport for the drive to Bolgatanga where we would see the rest of the AfriKids operation. Dramani’s first great love is “country & western” music (don’t ask me how or why he first came across it) and so it was a slightly strange experience to cross the green and intermittently lush spectacle of Tamale to the sound of Dolly Parton’s ‘Working Nine-to-Five’.

I was excited and enthralled by the prospect of being in the north to see this charity, more so because I was a “man on a mission”. Consequently, I was keen to pepper Dramani with questions about what he did for the charity, who were the people he helped, what were the most severe problems faced, as well as the usual glib questions about whether the current government was doing enough? He answered each question with aplomb and a flashing smile. His underlying message was a simple one. When people fall over, you should help to pick them up. There was no great sense from him that this was charity work, per se. He was simply helping his people. There was a very strong sense of duty, honour and personal well-being from what he was doing.

I could see this man’s enthusiasm for what he did. I could see this man’s drive to help his fellow people to better their own lives. This was my first introduction to AfriKids and Dramani was highly representative of all the key staff within the organization as a whole…” “…The Sirigu Child Rights’ Centre is the AfriKids project that the ALMT will be most closely associated with going forward. During my trip, this was perhaps where we received our warmest and most vociferous reception.

Due to the considerable work AfriKids has already undertaken in the area, and due to the fact we were opening the centre that day by laying the first few bricks, the community was kind enough to show their appreciation both through gifts, dancing and singing. Along with the local elders, I personally laid the first few bricks on behalf of ALMT in the midst of much celebration. I believe this centre will act as an important avenue for much due care and guidance in the community and I have no doubt that the money raised for the centre will be extremely well-spent…”

There are three main reasons that I would be a strong advocate of AfriKids and everything that the ALMT does to support it: It is an extremely well organised, efficient and transparent organisation where money is well-spent, fully audited and makes a difference to people’s lives Ghanaians on the ground are a key part of what makes the charity work. This is important in my view because it means there is better chance of the effective use of money where there is direct communication between the community and those working within the charity For every £1 spent on helping someone, £1 is invested for sustainability. This is also very important because it builds towards self-sufficiency over the long term and creates independence and confidence in building one’s own future

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To read more about the ALMT and our partnership with them go to www.almt.org

Moving On Timothy, Talata and Ayinde from Operation Bolgatanga are successfully resettled (from AfriKids UK trip notes)

When I first met Timothy in 2004 he was a vulnerable young boy, at 14 he was one of the youngest at the House of Restoration (predecessor to the NGH) and was neither young enough to be cared for like a child nor old enough to be treated like a brother. Always immaculately dressed and spending every spare minute with a reading book, he was pushed somewhat into a corner; cleaning the other boys’ clothes, helping the cook at meal times and turning to ‘Uncle Fred’ (aka Felix- the project manager) or his mentor Clement for solace.

Before coming into AfriKids’ care, Timothy had a horrific experience and it showed in every fibre of his body. Having grown up as the youngest son of a stable, loving farming family, he lost both parents and most of his home in one extreme rainy season when he was ten years old. His sisters, Talata and Martina were given out to family members but Timothy, little use as a domestic servant, was left at the house. For a

year he watched the remains of his home slowly crumble as he tried in vain to maintain the mud walls, and his farmland be taken over by neighbours. A couple nearby, whom he still refers to as his foster parents, were very good to him but simply could not feed and educate him as well as their own children, and so they went to Fred and Nich (now AfriKids’ Ghana Director), who had just begun their work with street children, for help.

Timothy spent seven years at the NGH and its predecessor the House of Restoration, in which time he slowly pieced his life back together and reclaimed what was left of his childhood. By 2007 his sister Talata had joined him at the home, Martina had had her first child and was living nearby, and Timothy was stable enough to move on.

This February I visited Timothy in his new home for the first time. He lives in ‘Patience Amoah’s Happy House’; a series of rented rooms near to the NGH with Talata and Ayinde, one of the older girls from the home. Ayinde, who met us and took us to their home has her own, unbelievable background. Born on

the streets, her earliest memory is kicking men away from her mother, who is mentally disabled, to prevent them from raping her. Ayinde has been in AfriKids’ care since 2004 when she was taken into a babies’ home we supported as a carer for her younger brother. From there she came to live at the NGH where she became inseparable from Talata.

When the three children asked to be resettled last year, it was a difficult decision for Fred because all of them were under 18 and, with no parents to care for them, he feared for them out in the world alone. But settling the three of them together, in a home where they each have their own room and cooking area but are next door to each other 24and just a short walk from the NGH, seemed a perfect solution.

Spending an afternoon at the ‘happy house’ was a delight; all three children’s rooms are such a clear expression of their personality. Talata’s is full of books and a spare mattress for when Martina and the baby come to stay, Ayinde’s has stores of food so that she can cook for her mother and grandmother, who visit from the village every week, and Timothy’s is immaculate, decorated with Christmas decorations handmade by Clement, his old friend, who is now in senior secondary school but comes to visit each holiday. Ayinde explained that the women who live in the house teach them to cook and “tell us when we are disturbing them with our games” which she says she appreciates because they are helping them to “live as adults”.

All three children are in school. Ayinde

has won a scholarship to private school and Talata has progressed the furthest; she should reach Senior Secondary School next year. Talata wants to be a nurse, Ayinde ‘a Mama Laadi’, the incredible foster mother who now cares for her younger brother Ayingura and is a mentor for the girls.

Timothy, who has always struggled at school due to dyslexia and poor hearing, is persevering with his studies and dreams one day of returning to his parents’ land and regenerating the farm. For now, AfriKids funds their education, rent, healthcare and food but slowly, as they finish their education and begin working, the support will be weaned away and they will be able to support themselves financially.

Objectively it sounds almost impossible but somehow, these three incredible young people have overcome their hardships and created a family and a future for themselves.

Having visited the home for four years now, it is wonderful to see children coming through the NGH, their lives on a completely different track from when they entered it. Had it not been for Fred and Nich, and the determination of Timothy, Talata and Ayinde themselves, they would now be just another number on the streets of Ghana’s Southern cities, scratching a living and trapped in poverty.

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AfriKids’ supporters go to any length AfriKids’ supporters are an exceptional bunch and just giving a monthly donation is not enough for many of them; they have taken AfriKids into their lives in interesting, challenging and often slightly crazy ways!

Gill Cornfield produced ‘Meet TC’, a children’s book as a project by children and for children. Illustrated by children from school in Bournemouth, all profits from the book have gone to Operation Mango Tree.

For the second time, in 2007 Si Girling took on the ‘tough guy’ challenge for AfriKids. One of the toughest physical and mental endurance tests a body can take, the annual tough guy event is not undertaken lightly.

Thank you to Si who completed as a fundraiser for Operation Mango Tree.

John Hickman, the chairman of AfriKids UK’s Board of Trustees completed the ‘Peking to Paris’ rally, braving the Mongolian desert and breakdowns to arrive victorious in Paris to a welcoming committee of family and friends. It took John, his driving partner and his 1934 Alvis ‘silver eagle’ just five weeks to complete the rally and raise funds for Operation Sirigu.

There are hundreds of individuals who go the extra mile to raise funds for AfriKids and there are simply too many to list here, but a special mention goes to Anna Maria Kennedy and Paul Townley for the Great North Run, Gemma Marsh for the Great South Run, Diarmid and Alex Mackenzie, Sam and Bryony Antrobus and Nina and Duncan Spencer for including us on your wedding lists, and Max Milligan for donating a portion of the profits from your26 amazing book ‘Ghana a Portrait’.

From Britain to Bolga In October we shipped out a 40ft container filled with 382 bags, boxes and pieces of furniture filled with a huge variety of second hand items collected and donated by AfriKids supporters and Reed Elsevier staff. All costs were covered by the Reed Elsevier charity committee and staff fundraisers.

...clothes, shoes, hats, stationery, greeting cards, paints, surgical instruments, bandages, books, videos, computers, keyboards, blankets, toys, weighing scales, work benches, fax machines, TV’s, video players, microwaves, defibrillators, autoclaves, x-ray machines, blood pressure monitors, tables, office chairs, executive chairs, sofas, cupboards, hand basins, fridges, freezers, filing cabinets, nebulizers, syringes, office desks, work stations...

A special thank you to Tania, Sabrina and Jason Pears and their family and friends for collecting thousands of shoes!

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AfriKids Volunteer Placements AfriKids has been fortunate to have worked with a number of talented volunteers who travelled to Ghana this year.

Catherine Martin and Katie Waters were the first volunteers of the year, working on school strategies and documentation for AfriKids Medical Clinic and Operation Sirigu respectively. Following this we had a group of medical elective students, Maddy Barnett, Gurpreet Gupta and Katie Walls, from King’s College London. They worked on enhancing the knowledge of our staff on disability issues, working especially closely with Operation Sirigu who come into contact with a lot of disabled children.

Our medical elective students were fortunate to receive training from Carol Hehir MBE before leaving for Ghana; Carol gave the students the benefit of her extensive experience on disability issues in Africa which gave them an excellent grounding for training our staff. For 2008 AfriKids has refocused its volunteer scheme to serve the developing needs of AfriKids Ghana. At the request of the Ghana team, we are actively looking for volunteers with experience in health and social development, business and management, education and IT. Skilled professionals can have an enormous impact on AfriKids’ development and we feel the individually tailored AfriKids volunteer programme can make any sabbatical or career break a rewarding and inspiring experience.

Katie Walls shares her experience of doing her Medical Elective with AfriKids As part of my degree I was given the opportunity to spend two months abroad to experience and practise medicine in a different country. I really wanted to find a unique setting, one which would contrast with our own National Health Service. Working with AfriKids certainly achieved that goal, as well as exceeding all of my expectations which had built up over the five years preceding my elective.

My time with AfriKids Ghana was divided between the AfriKids Medical Centre and setting up screening programmes for the other AfriKids run projects. We were armed with our weekly plans on arrival, all of which were moulded to suit the needs of the locals. This made the end results feel even more worthwhile as you knew you were helping the locals to achieve something that they really needed and not just something that seemed to be useful back in England. This, for me, highlighted the importance of being able to go out to Ghana with an open mind, so that you may achieve and realise the true needs of this exceptional country. Our main focus in the last few weeks of our time in Ghana was as a result of such an attitude. It was a chair to help children with cerebral palsy to develop physically to their full potential. Designed by us and made by local welders, it is hoped that many more children will benefit from it as it can be sustained without further interventions.

Throughout my time in Bolga, I lived with Mama Laadi and her children. This alone was an unforgettable experience and one that I will treasure forever. I

feel privileged to have met Mama Laadi, let alone to have stayed in her home. She truly is an amazing woman and so modest, she speaks as though anyone would have done the same, so much so, that the true extent of her work only becomes fully apparent on reflection.

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AfriKids UK Internship Scheme “Having worked for AfriKids in the UK for eight months before flying to Ghana, my first week or so in Bolgatanga felt a bit like piecing together and adding colour to the knowledge I had gained in the UK office. Having used many photos of the projects, staff and local surroundings when undertaking my work in London, certain sights would feel oddly familiar.

However at the same time I was overwhelmed with new sights and experiences. All the expectations I had built up by seeing photos, hearing stories and reading project material were surpassed and, within a day or two, my decision to leave the UK to work in Ghana for three months had been vindicated.”

Extract from Ellie Robb’s Ghana placement report For the first time in 2007 AfriKids UK launched an internship scheme. Our work has always benefitted from a group of fantastic and committed volunteers. But we realised last year that we were neither making full use of this excellent resource nor giving the volunteers the depth of experience they deserved, and so we introduced a formal internship to enable us to do this.

The first intern, Ellie Robb, had volunteered for AfriKids for several months before her placement began, between finishing her MSc in Human Rights and Global Ethics and a placement at the UN in New York. By joining full time as an intern she had the opportunity to gain a wide range of skills in the development sector including fundraising, project liaison and IT skills.

In return, by enabling us to invest more time in training to Ellie, she was able to make a concrete contribution to AfriKids’ work.

Ellie completed a twelve month placement which began in February 2007 and did a fantastic job. She worked in the UK for nine months, primarily in the fundraising department where she brought on board several new trust donors and was an enormous help in hosting our events and delivering top quality feedback to supporters.

She then spent three months in Ghana where she lived at Mama Laadi’s Foster Home and helped several projects with their in-country promotion, developing relationships with partners including the International Labour Organisation and in the development of our work on ethical trade.

Ellie has reinforced AfriKids’ experience that investing in the right people is the key to an organisation’s success. We will continue to offer internships for 6-12 month placements as needed, and we hope many more will follow in Ellie’s footsteps.

“I would definitely recommend the AfriKids Internship scheme because of the level of skills I have gained, the opportunity to live and work in Ghana, how much I have personally enjoyed the internship and what an exceptional organisation AfriKids is.”

Ellie Robb, AfriKids’ Intern 2007-8

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Brigadier Gerald Blakey Extracts from ‘My visit to Bolgatanga – February 2007’ To read the whole report, visit the news section of the AfriKids website

“The relentlessly straight road, in remarkably good condition by West African standards, might appear monotonous to some, but for those whose eyes are open there is much to see: the huge overloaded trucks, with their suspension chocked out to take a few extra tons of freight, grinding their way to the border into Burkina and on to Mali; the pedestrians walking briskly in the heat with amazing items balanced elegantly on their heads (I saw one girl carrying a power saw in this way); the roadside fruit vendors selling from their colourful stalls; the occasional small boy holding up a ‘bush meat’ or fish. And, of course the activity in the adjacent fields with, at this time, the harvest underway and whole families labouring to bring a variety of crops...” “...After 30 years of working in West and Central Africa, I have met Kings and Princes, Sultans and Presidents and never felt particularly nervous.

However, as we approached the clean and newlypainted compound where Joe (the little boy I had read so much about and who has sent me his drawings) lived, I felt distinctly uneasy. I was told how much he was looking forward to my visit: would I meet his expectations? Would we communicate with each other easily? I need not have worried: as the truck drew up, a reception committee of smiling, laughing children, all beautifully turned out, quickly assembled and sang a wonderfully African song of welcome. Mama Laadi, low profile as always, was smiling behind them and there, standing tall and enormously confident, with a huge smile on his face, was my friend Joe. We shook hands (I know from my grandsons that too much cuddling is not always popular) and he took me by the hand for an escorted tour of his home: the play area, the dining room and his bedroom and bunk. He was the perfect host as I was introduced to his friends with some pride as his visitor.” “...During the drive to Kumasi, the flights and the endless waiting at African Airports, I had plenty of time to reflect on what was for me a remarkable three days. First and foremost was Joe, who I had first seen in a photograph as an ill, under-nourished little boy with that bleak expression of resigned hopelessness that can be seen on far too many faces in Africa. Now he is a fit, confident, mischievous and totally delightful child - and a wonderful advertisement for AfriKids. Secondly, I was still reeling from the range and scope of AfriKids activities, which go so far beyond what I had expected. Finally, I realised the extent of the skill and dedication of the individual members of the AfriKids team, both in London, where the concept was so brilliantly developed and the inspired PR and fund-raising is so professionally managed and, of course, at the sharp end, where the direction of the several projects in the challenging conditions of West Africa combines with care and affection on a scale which is difficult to imagine without seeing it at first hand...”

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AfriKids Core Projects Where there is an issue affecting child rights which is not being successfully addressed by another organisation, AfriKids Ghana will launch a project to address it. These

tend to focus on particularly sensitive and complex problems including child trafficking, child labour and traditional belief related abuse. AfriKids

Ghana has developed an exceptionally talented and focused team of local experts and is best placed to deal with these issues.

Collaboration with local authorities and civil society organisations is also integral to our core projects. We aim to encourage more action to be taken to tackle the issue in question by local stakeholders in child welfare. These projects have defined goals and fixed timescales, designed to ensure that their impact will be sustainable in the long term. As AfriKids Ghana’s organisational sustainability projects develop, they will fund these projects.

“It is widely recognised in the development community that AfriKids, a small but highly focused and lean (admin costs of just 6%) organisation, punches well above its weight. In recent years several national awards have been won acknowledging its locally driven approach, insistence on absolute sustainability for all its projects and the high level of accountability and transparency demonstrated by the quality of its detailed feedback to all donors and supporters.”

Nick Eastcott, Chairman of AfriKids’ Medical Advisory Board

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Operation Fresh Start Child Trafficking Prevention outreach presentation, Winkongo, Bolgatanga

“The presentation was hard-hitting. The images of abject poverty, appalling accommodation and the high risk of life in the so-called "bright lights" were shocking indeed. At the end there was a stunned silence until the floor was opened up for questions and comments. Several of the senior girls expressed their thanks for the dire warning of the dangers of leaving home to accept apparently attractive offers of work and wealth, which usually ended in destitution, despair and even death. I have no doubt that any of the girls who had seen the presentation would think very hard before leaving 32 home for the gutters of the cities. I am sure that many lives had been saved by this one presentation.�

Brigadier Gerald Blakey

Operation Fresh Start Operation Fresh Start is an innovative child rights project which tackles child trafficking and the associated problems of child streetism and child labour in northern and central Ghana. The short term aim is to reduce the levels of child trafficking and the long term aim is to stamp it out altogether.

Operation Fresh Start takes a three-track approach:

Prevention: In the Upper East Region (UER), where many of Ghana’s street children originate from, Operation Fresh Start is running an awareness campaign in the rural communities which shows the danger of child trafficking and the realities of life on the street via video footage and personal accounts. Each meeting attracts 1,000-2,000 people and demonstrates the horrors of life on the street, as well as fostering discussion and understanding about the causes of child trafficking and streetism and how to overcome them.

Action: In partnership with the Shakeena Needy Trust in Kumasi, Operation Fresh Start resettles children from an urban slum to their home communities in the UER. Operation Fresh Start makes a long term commitment to supporting the children through vocational training and empowering their families economically.

Collaboration & Replication: Operation Fresh Start holds bi-annual stakeholders’ conferences, which attract participants from the entire cross section of society, including government, local authorities, the press, traditional councils and NGOs. Two conferences were held in 2007, each attracting 50-75 delegates from across the country. The aim is to develop the business plan and encourage replication of the Operation Fresh Start model across Ghana and elsewhere, using their local expertise and AfriKids’ methodology.

2007 was an incredible year for Operation Fresh Start. With support from the Big Lottery Fund, it scaled-up

from a pilot phase which resettled 10 children to resettling 150 children. It has maintained a 100% resettlement success rate. In November when AfriKids Ghana restructured, the original project manager ,Cletus Anaaya, was promoted to manager of all AfriKids’ core projects.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Family member beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Stakeholder beneficiaries Running Costs

160 1,440 14,400 75 £85,433

"I am very happy to be back in Bolgatanga. In Kumasi I had no money for school, and no help from my mother.

AfriKids has given me everything, made me more comfortable, given me a trade and given me food. In Kumasi we were roaming around, some people doing prostitution.

Now the community in Bolgatanga guides us and counsels us. We are learning how to live better“ Akese, who came home 33 to Bolgatanga with Operation Fresh Start

Operation Sirigu Winner of the 2007 International Service Award for the Defence of Children’s Rights

Operation Sirigu focuses on tackling child rights abuses associated with the widespread belief in spirit children in the rural Kassena Nankana District. It is believed that some children, known as spirits or ‘Kinkirigo’ have been sent to bring harm to a family and are not meant for this world. They are often orphans whose mothers died in childbirth and can be identified according to any number of characteristics, including babies who are born deformed or with complex medical conditions. This

‘phenomenon’ of the spirit child repeats itself across Africa and the wider world in countless ways. In the Kassena Nankana District, it is associated with infanticide and child abandonment.

Operation Sirigu is AfriKids’ longest running project. Its origins go back to 1988 when an inspirational local woman, Sr Jane Naaglosegme, refused to accept innocent children being killed as evil spirits. She established a basic home for spirit children. Since this first courageous stand was made against the prevailing local practices, Operation Sirigu has grown into a movement which is transforming life for some of the most vulnerable mothers and children in northern Ghana. Much of the project focuses on the root causes of the phenomenon. It facilitates awareness talks across the district led by local nurses, women’s groups who perform songs about the phenomenon, and the concoction men themselves, once responsible for killing children but now, through working with AfriKids, are at the forefront of the awareness campaign. Through micro-finance and healthcare, it

empowers women to better care for their children and increases their say in decisions regarding them.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Women beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs Investment Costs

2,620 2,750 9,800 £12,302 £65,662

Operation Sirigu also addresses the symptoms of the spirit child phenomenon. Having worked at the heart of the community all their lives, the local team have uncovered the most desperate stories of child suffering, often linked to disability and always to families’ limited capacity to care for children with special needs. In 2007

AfriKids established the Sirigu Child Rights Centre to act as a refuge for these children, where they can be cared for whilst their family is empowered to cater for them, or they are given a home34at a specialist facility.

Operation Sunlight Operation Sunlight is a project which tackles child labour in the galamsey (small scale) gold mines of the Talensi Nabdam District in Ghana’s Upper East. It removes children from labour in the mines as well as preventing others from entering and spreading awareness about the risks involved. AfriKids has been working with the International Labour Organisation on this project since they first approached us to help tackle child labour in 2005. Operation Sunlight forms part of the International Programme for the Elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour (IPEC) and goes further to form a

holistic project which is transforming life for some of the most vulnerable children in the world.

The mining communities in which Operation Sunlight works are isolated outposts in the hot dusty scrubland, miles from the nearest dirt road. Some communities have been established for generations but many were built up purely in the pursuit of gold and, as a result, have not benefited from investment in infrastructure, schools, medical centres or any of the basic social services and do not have the normal community leadership and support structures. Use

of child labour is widespread, driven by poverty and ignorance of the associated health risks. These

include TB, mercury poisoning and serious injury and death; young boys are used to climb down shafts with dynamite with no protective gear.

In 2007 the project’s focus was removing children from the mines and reintegrating them into school or training.

In one community, where there was no educational provision, the team have successfully lobbied the Ghana Education Service to acknowledge it as a permanent settlement and establish a school there. Operation Sunlight has also supported the children’s families to cater for them and make up for the loss in income incurred by taking them out of the mines. This has been achieved by the provision of National Health Insurance, micro-finance support and a goat rearing programme. The project has also established child rights clubs in schools across the communities, with over 450 members, who meet regularly to learn about child rights, and spread the word among their peers.

“The Operation Sunlight team are doing a phenomenal job. In their first few months they have had to conquer adversity on a staggering scale. During the worst of the floods they travelled through neck high water to reach the communities every day, showing their commitment to the beneficiaries, and it is now paying off.

They have managed to get all the stakeholders in these complex communities, including the chiefs, mine owners and families, on board.

It is a pleasure to visit the project now and meet the children who are leaving the mines behind for good. I cannot stress how important it is that the project secures funding through to completion” Nich Kumah, AfriKids Ghana Director

2007 Figures (April-December) Children beneficiaries Family member beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs

625 1,500 5,000 £29,743

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The AfriKids Academy The AfriKids Academy was established in 2006. It is housed in a school house in central Bolgatanga which also serves as AfriKids Ghana’s head office and it is equipped with second hand IT equipment donated from the UK. The

Academy provides free IT classes to all middle school leavers in the Bolgatanga district of the Upper East Region. By 2007 the Academy had become a popular institution in Bolgatanga as more and more of its graduates gained entry to Senior Secondary School thanks, in part, to their IT skills.

The bulk of AfriKids Ghana’s work focuses on supporting inspirational local child rights initiatives and tackling ingrained problems including child trafficking and child labour. However, as part of our core activities, a big focus is the sustainability of the organisation, within the context of a healthy and growing local economy. We strongly believe that there

is little point in improving children’s lives if they have no prospects in their home region to look forward to. Improving the skills base of the young community, and in particular IT literacy, which is increasingly required for skilled employment, is one way in which we are doing this. IT literacy was added to Ghana’s national curriculum in 2007 but in reality very few schools have the resources or funding to make this a possibility, particularly in the north of the country where electricity supplies, let alone computer labs, are hard to come by. This is where the Academy steps in.

Further to the education focus of the Academy, it is in itself a profit making enterprise. By running

fee paying classes for local adults, it brings in a stream of income which is put towards the Academy’s running costs.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs Proportion funded by local income generation Investment Costs

372 80 £557 50% £8,114

It also acts as a training and outreach support centre for AfriKids’ 21 projects. The success of the Academy as both a social and financial enterprise since it opened in 2006 has been such that it is now beginning to expand its services.

Having had its equipment replenished in November 2007 and having a project manager now assigned full time to it (in addition to the AfriKids Ghana IT manager), the Academy is set for a busy 2008.

“In fact I am short of words. I do not know what to say! I am really very sad to leave AfriKids Academy. The instructor has been patient, understanding and very lovely. The lessons were also enjoyable. AfriKids, ‘Ayeekoo!!’

‘Ayeekoo!!’. You are an academy with high potential. Long live AfriKids!! “ 36 Mabel, AfriKids Academy Beneficiary

Emergency Flood Relief Gifty, one of the girls who has come home as part of Operation Fresh Start inspects her home, destroyed in the floods.

In September 2007 Africa was hit with devastating floods and northern Ghana, declared a disaster zone, was one of the worst hit areas. Aid flooded into the continent but very little of it ever reached our beneficiaries; where it did, it was in the form of food aid to offer some relief to those who had lost their harvests. There were over 52,000 people displaced in the communities we work with due to damaged or destroyed homes and yet there was no assistance available for reconstruction.

AfriKids does not generally fund emergency relief work but in these circumstances, and with a committed donor base at hand, we felt we had to do something. The AfriKids Ghana team put together a model for sustainable assistance which incorporated immediate supply of foodstuffs and medical care, training in sustainable reconstruction, supply of durable building materials, and training and provision of the necessary resources for commercial guinea fowl rearing. The idea was that, by rearing and selling birds, the affected families would be in a better position to reinforce their buildings against future floods and reduce their reliance on crop yields.

The assistance was rolled out across our projects and to affected AfriKids Ghana staff, with the bulk of support (for 75 households) going to people in the catchment area of Operation Sirigu where the community was worst affected.

By the end of 2007 reconstruction of all the homes was underway and the project was ready to move on to the sustainability phase.

2007 Figures Beneficiary households Beneficiary schools Running costs

108 1 ÂŁ46,270

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The School of Night Rabbits The School of Night Rabbits or Nyongo Sunŋa as it is said in FraFra, is a night school managed by two local teachers; Dennis and Gabriel, and held in a school house in central Bolgatanga every Tuesday and Thursday. The

‘school’ has 40 regular members all of whom are children living or working on the streets. They are led through an academic syllabus informed by the national curriculum as well as being given lessons on social issues including healthcare and personal hygiene. The children are given a bucket of water and soap to wash and a piece of fruit at each session and a nurse visits to dress their sores and assess any medical needs which may require a hospital visit.

There are also fun sessions dedicated to sports and games and each child is rewarded with a t-shirt when they have attended regularly for 3 months.

Dennis and Gabriel identify children directly through the school who are exceptionally talented and have the potential to build a successful future for themselves through education. We are then able to help them resettle with family members and enter school through our educational scholarships.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries 40 Running Costs £948

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Creative Minds Disability is not Inability Creative Minds is an inspirational co-operative in Bolgatanga. They are a group of blind men and women who began working together in 2005 as a part of the AfriKids funded Street Mothers’ Association. They

were living in the most desperate situation, many of them sleeping and begging on the streets with dependent children and relatives. However, they had had training in weaving when they were younger and,

finding that they had difficulties and strengths in common, they decided to form a professional group. Because of the group’s visual impairment they find it particularly difficult to manoeuvre themselves around the market seeking trade. So AfriKids rented the weavers a workshop and store and are committed to the running costs of the business until it produces enough profit to fund itself.

The group have named the store ‘Creative Minds Disability is Not Inability’ and produce among other things baskets, chairs and doormats.

They do a steady trade which has enabled them to live at home and care for their families. 2007 was the second year we supported the group.

“There is something that makes working with these blind women and men very interesting. They can entertain you with songs and funny jokes which make one always want to visit them again and again. Though blind, they are able to tell one’s height just through conversation with the person.

Another striking thing about these people is their love for children. Go to their shop and you are sure to see their grand children there.”

Didas Azanoore, AfriKids Ghana Micro-finance and Sustainability Manager

2007 Figures Women beneficiaries Family member beneficiaries Running Costs

14 140 £713

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The Education Outreach Fund An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life.

Education is at the heart of all our work. Whilst our projects do address basic needs and the symptoms of child suffering, the underlying focus is always on the root causes, to ensure that the changes achieved last in the longer term. We have a ‘one child at a time’ policy, meaning that every child we care for is treated as an individual and their unique needs addressed accordingly. The aim with every child is to turn their lives around, from one in which they have suffered abuse of their rights, to one in which they are equipped to enjoy childhood and are ready for a productive and secure adult life. Invariably this involves the provision of education, be it through formal schooling, vocational training or provision for special needs.

"You have done such a wonderful thing for me and I will not forget it because you have let me become a human being in the world. You have let me have my future. I am now able to think of myself as somebody because I know how to learn and can work" Nicho, Operation Mango Tree

Many of the children we support through education benefit directly from our projects but not

every child in need of assistance fits neatly into a project remit. For these children, we have the education outreach fund. Many families apply to AfriKids Ghana to help fund education costs which are out of their reach and, where there is genuine need and we have funds available, we assist. Most of the projects also have their own discretionary outreach fund which they use to assist children who fall into their catchment area or who have graduated from their care.

Paul Apowida is an orphan and was rejected by his community as a spirit child. He was one

of AfriKids’ first ever

beneficiaries and we have supported his living and education costs since 1997. Paul is a phenomenal artist and we have been selling his artwork to help fund our work for three years. His paintings

have raised over £30,000 for

AfriKids and in 2007 we funded his living costs and final year of art college for a total of £1,229.

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The AfriKids’ Medical Fund With the introduction of a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana, primary healthcare is now, theoretically, affordable for all. AfriKids’ projects have focused on registering all of their beneficiaries with the scheme in 2007 and assisting the wider community to access the support they are entitled to. However, awareness of the scheme and implementation are still in the early stages, even for those registered, it leaves many areas of medical care uncovered.

The AfriKids Medical fund exists to help extreme cases that cannot be catered for under NHIS or by the family in question. This scheme is relatively cost intensive per person and steps outside the core of AfriKids’ activities, which aim to address root causes and reach the largest number of people with quality care. So deciding

who to help under this scheme is a difficult task but one that AfriKids Ghana never shy away from, having, as a result, saved and transformed some extremely fragile young lives.

2007 Figures- Education and Medical Funds Children beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs

9 60 £3,588

In September 2007 Azumah fell out of a tree in his village and broke both his wrists.

When we met him in October, he had been in Bolgatanga hospital for a month, his hands held in place by cardboard splints. His mother could not afford to pay the hospital bills they had already built up, nor the cost of having his wrists set at a specialist centre.

AfriKids stepped in and covered all of his treatment. It cost just £206 but without it Azumah may never have been able to complete school or find work.

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AfriKids Partner Projects AfriKids’ mission is to ensure that every child in Ghana is afforded their rights in accordance with the UN convention on the rights of the child, to which Ghana was the first African signatory. AfriKids was established to fulfil this mission specifically through empowering local people to employ their ingenuity and drive in addressing child rights issues. Therefore, wherever possible we form partnerships which have their own management structure and vision.

with already existing projects

We fund and advise these projects through a three phase programme which lasts between two and ten years, from expansion of their activities to consolidation and, finally, to the development of initiatives which will ensure the independent sustainability of the project after AfriKids’ funding ends.

“If you tell any child over and over again that they are worthless and a menace to society, over time they will come to believe it. Not only will they lose respect for themselves but they will also lose respect for everyone and everything.

This is the making of criminals, not the street. The street is the place that allows them to eat” Clare Armstrong, former AfriKids’ fieldworker

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The Next Generation Home Operation Bolgatanga

Operation Bolgatanga takes a holistic approach to tackling the plight of street children. Bolgatanga is a major convergence point for children coming to live on the street. All come because of the desperation of their home situation, some for a short time to beg enough to eat until the harvest is ready back home and some to find a way to make their way south to the slums of Ghana’s southern cities. The project dates back to 1997 when Nich (now AfriKids Ghana Director) and Felix (now project manager) converted an old public latrine building into a shelter for street children. Over the

last ten years the project has built the trust of the street child community and is able to intercept children at their most vulnerable time.

At the Next Generation Home, children are taken in for anything from one month to five years and given the assistance and care which they need to turn their lives around. The

staff counsel the children and offer access to education and healthcare to encourage a move away from street life and refocus on a more sustainable form of family life. The team then slowly begin to build the relationship between child and

family and design a package so that the child’s relatives can provide for them when eventually they return home.

Beyond this, the NGH is a drop-in centre offering counselling, literacy classes, parties and sports tournaments in a safe place and access to the home’s facilities, including showers, a library and space to play. The project also supports children who are at risk of going to the street at home and through schooling.

Operation Bolgatanga runs initiatives to raise awareness of streetism throughout the Upper East Region, such as the annual Next Generation football tournament. The most pioneering element of Operation Bolgatanga is its sustainability programme, which runs four local businesses, including a commercial livestock farm, and has set the project on track to be financially independent from AfriKids by 2010.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs Proportion funded by local income generation Investment Costs

250 5,000 £23,757 19% £11,474

Many of these were street kids, streetwise and hardened by the harsh experiences of their early lives. They were, without exception, well turned out and polite, but several of the boys had the level gaze and reserve of young men who had learned about life the hard way.

But these adolescents all had the sense to know how lucky they were to be under the AfriKids umbrella, where they had good accommodation, were well fed and had many opportunities to improve their education and vocational opportunities.

Brigadier Gerald Blakey, May 2007

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Mama Laadi’s Foster Home Operation Mango Tree Mama Laadi is an incredible individual. She was born into poverty and by her teens had come to live a hand to mouth existence on the streets of Bolgatanga. She has dedicated her life to caring for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children who have no family to care for them.

When she had no home, she would take children from the street and find foster families. When she was working as a nurse, she was given a tiny room as quarters and she took in as many children as she could. This

is how we

found her in 2004, working full time and being a mother to 12 children.

We have since built her a permanent home for her 35+ children, the need for which is sadly very clear in Bolgatanga where many children live on the streets and are abandoned by their family because of the sheer desperation of poverty, the loss of a parent or to escape abuse related to traditional beliefs.

Whilst residential care represents less than 1% of AfriKids’ work, we recognise that there will always be some children in exceptionally vulnerable circumstances for whom there is no other option. Laadi is the woman who can meet these needs.

When the children are old enough, they are gradually resettled into independent adult lives and Laadi has a large network of grown up children living full happy lives. Some have even been inspired to work for AfriKids on other projects.

As with all our partner projects, Operation Mango Tree will eventually be sustained by a local income and, to this end, in 2007 Laadi began to invest in small businesses, including a livestock farm and shop at the AfriKids Medical Centre. In 2008 these will begin to contribute income to the home.

“On behalf of all my children, I want to thank everyone who contributed to building this home for us. We have nothing to do but to thank you all and god bless you. Thank you very much. To be frank it’s still a dream to me. I can’t believe this house belongs to us. Everybody is growing fat, all the children are happy, they don’t know how to thank you all. We love you all. We will never, ever forget you” Mama Laadi Awuni, Partner Project Manager, Operation Mango Tree

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs Investment Costs

90 200 £23,673 44 £4,342

Operation Zuarungu Operation Zuarungu is a rural community development project and its central focus is education. Like all AfriKids’ partner projects it was started and is run by inspirational local people. When

we met Charles Dagore, the project manager, in 2004 he was holding classes under a mango tree near his house for children who could not otherwise access school. Since that time, AfriKids have invested in Charles and his team, enabling them to give children from across their disparate rural community access to education.

The Yinnesongre cooperative in Zuarungu meet Emanuella to make their repayments as part of the AfriKids microfinance programme. The cooperative focuses on shea butter extraction and each of the 15 members took a microfinance loan of 40GH¢ (around £20) totalling 600GH¢ (£300) for the group. So far 436GH¢ (£218) has been recovered.

At the Zuarungu Children’s Centre, children attend primary school and learn vocational trades. In 2007 the first children to complete their primary education at the centre graduated with excellent exam results and all of them went on to junior secondary school. Through the project’s other facilities, including a clinic and two bore holes, the wider community also benefits. It is

that community, once too poor to make the most basic provisions for its children, which is now helping to sustain the project’s facilities and activities.

Operation Zuarungu has invested in each child at the school’s family through micro-finance and livestock rearing schemes, as well as facilitating their access to government initiatives such as Ghana’s National Health Insurance programme. As a result they are now able to cover many of the costs for which they once relied on the project, including school lunches and uniform, and in 2007 the first families began paying school fees in the form of goats for sale at market. The vocational training wing is also managing to pay its costs and contribute towards those of the wider project by sale of its produce in both local and international markets.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Community beneficiaries Running Costs Investment Costs

484 14,856 £32,663 £15,659

Emanuella Awuni AfriKids’ Fieldworker of the year - 2007

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Operation SINGh Support In Northern Ghana

Operation SINGh is a rural development programme which is building the capacity of families in some of the poorest communities of the Upper East Region. Frank, the project’s manager, came to AfriKids in 2005 desperate to help those worst off in his community. He had already put together a comprehensive plan to put 75 children in school and help their families, and had supporters in the UK keen to help him. AfriKids integrated Frank's work as a partner project and as well as helping to fund it, we have spent time training and assisting Frank and his team to become excellent project managers. In its first year Operation SINGh has become a great example of how, working directly with a community, AfriKids can have a significant impact quickly and effectively.

In 2007, 75 children have been enrolled in primary education across three communities; Kpatia, Kpale and Gbea.

Although in theory primary education is free of charge and universally available in Ghana, the reality is very different and over 60% of children over six in the UER have never attended school. Even where places are available, many families cannot afford the costs of uniforms and stationery, which the children are not allowed to attend school without. Operation SINGh is also covering the cost of two years’ National Health Insurance (NHIS) for each of these children’s families, which entitles them to free healthcare. After two years’ support, the families should be generating enough income to cover the annual NHIS fee independently.

Finally, all 75 children have been given two goats for rearing. Goats are a valuable asset to families in rural savannah communities like those of the UER. They can survive on scraps of vegetation, they are good at fending for themselves, and they provide a source of essential protein as well as income through selling offspring at local markets.

In addition, Operation SINGh is providing micro-finance for female heads of households in the community of Soe. In 2007 20 women were enrolled on the scheme. They have used their micro-finance loans to invest in small businesses and have been given business skills training. The fund used for this is a rolling one so that, once the first women have paid back their loans over a period of one year, another group will benefit from them.

The package of support given to each child (excluding goats) as a part of Operation SINGh’s two year programme comes to less than the cost of a single goat. Therefore in two years, with successful breeding of the goats, the family will only need to sell one goat per year to independently generate enough income to support their children at or above the level of support Operation SINGh offered.

This project is, by definition, sustainable.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries 75 Women beneficiaries 20 46 950 Community & family member beneficiaries Running Costs £6,808

Operation Smiles Operation Smiles is a grass roots project working with isolated rural communities in Ghana’s Northern Region. It tackles the root

causes of poverty endured by young women and children, through family health awareness raising, and gives economic

empowerment through access to skills training and micro-finance.

“Nmaa has recovered fully and looks very healthy. She has started day care in St. Anne’s primary school just some few metres from the house. She loves to sit me down to sing some of their nursery songs for me.“ Sr Jane Naaglosegme The Northern Region is one of the poorest areas of Ghana and poverty is compounded by the out-migration of the young, economically active population to southern Ghana. For those left behind, life is dependent on the increasingly infertile soils. There

are a disproportionately high number of young single mothers in the area due to a lack of family planning provision and traditional practices such as the ‘fire festival’ which calls on girls to roam through the village naked (and often results in sexual abuse). There is also a dowry system which stipulates that, for a girl to marry, her husband’s family must be paid the same dowry as was paid for her mother; with increasing poverty this is impossible for many families.

AfriKids began to partner Operation Smiles in 2005 when the situation in the area was brought to our attention by Sr Jane Naaglosegme. Sr Jane

was the first woman AfriKids worked with in 1997 when the founder and director Georgie Fienberg worked voluntarily at a Babies Home she had established from scratch to rescue and care for children who had fallen foul of

a belief in ‘spirit children’, which sees children abused and often killed. After training to be a midwife, Sr Jane chose to make her life in the Northern Region, four hours’ drive from AfriKids’ headquarters. And, when she saw the challenges facing young women and children, she characteristically set about tackling them.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Women beneficiaries Community and family member beneficiaries Running Costs

10 25 250 £9,858

Since we teamed up with Sr Jane she has been running Operation Smiles from a temporary rented home from where she offers transitional residential care to orphaned children and does outreach work in the villages. We have also built the Nakuaabi Young Mothers’ Centre, which is better positioned in the heart of the communities, and she will be moving the project there once it has electricity and water 47 supplies.

The Bright Academy The Bright Academy was established in Bolgatanga in 1988 by a team of volunteer teachers led by Thomas Issifu. Thomas and his team had the intention of giving vulnerable children, including those living on the streets, an education. Beginning in a rented house, the Academy eventually progressed to an old school campus in central Bolgatanga. AfriKids first came into contact with the Bright Academy in May 2005 because several of the children fostered by Mama Laadi as a part of AfriKids’ ‘Operation Mango Tree’ were at school there. We were amazed at the success of the school with so few resources and, when they came to us for help, we were determined to do what we could.

Since 2005, AfriKids has made targeted investments to build the capacity of the Bright Academy and has enabled the school to develop practically beyond recognition. AfriKids has dramatically improved the structural provisions of the school, invested in local income generating initiatives to ensure the sustainability of the project, provided proper water and sanitary provisions for the children, and increased the capacity of the school’s staff.

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Proportion of running costs funded by the project Investment costs

250 100% £1,380

“I will do all that is necessary with the great help we are receiving from you to make the school sustainable as much as possible. I know that I am not the only one who needs to be helped so I won't forget that the help from you is not forever.”

Thomas Issifu, founder of the Bright Academy

The Bright Academy have achieved the ultimate goal of all AfriKids sponsored projects: financial independence, in just two years! It is the first project to be able to fully cover its own running costs which it did in 2007, a remarkable achievement in such a short space of time. The Bright Academy has achieved this by running its sustainability businesses and charging fees to children who can afford to pay, to subsidise those who cannot. Out of 250 children, 130 of them pay for schooling while 120 do not.

AfriKids invested a lot of management time into supporting and training the Bright Academy team in 2007 and we also made some bonus investments into the school in the form of a new playground and a new roof to replace that lost in the rainy season. In 2008 we will continue to help the Bright Academy develop its sustainability programme so that in the long term it will be able to invest in improvements to the school as well as covering running costs.

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Street Child Development Programme AfriKids has been working in partnership with George Baffour and his NGO, the Street Child Development Programme (SCDP), in Kumasi since 2005. George was involved in the early stages of Operation Fresh Start and his work is focused on assessing and improving the lifestyles of the children living in the urban slums of Kumasi, specifically on the ‘racecourse’, an old colonial racecourse where the children who have been resettled as part of Operation Fresh Start had found themselves living in terrible conditions.

In 2007 we funded SCDP to survey and register all of the children living on the racecourse. The aim was to give a clear and up to date picture of the levels of streetism and the prevalence of children from the north in Kumasi.

SCDP’s survey, which will be completed in 2008, is likely to register over 25,000 street children living on the racecourse.

"When I was in Kumasi, life was very harsh. I was too young for that suffering. I never thought anybody or any group would come and help us out of our situation. AfriKids has proved that nobody is nothing, now I have come home. I have not just come home, I am also training so I know I have a bright future. In Kumasi you only see today, there might not be tomorrow, you could die“ Mabila, Operation Fresh Start Beneficiary

2007 Figures Children beneficiaries Running costs

25,000 £3,579

The survey has a dual purpose. As

well as providing AfriKids with the data that it needs to develop Operation Fresh Start effectively, it also allows those involved with child welfare in Kumasi to start getting the situation on the streets under control.

While they are conducting the survey, SCDP have provided all children living on the streets with identity cards, as well as preparing detailed records of their backgrounds and circumstances. These measures will allow those working towards improving the situation in Kumasi to monitor the children and their well being much more carefully. It also provides the empirical basis upon which they can plan projects and makes these programmes more formal and legitimate. The SCDP have already utilised these benefits, and run a microfinance programme and plan to introduce a crèche facility for 49 young women with children on the streets.

The Federation of Muslim Women's Association of Ghana (FOMWAG) is a Muslim women’s co-operative. The membership, who come mostly from Bolgatanga are extremely poor but are a pro-active organised group. In 2007 AfriKids provided members of FOMWAG with micro-finance loans and business skills training.

FOMWAG are particularly disadvantaged because of the patriarchal nature of Ghanaian society and because historically the Catholic Church’s support and investment in its members has dominated development work in the region. Because of these factors, young Muslim girls are often at a high risk of migrating south into impossibly difficult circumstances because they need to earn a dowry to get married. Empowering Muslim mothers through FOMWAG is helping to prevent this.

2007 Figures Women beneficiaries Community and family member beneficiaries Running Costs

15 150 £786

The Single Mothers’ Association is another Bolgatanga-based women’s co-operative. The membership is single mothers who have come together to share income generating activities and support each other.

In 2006 AfriKids provided grants to the women for equipment needed to resource their small businesses. In 2007 AfriKids continued to monitor the women’s welfare and provide business advice and training as needed.

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AfriKids’ Sustainability Projects Now the first children we helped ten years ago are growing up and we are looking with them in earnest at what kind of a future their society can offer them.

AfriKids has always focused on the sustainability of our work in northern Ghana and has successfully implemented many small scale sustainability programmes on our partner projects. However we are aware that genuine long term sustainability relies on the economic development of the region as a whole. With this in mind AfriKids is developing a range of projects which will create job opportunities and inject investment and skills into the local economy as well raising an income for AfriKids Ghana.

The end goal is for AfriKids Ghana to finance its inspirational child rights work through profit from its own organisational sustainability projects. The UK registered branch of AfriKids, which is primarily a fundraising body, will shut down. This phase of our work began in earnest in 2007 with the purchase of the AfriKids Medical Centre.

As this is an unusual trajectory for a charity to take and one that has, to our knowledge, not been achieved before, we are having to carve our own path. As ever, at the heart of this is employing local expertise to plan, design and run the projects. Behind each project we also have specialist committees, with membership from Ghana, the UK and further afield, to advise and participate in the project’s development.

This is a unique opportunity to bring all stakeholders in northern Ghana’s economy and children’s welfare together to make a concrete and long term change for the better. As a relatively small , infinitely flexible and extremely pragmatic and focused charity, which has worked hard to establish a trusted presence in the region, we have the unique opportunity to put a new model of lasting development assistance into practice. It puts AfriKids at the fore-front of grass roots development work and gives enlightened donors the chance to transform the lives of children in northern Ghana in a more concrete way than ever before.

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The AfriKids Medical Centre Strength in Numbers (Ghana National Health Insurance Slogan)

2007 Figures (April- December) Community beneficiaries Proportion of running costs funded by centre’s income Investment costs including part purchase of centre Profit to be invested in NHIS and AfriKids Ghana’s work

8,000 100% £57,622 £20,000

By investing in the local economy and profit making enterprises, AfriKids is working towards absolute financial sustainability, with no reliance on charitable handouts. Once achieved, this goal will mean that the UK office can shut down and that AfriKids Ghana will run as an independent local NGO. The AfriKids Medical Centre is a unique project and marked the first step on this path when we bought it in 2007.

The Centre offers a combination of private and public primary healthcare through the Ghanaian government’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). When

AfriKids took on the Medical Centre it saw an average of 350 patients a month. It its first six months alone this rose to nearly 1,000. Many of these

patients would not have had access to healthcare had it not been for the centre’s NHIS provision and none would have received the quality of care offered which the centre can offer.

It is the centre’s policy to invest 10% of its profits in NHIS sponsorship and 90% into funding AfriKids’ incredible child rights work.

AfriKids is working through a three phase plan of investment to diversify and increase the centre’s services and profitability. 2007 saw completion of most of phase one, in which the focus was increasing the scope and efficiency of the laboratory. In phases two and three, we aim to offer 24 hour care, obstetric and gynecological services, surgery, and community and emergency outreach clinics.

Abaane Akolgo AfriKids Medical Centre cleaner, locally known as the Minister of the Environment

“It will interest many to know that when Abaane Akolgo is on duty, a fallen leaf does not last more than a minute on the ground. He hand picks every one after his usual morning cleaning duties. Whilst by office ranking he falls on the lowest level, he performs his job with such dexterity and care that you would be forgiven for thinking he was the manager. His commitment to duty affirms my belief that the impact an organisation can have relies as much on the supporting staff as it does on the Senior 52 Management.”

Nich Kumah, AfriKids Ghana Director

The AfriKids Lodge

In 2007 the development of AfriKids’ long awaited Eco-Lodge began with the purchase of land, the drawing of architectural plans and a huge community durbar to discuss the project with the residents of Pusu Namongo at the edge of Bolgatanga where it will be built. The purpose of the lodge is four fold: 1.

2.

3.

4.

To generate income to cover AfriKids Ghana’s core running costs and invest in projects To provide local vocational training and employment opportunities To provide a comfortable place for AfriKids’ staff, donors and volunteers to stay To meet growing local demand for good quality, eco-friendly tourism and in doing so to stimulate economic growth Tourism has grown year on year in northern Ghana over the last decade and now, with daily flights from Accra, it is becoming accessible to an ever-widening range of tourists. Hospitality training is improving in the region and work is in high demand. Many industry and government representatives also visit Bolgatanga and having a decent place to sleep is a pre-requisite. Not only that but, as

an example of a successful local business venture, the Eco-Lodge will enhance the appeal of investment in the region. The lodge will offer a range of accommodation from luxury suites for visiting government ministers and donors to mid range comfortable rooms for visitors and tourists, and finally basic, clean and efficient volunteers’ quarters for people on long stays in Bolgatanga, such as VSO volunteers.

It will also offer a range of facilities available to guests and local residents including, restaurants, bars, bike hire, laundry services and a playground and swimming pool. The lodge will actively promote the region’s eco-tourism spots, including our projects, the crocodile ponds at Paga and the Tengzu Shrine and hikes in the beautiful Tongo Hills area.

The running of the Lodge will draw in and benefit all of our 21 projects in northern Ghana. Involvement with come from job opportunities for the older children leaving Mama Laadi’s foster home, to organic meat and honey from the Next Generation Farm and woven basket work and bedding from the AfriKids Daughters and girls who have returned from the slums of Kumasi with Operation Fresh Start.

2007 Figures Community beneficiaries 500 Investment Costs £25,796

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AfriKids’ Ethical Trade Initiative In 2007 we launched our ethical trade project. It is in its early stages and has huge potential for diversification but currently focuses on shea butter and clothing. In 2007

we developed a range of clothing with Topshop for sale in 2008 and sourced exporters for shea butter produced by the women benefitting from micro-finance on Operation Sirigu and Operation Zuarungu.

The goal of this project is to generate income for AfriKids Ghana and more broadly stimulate the local economy and create markets for producers across our projects.

The Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, where AfriKids is based, is wealthy in human and natural resources. It is peaceful and stable and, after decades of neglect, its government is beginning to acknowledge the UER’s developing infrastructure and thriving civil society, tourists are looking beyond the forests and beaches of Southern Ghana to the beauty of the North, and slowly businesses are seeing its potential.

However, in many ways, the UER has its hands tied. International trade laws mean cheap American rice is dumped on the local market and tinned tomatoes are shipped in from abroad whilst the local fields erode and the old tomato canning factory stands empty. Where the UER has a unique geographical advantage, as in the production of shea nuts and cotton, European countries buy the raw products in bulk and ship them home or to Asia to process rather than investing in the UER to produce a higher value product there.

It is ironic that, in a country rich in gold, cocoa and cotton, we find ourselves taking chocolate bars, cotton clothing and jewellery as gifts because they cannot be found locally. Meanwhile, in the villages, people struggle to access the government’s universal primary education drive and low cost National Health Insurance Scheme as they are trapped in a cycle of reliance on ever diminishing farming yields and struck down time and again by malaria and other treatable illnesses.

As can be found all over the world, NGOs fill these gaps in the fragile network of services and support, but AfriKids does things a bit differently. Rather

than focus on the problems, we look to establish partnerships between local people who have initiatives designed to build stability and prosperity, and partners who are able to make this a reality. This can be in the form of donor/project relationships or on a commercial basis and this is where ethical trade comes in.

Through the ethical trade project we are seeking raw materials and local design which can be applied to clothing and craft with international appeal, and investing in its production. This started in a small way in 2007 and we hope will become a major sustainability project for AfriKids over the coming years.

2007 Figures Women Beneficiaries Proportion of costs sponsored by UK buyers Profit to be invested in AfriKids Ghana’s work

320 100% £786

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In 2006 Akolpoka Abugre was found begging on the streets with her young triplets.

Four goats were given to her and 18 months later she has settled back in her village, the children are registered on the National Health Insurance Scheme and they attend nursery school.

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AfriKids’ Financial Summary Consolidated statement of financial activities Year ended 31 December 2007

2007 £

2006

Unrestricted Funds

Restricted Funds

367,010

500,581

867,591

428,246

3,227

-

3,227

656

370,237

500,581

870,818

428,902

72,511

-

72,511

60,209

297,726

500,581

798,307

368,693

259,081

516,119

775,200

267,687

331,592

516,119

847,711

327,896

Net income/(expenditure) for the year/ Net movement in funds

38,645

(15,538)

23,107

101,006

Fund Balances at 1 January 2007

30,286

108,454

138,740

37,734

Fund Balances at 31 December 2007

68,931

92,916

161,847

138,740

(8 months only)

£

Incoming Resources Donations and legacies Investment income Total Incoming Resources

Resources Expended Cost of Generating Funds Costs of generating donations and legacies Net Incoming resources available Charitable Activities Ghana projects

Total resources expended

Trustee’s Statement These summarised accounts are not the statutory accounts, but are a summary of information relating to both the Statement of Financial Activities and the Balance Sheet. The statutory accounts have been audited by an external firm of Chartered Accountants, approved by the Trustees on 2 June 2008 and subsequently submitted to the Charity Commission. This summary may not contain sufficient information to allow a full understanding of the financial affairs of the charity.

For further information regarding the full accounts, the auditors’ reports on those accounts and the Trustees’ Annual Report should be consulted. These can be obtained from AfriKids, Haskell House, 152 West End Lane, London, NW6 1SD. Signed on behalf of the Trustees A Kennedy, Secretary and J Hickman, Chairman.

Independent Auditors’ Statement to the members of AfriKids We have examined the summarised financial statements as set out above 56 and confirm that these are consistent with the full annual audited accounts.

Arram Berlyn Gardner, 30 City Road, London, EC1Y 2AB

Financial Summary Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2007 31st Dec 2007

31st Dec 06

Fixed Assets Tangible Assets

10,796

15,489

Current Assets Debtors Cash at bank and in hand

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

15,710

3,845

135,986

127,076

151,696

130,921

(5,338)

(2,977)

Net Current Assets

146,358

127,944

Total Assets less current liabilities

161,847

138,740

Restricted Funds

92,916

108,454

Unrestricted Funds

68,931

30,286

161,847

138,740

Income Funds

Expenditure Breakdown

Direct project activities

8%

Cost of generating funds

5%

Support costs

87%

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AfriKids’ Annual Income to date £900,000.00 £800,000.00 £700,000.00 £600,000.00 £500,000.00 £400,000.00 £300,000.00 £200,000.00 £100,000.00 £Yr 2

Yr 3

Yr 4

Yr 5 (Extrapolated)

Yr 6

Yr 6 Income Distribution

Donations Direct to Ghana

“We trust you implicitly in terms of judgement and spending priorities.

Indeed from your proposal we are very happy to be guided as to where the money is best spent” Charles Keidan, Director of The Pears Foundation

Gifts in Kind Sponsored challenges Gallery Miscellaneous General Individuals Standing Orders Events Community Schools & University Foundations

58 £-

£250,000.00

£500,000.00

In 2007 our supporters generously provided the following services free of charge: Free office space, including water rates, provided by Heron Properties Ltd Air miles for flights to and from Ghana for staff provided by Paul Ruddock and Adam Glinsman of Lansdowne Partners Ltd Business rates sponsored by Anna Maria Kennedy Free Web design provided by Daniel Western Free Graphic Design provided by Feverpitch Free printing of newsletters provided by Windsor Print Free printing of general fundraising materials provided by CLP Structured Finance Legal Advice provided free of charge by James Rice and Victoria Love of Linklaters plc Accounts audited and payroll managed for free by Arram Berlyn Gardner IT support provided free of charge by Fred Cohen at Connected Worlds PR advice provided free of charge by Natasha Moore, freelance

How was this report developed and funded?

As with almost all AfriKids’ fundraising material, this annual report was designed in-house. Every single photo was taken by a member of AfriKids’ staff with permission from the person themselves or their guardian.

As for the cost...

In January 2008 Georgie Fienberg spoke at the Schroders Global Distribution Offsite dinner. The speech drew parallels between distribution in the financial services industry and the distribution of AfriKids’ messages to the British public.

Inspired by AfriKids’ success and innovation, Richard Robinson, Head of Charities, appeared at the conference the following day in a full Bananaman suit and appealed to the Global Heads of Distribution to raise as much additional money for AfriKids as possible. A staggering total of £22,643 was donated in just a few minutes and these funds were carefully assigned to a number of different AfriKids initiatives, one of them being the printing of this report.

We would like to thank Richard for his creativity and energy and the Global Distribution team for their kind 59 generosity and flexibility.

AfriKids Haskell House 152 West End Lane London NW6 1SD www.afrikids.org info@afrikids.org Please recycle this report

With special thanks to the Pears Foundation who, as well as making regular annual donations, have given us a wonderful office space at no charge in the centre of West Hampstead

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