Out of AfriKids
August 2009
AfriKids is a Child Rights Organisation working to improve life for Ghana’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in a holistic, inclusive and sustainable manner
“Yes to education, no to child labour!”
Photo by Paul Knipe
On the Dusty Road to Empowerment
Read the Lucid articles
Lucid Magazine visits AfriKids Ghana “We were all struck by the scope and reach of Afrikids and the exceptional work that's quietly going on to improve the lives of people who would otherwise be forgotten.” Below is an extract from one of the articles The picture above shows celebration from the winning debate team. Below Joe is playing with the velcro ICAP dartboard. AfriKids is delighted to have been chosen as one of the charities for the ICAP charity day on December 9th 2009!
En route to Obuasi we stopped to visit a small village school. We had been invited to chair and adjudicate a debate on child labour between the local school, Gbane, and its neighbour, Shega. We arrived to a packed classroom of students getting into the spirit of the debate with a rousing chant of “yes to education, no to child labour!”
The passion and quality of the speakers’ words made judging hard; the level of research and detail, the in‐ terest and fixation from the floor a reflection of the importance placed on the subject matter. The home team won and the announcement sent the crowd into rapturous ap‐ plause that lasted several minutes. The home cheers combined with the devastation on the faces of the visiting team highlighted how much these students believe in what they were debating about and the effort they had put into it. The session was part of a programme developed by Afrikids to edu‐ cate children on the dangers of child labour and their own rights as children. The children became ambassadors for their
cause and the enthusiasm with which they believed in it was evident at the debate in Gbane. The whole ex‐ ercise was a lesson in the power of education and a positive, home grown addition to the fight against child labour.
“The true sign of success is not whether we are a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by—it’s whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change.” Barack Obama to the Ghanaian parliament, 11th July 2009
The young ladies of Sirigu celebrate the opening of the Angus Child Right’s Centre
Emmanuella, one of Operation Zuarungu’s fieldworkers talking to one of our beneficiaries, Azumah and her mother on a home visit
The Daughters of AfriKids—a union of women workers and traders who are the heart and soul of Sirigu
Talata and Mercy—beneficiaries of Mama Laadi’s foster home
Bolgatanga bell chilli peppers. The hottest chilli’s in town
“I don’t really feel like I can say ‘goodbye’ or ‘good luck’ as I feel like I am still going to be part of AfriKids, sticking my oar in as a volunteer” Laura Parrett, AfriKids’ Head of Administration and Finance has now left AfriKids
Nich Kumah and Joe Asakibeem conduct a home visit to a very happy Abraham Wahab in Sirigu
AfriKids Medical Centre dispensary
Out of AfriKids inside stories Annor Kazzi visits Operation Fresh Start
Annor came to hear about AfriKids through his work for the Big Lottery Fund. He’s currently taking a year’s sabbatical in Ghana and visited and reported on Operation Fresh Start “The beneficiaries that I met during my visit have the same story to tell. They were stranded in Kumasi but had no means of returning home and were concerned about their future prospects back home. Operation
Fresh Start (OFS) offered a lifeline with a package of support that meant they were able to return home and train into meaningful jobs. The beneficiaries had positive comments about the level of support
Thank you Barclays Ghana! This month Barclays Ghana travelled the 800km north from Accra to Bolgatanga to present a cheque
for £20,000 to AfriKids Ghana to help fund their work with resettlement of child labourers and street children. This was a landmark event for AfriKids Ghana and it shows that the community are starting to
provided by project staff particularly around information, advice, and counselling support for occasional crisis.” Annor’s response to his time in Bolgatanga:
“Many profound thanks to all AfriKids staff especially Nick, Cletus, David, and Richard who helped plan my journey and made it possible for me to gain independent insight into the work OFS and other AfriKids projects particularly Mama Laadi.”
Annor with a beneficiary of Operation Fresh Start training to be a mechanic
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believe that children who are ‘lost’ to mainstream education can be given a Fresh Start and make something of their lives. Through Operation Fresh Start, Operation Sunlight and the Next Generation Home AfriKids Ghana have been working to prove this for seven years and that hard work is now starting to pay off. Thank you
Barclays Ghana!
Devastating news from Operation Sirigu Read Apalabonu’s full history In March 2008 we launched an appeal to help a baby boy called Apalabonu. He was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (water retention around the brain). His family believed he was a spirit child, sent to cause harm and believed that in order to protect those around him, they needed to take his life. Thanks to the counselling and support of Operation Sirigu’s team the family accepted him and our supporters sponsored months of intensive medi‐ cal care to relieve his suffering. He then lived a comfortable and happy eighteen months at home and set a
true example to the community demonstrating that there were medical reasons for his deformity. However very sadly, two weeks ago, Apalabonu died of malaria. It is a tragedy but Apalabonu’s parents and the Operation Sirigu team comfort themselves with the knowledge that Apalabonu was loved and cared for and will be buried as a baby boy, not a condemned ‘spirit’. Georgie wrote to the team saying: “We are all desperately sad to hear about Apalabonu, he has certainly left a legacy in the UK and in Ghana. I
have no doubt that this little boy and his family have changed the minds of whole communities who once believed that deformed children were evil and lives will now be saved. Thanks to you all.”
Fundraising We need you to help us to raise money for the items below through‐ out August Thank you! Buy a new fridge for Mama Laadi Mama Laadi needs a new fridge! £150 will buy this essential piece of kitchen wear. Very important when you have 35 mouths to feed!
Sponsor AfriKids’ 2010 Calendar Would you be willing to sponsor our 2010 AfriKids calendar? For £530 we can get 500 calendars printed. These will be a fantastic fundraising tool!
New motorbike for Sirigu £1,011 will buy, tax and insure a new motorbike for Elijah the Operation Sirigu Community Development Worker— this type of transporta‐ tion is crucial for his work especially in such erratic weather conditions
We have 20 Bolga baskets to sell We have a wide variety of beautiful hand woven baskets available to buy via our website. Prices range from £5 ‐ £35 Please visit our online shop to see exactly what’s on offer