Out of AfriKids - June 2012

June 2012 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

AMBULANCE RALLY They made it from Swanage to Bolga!

It took 21 days for four people to travel through seven countries, arriving in Bolgatanga with two reliable ambulances, raising £30,000 in the process.

This was the Ambulance Rally 2012, organised through the G.A.S. Partnerhsip, a tri-partite partnership between the Ghana Health Service, AfriKids and Southampton University Hospitals Trust (for more info please visit www.gaspartnership.org).

The triumphant Ambulance Rally team comprising of Malvena StuartTaylor, Ben Allenby, Nick Eastcott and Bob Chaundy (later joined by Phillip Hancock and Dave Brown) started the journey in Swanage and ended

it at the AfriKids Medical Centre in Bolgatanga, Ghana. Until their arrival in mid April, the Upper East Region of Ghana had seven working ambulances for a population of one million.

In addition to the two ambulances which will provide transport in an emergency to severely ill individuals, the funds raised through sponsorship will provide vital specialist training and also enable us to procure and ship key items of equipment to carry on with the successful work of the G.A.S. Partnership.

There were times when due to the instability caused by the coup in Mali, it was thought that it was not going to be possible to keep going, but the team soldiered on. They showed bravery, incredible team spirit, and immense perseverance.

“...it would suddenly dawn on you that you had driven through the desert and were now having to stop and wait for warthogs to get out of the way and a casual warning of ‘if you see an elephant try and stay in the car, if you do get out just try and keep your distance.’

To top it all off, arriving in Ghana and meeting everybody in AfriKids was a really wonderful experience.

Trip of a lifetime? Definitely.”

Ben Allenby Ambulance Rally 2012 Team Member

PROJECT FOCUS Next Generation Home As many of you will know from our emails, AfriKids now has a Global Charity Partnership with Allen & Overy. This partnership is focused on Operation Bolgatanga, commonly known as the Next Generation Home (NGH).

Sally Eastcott, AfriKids (UK) Director, recently visited this project and wrote a blog for the AfriKids website (keep a look out for when our official blog is launched, bringing you news on a weekly basis). Since the good news of this partnerhsip, it seemed only fitting to share this with you all and give you more insight into a project that will only improve as the partnership goes on.

Some places make you feel at home; some people make you feel at home.

At the NGH it’s all about the kids who live there; there’s nothing on earth like an afternoon chatting with Clement as he calmly surveys the chaos around him, or at dusk watching the boys do backflips over a tyre whilst the girls quietly read or begin stoking the fires for dinner.

inspiring to know that they love their home mostly because of the friends they have there, they feel their lives have been changed by what AfriKids has been able to offer them and their futures are bright.

Among these six alone we have an aspiring lawyer, a journalist, a nurse, a president, a farmer and a street children’s centre manager. It was heart-wrenching to hear the worries of those who have left relatives behind on the street and the boy about to finish Senior High without the security of knowing he has parents to support him to the next stage of education. Perhaps most touching of all were the concerns the boys had about their trunks breaking and the unreliability of their showers now they share them with many other drop in boys from the streets. These are young men with a sense of pride in their appearance, their possessions and their status in life. They are full of dignity and demand very little, it was sobering to be reminded that all they have in the world can fit into a small wooden box.

When it came to asking us questions, they were not short of ideas.

Fascinated to have the history of

AfriKids recounted and how the different partners fitted together; Martin was proud to declare himself as the first beneficiary and Ayinde to guide us through the different projects and local heroes who have touched her life. Ayinde as it turns out is quite the networker, approaching the AfriKids Academy to ask for lessons for NGH students, keeping tabs on her younger brother and the other children at Mama Laadi’s Foster Home and visiting the library to try and set up a regular account for NGH residents. I wish we could fast forward ten years and see if she achieves her ambition of attaining a degree in nursing and running a centre for street children to help others as she has been helped. Actually, scrap that, I want her to enjoy every bit of those ten years; seeing the young ones she already cares for grow and enjoying the empowerment and independence of tertiary education. My main wish for the NGH then is that before 2018 we find a way to ensure that all of these incredible young people can get all the education they wish for and continue on the path to a good and happy life that the NGH has set them on.

This visit, as part of our new annual project review process, we had the real privilege of a long focused discussion group with six of the older residents. It’s not like Ghanaians are known for their shyness or reticence but sometimes the culture of respect and hierarchy can be so influential that we struggle to have a real conversation. Not so with the NGH kids; this lot, who we’ve known for a decade and for many of whom life with AfriKids goes back even further, know who they are and are not afraid of voicing their views or concerns.

It was fascinating to learn about the world of the NGH and the streets of Bolga from their perspective. It was

Ayinde, pictured with Mavis, looks out for many of the other children at the Next Generation Home

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01: Charles, Caleb and Jonny make a mischievous trio at the Next Generation Home 02: Felix, the head of the Next Generation Home, has his photo taken with Charles and Caleb 03: Mavis visits Charles while he has a nap 04: One of the ambulances drive past some camels 05: The ambulances were really put to the test in all environments

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06: Just part of the 4,000 miles of open road the team drove on the Ambulance Rally

AFRIKIDS ONLINE AFRIKIDS’ NEW WEBSITE

Hopefully you will all have heard about our new website and had a good browse. We are delighted with the revamp and would love to hear your feedback. Still to come are our weekly blogs which will keep you entertained and informed inbetween receiving these newsletters!

If you haven’t managed to take a look already, then click on any of the links below that appeal to you...

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Nich, Sister Jane, Silas, Elijah and Cecilia from AfriKids Ghana have arrived! We’ll get more photos up, but here’s Cecilia with breakfast in the office :)

rachel_3FF Superb training @jhub run by @afrikids. Refreshing to actually be worth the time spent. Learning lots about donors relationships.

23 May

AfriKids @JimmyLazers One of the ambulances you drove just got used for the first time helping a woman who was in trouble giving birth!

Awesome!

15 May

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Lyndsey Jenkins Definition of an awesome night out @AfriKids :) 9 May

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G.A.S. PARTNERSHIP ON A FUNDRAISING ROLL! The G.A.S. Fundraising Committee have lined up some really fun events for this year, we encourage you all to get involved!

Fancy a pint? Love African music?

Then join them in Southampton for a beer festival from 5th - 7th October which will have Ghanaian drumming and lots more to entertain you.

Love Go Karting? Then join them for their Thruxton racing event on 20th October.

FUNDRAISE FOR AFRIKIDS

For more information, please contact carlyadams@afrikids.org

LET’S GET RUNNING! If there was ever a perfect time to sign up for a sporting event, it’s this year.

With the Olympics in the UK you can look back on 2012 as the year sport played a leading role in your life. We have two runs left for you to sign up for this year, so get in touch right now with amaatteen@afrikids.org The British 10K is the UK’s most prestigious 10K road race. You’ll pass some of the world’s most iconic landmarks as you surge through the nation’s Capital alongside runners of all abilities.

London - Sunday 8th July Deadline to register: 25th June www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk The Heroes Run is a 5km or 10km fun run to raise money for some of our local heroes in Ghana... and you can even dress up as a superhero!

Southampton - Sat 13th October 2012 Poole- Sunday 14th October 2012 www.heroesrun.org.uk Contact: amaatteen@afrikids.org

www.afrikids.org