July 2011 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
THE NEXT GENERATION School visits show promising results Pictured above, the Next Generation Home kids are giving a cheeky wave. AfriKids staff, including AfriKids Ghana Director, Nich Kumah, investigate how well they are doing at school, and are pleased with what they hear. Operation Bolgatanga, otherwise known as the Next Generation Home (NGH), removes children from the streets and provides them with a safe home, basic needs and an education. Although the main aims are to resettle the children with families, some often remain at the NGH for a long period of time.
While the children are at the NGH, the project staff do a fantastic job of creating a family atmosphere and take great care of the children. Part of this, of course, includes checking how the children are getting on at school. The school visits took place earlier this year and included the six different primary schools and five secondary schools attended by the children. The teachers were generally very positive about the childrens’ attitudes and improvement, and of the few less positive comments, targets were set with the children to work on weaker areas. Education is very important to the NGH children as it is something they did not previously have,
and in general, attendance and effort were both very high. The encouraging comments from the teachers foresee positive futures for the children of the appropriately named ‘Next Generation Home’. Other focuses for the project are currently; sustainability goals, working with children growing into adolescence, and the ongoing weekly visits to the streets to discourage children from staying there.
“Visits like this make us feel cared for.” Safia NGH Beneficiary