EGYAM CHILDREN'S HOME GHANA

FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT 

In Ghana, thousands of children have lost their parents and the care of their families, and a lot more are at risk of falling into the same situation.These children have nowhere to find the protection, and care required for their moral, physical, health, educational and emotional development.

It is in the light of the foregoing that Egyam Children's Home has over the past years being working with individuals, families, communities and other partners to build a society where all children can enjoy a caring family environment and also protecting their best interest. The foundation has been providing long-term care and protection through its Orphanage.

However, the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children in many countries including Ghana is beginning to overcome the ability and coping capacities of Egyam Children's Home and other organizations that are caring for these children.

Egyam Children's Home therefore developed innovative ways of preventing children from falling out of their families and communities, a realization that has given birth to a new project entitled FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT.

Isaac before and after the operation by a Dutch doctor from the Liliane foundation. He can walk and go to school for the first time in his life.

Under the family continuity project, activities are designed to support, strengthen and empower families and communities, so that they are able to effectively care for and protect vulnerable children. In this way, children can be brought up within their families and communities, thus keeping with their social and cultural roots. This creates greater stability and continuity in their life. The focus of this project is to foster continuous stay of orphans and vulnerable children with their families and in their communities while under the support of Egyam Children's Home.

ACTIVITIES UNDER THE PROJECT

• Support of orphans and vulnerable children through good and quality education
• Discouraging all forms child abandonment through awareness creation in the areas of child labour,teenage pregnancy, the children’s act or laws on children, family planning, reproductive health etc
• Emotional and psychological support for families or caregivers; in the form of counseling and education on challenges associated with POVERTY, LOST OF PARENTS AND SINGLE PARENTING.

Currently, the project is supporting twenty (20) orphan and vulnerable children and their families or caregivers in five (5) communities. The beneficiary communities are Egyam, Ampatano, Ankyerenyin, Pumponi and Kanfakrom in the Ahanta West district of the western region.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• Supporting the education of orphans and vulnerable children whiles in the care and protection of their families or caregivers and in their communities. The support is in the form of scholarship package such as provision of school uniforms, bags, and footwear’s, reading materials, pens and pencils, health and payment of school fees.
• Empower women, young girls, widows and teenage mothers through awareness creation in the areas of child abandonment. Encouraging families’ and communities to get involved in issues concerning orphan and vulnerable children.r3t
• Emotional and psychological support for families or caregivers in the form of counseling and education on challenges associated with poverty, lost of parents and single parenting.

This project needs collaboration with NGOs, Government and the society in its implementation. Egyam Children's Home together with these partners would be instrumental in the project’s and success. In the areas of beneficiary selection, support and supervision of the project. FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT is managed by Egyam Children's Home with active support from FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT management committee at each community. The committee comprises of community volunteers and other stakeholders. The project is under the supervision of the coordinator of Egyam Children's Home. The project coordinator and the project management committee will meet periodically to review the project in these areas

• Progress of work( on the children)
• Plan relevant activities(concerning the welfare of the children)
• Assign responsibilities(in the areas of monitoring,supervision,care,protection etc)

EXPECTED OUTCOME

It is expected that after a period of one year of the project more orphans and vulnerable children would have benefited from the educational support programme. The families and the communities would have acquired some education or awareness and recognize the need to get involved and support orphans and vulnerable children and to come on board to support the efforts of Egyam Children's Home.

All worst forms of child labour like prostitution, child trafficking, domestic servitude and so on would be reduced. Beneficiaries would have better formal education to a level where they can be independent.

By this same period, the impact of the whole project would have been felt hence the goal Egyam Children's Home.

SUSTAINABILITY

To be able to sustain the project to benefit a lot of orphans and vulnerable children, more partners and donors have to come on board to add to the efforts of Egyam Orphanage Foundation. Currently the project depends on donors outside Ghana for funding, we are encouraging all individuals, companies and organizations in Ghana to help us sustain and expand the project to reach other orphans and vulnerable children

PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION

A brief baseline study preceded activities and has provided the bases for determining information required and expected outcome. Monthly and periodical monitoring will be carried out by the project coordinator of Egyam Children's Home collaborating with partners and donors agencies that will also carry out site visit to the project areas to ascertain progress and challenges and make recommendation

Quarterly reports will determine the progress and performance of FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT.

OBJECTIVE INDICATORS

• Establish a database and carry out regular monitoring and evaluation systems for orphans and vulnerable children.
• Existence of baseline data on the level of support for orphans and vulnerable children in the project areas
• Inventory of initiatives involved in orphans and vulnerable children in our operational areas.
• Positive impacts of the project on beneficiaries would be highlighted

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Egyam Orphanage Foundation under the Catholic Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi is home specifically for orphans and other vulnerable children in the society where family care and fostering is not available to them.  

 It is very important for any organization such as the Orphanage to have a clear guidelines, procedures and policies that govern and explains the operation of such organization hence the Statement of Purpose.

This Statement of Purpose is to inform the public the procedures, polices and the general operation of the home. And also to inform the children of the services expected from the home.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Egyam Children's Home is specifically to house and care for orphans who have no family care and fostering is not available to them. However a consideration is also given to Half-orphans and other vulnerable children in the society which are normally given support in the community under our Community Support Program.

The child is made to stay with a relative or the single parent and a support is provided by the Orphanage with education our prime focus. It is a policy of the home to resettle every child with one of the relatives where a continuous support will be provided by the Orphanage till the child becomes independent. It is also a policy of the home that any relative of the child of which the home is aware of can visit the child at any time and we are have been educating the relatives for constant visits.

STAFF GUIDE

And dealing with the children, the home and the staff considers the best interest of each child in any situation or matter concerned with the child.

 All the staff in the home are aware of their responsibilities and the specific roles they have to play for the running of the home. All the staff have their job description which they have to go by it. The caregivers have specific number of children under their care where the children welfare and whatever a child needs is their concern.

CHILDREN’S GUIDE

The children are aware of the basic rules of the home and are expected to help in the general cleaning of the home with the older ones supporting the caregivers to care for the younger ones.

The older ones especially the girls also help the cooks during the weekends to cook as a way of preparing them for the future.

The children are aware of the services expected to receive from the home which are the aims of the home. The following are the details.

1. To provide them with a home and take care of their physical, emotional and psychological needs.
2. To provide them with a healthy food for proper growth and development.
3. To provide for them quality education to unearth their potentials.
4. To provide for them quality medical care for proper development devoid of deficiency.
5. To train them morally in order to fit into the larger society.
6. To protect them from discrimination, violence, abuse and oppression.
7. To protect them from exploitative labour.
8. To help them in forming their own views and also to express opinions, to listened to and to participate in decisions affecting their own wellbeing.

RESETTLEMENT OR RE-INTEGRATION PLAN

The Orphanage has already started the re-integration plan by supporting 20 children in the communities who are staying with their relatives or half parents. It is a goal of the home to support the children at least up to the J.H.S level and at most at the age of 18 where the child will be resettled with a relative ready to care for the child.

The home will continue to support the child while in the community with constant monitoring and contact with families by the Orphanage Social Worker till the child become independent.

The home had already made contact with relatives with the children and during vacation some of the children are made to visits their relatives for some time. The main objectives of the Resettlement or Re-integration plan are as follows:

1. To assist the inmates resident in the home to become reunited with families and their communities.
2. To keep regular contact inmates and family to ensure that the best interest of the child is sustained.
3. To encourage and assist inmates who complete the J.H.S or attains the age the age 18 years to become independent and self-reliant through our resettlement and follow up programs.
4. To be able to extend help to more vulnerable children in the society.
5. To prepare the children for the world of work and for further higher education.
6. Develop and maintain relationship with others in the communities.
7. Develop practical, daily life knowledge and skills.

CONCLUSION

We would like to state emphatically that, the prime focus of Egyam Children's Home is to help the Orphans and vulnerable children in the society in order to create a brighter future for them and that is the purpose of this Orphanage.

OPERATION OF EGYAM CHILDREN'S HOME 

INTRODUCTION

The Egyam Children's Home is Non-governmental Organization. It is a home specifically for orphans who have no family care and fostering is not available to them. A consideration is also given to the needy in the society as it may be approved by the Department of Social Welfare. Initially the Orphanage was caring for orphans from the five communities namely Egyam, Kanfakrom, Ampatano, Pumpuni and Ankyernyin. But with the deeper relationship with the Department of Social Welfare we now have inmates from other areas in the Western part of Ghana such as Adum Banso and other from the Central part of Ghana such as Foso.                                                                                          

The Orphanage is only a home for the children and as such does not run its own school. All the children in the home attend the Public School in the community. It is a home where the children are taken proper and adequate care and provided with the resources which every normal Ghanaian child needs in order to create a sense of belonging and acceptability.

The Orphanage takes care of the basic needs of the child namely food, shelter, clothes and education.

The numerical strength of the home stands at 50 made up of 16 girls and 34 boys who are living happily in the Orphanage at the moment. The ages range from 9 to 17 years.

OPERATION

 DURATION FOR CHILDREN

 On the operation of the Orphanage we want to inform the public that, the children will not stay in the Orphanage forever. Every child in the house will leave the Orphanage at the age of 18 and will be resettled back to the community where he or she came from. This is our resettlement Programme. The Orphanage will continue to support the children till they become independent. Contact is being made with the relatives of these children and the Social Worker from the Orphanage will visit the children from time to time to known their problems and find solutions to them.

On their education, the orphanage will help every child according to his or her ability and also make sure that the children have something to do in future.

The duration for the children is very pertinent because it will make way for other children who needs help to be helped and also prepare the children for future life.

 SUPPORT TO COMMUNITY

 The Orphanage is not only supporting the orphans in the home but also orphans and half-orphans that are in the communities and may be the father is dead and the mother is alive but living condition is very difficult for them. We assess the situation and offer help to them in terms of education, clothes, health and where applicable food.

As part of our community support programme named FAMILY CONTINUITY PROJECT which needs support from individuals, societies and organizations. The following are what we are doing at the moment.

• Taking care of 16 children at the Basic Education Level in the community
• Taking care of 5 children in the tertiary institutions
• Taking care of 7 students at the Senior High Schools.
• Taking care for 8 children who are into apprenticeship.

 

 

• Visiting the communities and giving them clothes 
• Donating teaching and learning materials to the community school such as computers, pens, pencils and books

Prince (spastic but intelligent)	He is in a specialised school

CHALLENGES

1. Cost of education of the children. (Scholarship / Educational Fund)

3. expanding the Library or Study room for the children.

4. Building of a dormitory for resettled children who are homeless.

CONCLUSION

We would like to conclude by inviting individuals, societies, N.G.O’S, Companies and other organizations to come to our aid so that together we can extend a hand of help to the helpless in the society.

APPRECIATION

The Egyam Children's Home extends its appreciation to AS-Offshore-Ghana Services Limited for digging a bore-Hole water for the home.

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