Download - Out of AfriKids - May 2010
Out of AfriKids
Blessed, pictured above and below, arrived at Mama Laadi’s in March 2010 after being found by the
authorities at an illegal orphanage. He arrived at the Foster Home, after staying in a hospital, ex-
tremely malnourished, unable to walk or talk and horribly weak.
AfriKids (UK) staff visited Ghana in March this year with a team from
Deutsche Bank, very soon after Blessed had been brought to Mama
Laadi’s. They were extremely saddened by what they saw but knew
that within weeks of being cared for by Laadi, Blessed would be a dif-
ferent child.
Below is an extract from the monthly update the AfriKids (UK) team
received from AfriKids Ghana, explaining the situation
We collaborated with the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) to
rescue children from an unregistered orphanage. The children were
kept under very bad conditions with no health care and proper feeding
rendering some of them malnourished. These children were rescued by
the DSW and with our support sent back to their various homes. Two of
these children are currently staying at Mama Laadi’s Foster Home and
the Next Generation Home. One of them who has been named Blessed
is about one year and two months old. At the time of rescue he was
very sick and malnourished and had to stay in hospital for a number of
days. Mama Laadi has as usual worked some magic and Blessed is now
a strong and healthy boy.
Written by Lena Naaso, Head of External Affairs at AfriKids Ghana
May 2010
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
Blessed just a couple of weeks after being put
into Laadi’s care. Pictured below and above at
the Foster Home.
One child at a time...
Blessed with Grace, one of Mamma Laadi’s
girls who has become Blessed’s ‘buddy’. Each
younger child in the home has an older buddy
who cares for them alongside Mama Laadi.
For those of you that missed it, read Mairead from
Deutsche Bank’s blog from last month’s newsletter here.
All of our child beneficiaries are supported on a ‘one child at a time’ basis, as well as design-ing large care programmes to change lives for hundreds of children at a time. AfriKids has
worked with our partners to establish havens of love and safety where children on the brink can be taken and cared for until a loving home with relatives can be found. All the children in these pictures have been taken out of desperate situations by the police or social welfare and been taken in by Mama Laadi, Felix and JJ at the Next Generation Home, or Joe and Elijah at
the Sirigu-Angus Child rights centre over the past year.
Thank you to Jane Howard, continually supporting AfriKids!
Sirigu Concoction Men visit Yumba Special School, Tamale
Out of AfriKids inside stories
In a bid to completely win the concoction men and get them to fight for the rights of children, Operation Sirigu embarked on an excursion with them on the 17th of March 2010. They visited the Yumba Special School at Wamale, a suburb of Tamale. Yumba is a Dagbani word which means ‘Love Them’. For a special school with a population of 80 students and a staff strength of 10, you can imagine that without love and passion for the children the school would have closed down quickly; it is however in its seventh year of operation.
This visit accorded the concoction men the opportunity to see for themselves children born with deformities (and given the chance to live) in other parts of the country. The trip was a great achievement as lessons were learnt some of which are; the concoction men saw children with the same conditions of chil-dren they have killed before (and they were given a chance to live); What the concoction men saw served as a challenge to them and from their testimonies they are ready to give up the practice of infanticide; A bond of trust and com-mitment has been strengthened between the project and the concoction men. This extract above came from the AfriKids Ghana monthly update written by Lena Naaso.
A group congregate
together at Yumba
Special School, Tamale;
(left) and Opinions are
shared in Tamale (right)
You may have received the AfriKids Family Tree Letter that accom-
panied last year’s Annual Report; it gave the example of Jane How-
ard, a long term AfriKids supporter who had helped raise over
£60,000 for AfriKids. A year later, Jane continues in her efforts for
AfriKids and is signed up to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with her col-
leagues at CVC Capital Partners in June. Her fundraising for the
event included a Pub Quiz in April which raised over £20,000 to be
split between AfriKids and Alzheimer’s Society. Everyone at AfriKids
would like to say a huge thanks to Jane, and wish all the Trekkers at
CVC Capital Partners the very best of luck with their trek.
Operation Sirigu, which won the 2007 International Service Award for Protection of children’s rights,
has pioneered a new and inclusive approach to tackling harmful traditional practices. It has been
working with local concoction men, who were responsible for killing spirit children since 2006 and
has formed an association of concoction men against infanticide.
A special mention for the Grossmann family
AfriKids has been supported by the Grossmann family
since Patrick, an orthodontist, and his wife, Paula,
first visited Ghana in 2007. Two years later Patrick
revisited Bolgatanga and put his skills to use visiting
AfriKids’ projects and advising the children, families
and communities we work with on dental care.
The next generation is now getting involved, with
their son, Ben, recently taking part in the epic Pa-
trouille des Glaciers in support of AfriKids and the
Army benevolent Fund (ABF) with two friends, Ned
Truman and Alex Baker.
On the 23rd April, in spite of the volcanic ash that
threatened to delay their departure, Ben, Ned and
Alex set off on the hardest Alpine ski race in the
world; the biennial Patrouille des Glaciers. The race
took place in Switzerland and went from Zermatt to
Verbier which is over 53 kilometres in distance with a
difference in altitude of over 2,000 metres. This was
no small challenge and all three had been preparing
for months in advance, including a previous trip to
Switzerland in order to train with the Swiss Army.
Sadly, having missed a checkpoint by just 40 minutes,
the team had to pull out of the race. However, this
hasn’t deterred them and Ben has said he’s very
tempted to give it a go in two years time.
The fundraising efforts by the trio have been a fantas-
tic boost for AfriKids and the ABF, raising over £4,000
for each charity. Thank you so much to Ben, Ned and
Alex, and all the very best for 2012.
AfriKids staff, family, friends and partners run the first ever
Brighton Marathon, raising over £9000 for AfriKids
On Sunday 18th April 2010, eight people ran the
Brighton Marathon for AfriKids, completing a 26.2
mile run.
Lissa Wallington, Kerry Ortuzar, Jeeger Kakkad, James
Viviyan, Olivier Kouao, Michael Gavin, Alex Wilson and
Matt Ponting collectively raised over £9,000 for Af-
riKids!
We are extremely grateful for their commitment and
drive in undertaking such a big challenge.
Brighton Marathon 2010 took place for the first time
ever this year and proved to be a successful day and
we hope to repeat this again next year. If you would
like to find out more about Brighton Marathon 2010
please contact Ama Atteen at [email protected]
Once again, thank you to all of the runners, sponsors
and supporters.
Alex Wilson is cheered on by all
supporters and spectators (above)
and Jeeger Kakkad takes it all in his
stride (below)
Michael Gavin smiles in the sun
(above) and Matt Ponting rewards
himself with a chocolate milkshake
after receiving his medal (below)
Kerry Ortuzar keeps
the speed up , un-
able to stop for the
camera (left), whilst
Lissa Wallington,
Communications
and Events Manager
of AfriKids proudly
shows off her
medal! (far left)
James Viviyan en-
joys his well de-
served rest after the
finish line (right)
and Olivier Kouao
runs with determi-
nation and stamina
(far right)
Rally your friends and come along to AfriKids’ BIGGEST EVER pub quiz!
It’s at a new and exciting venue and we’re expecting it to sell out extremely quickly.
Our Host and Quiz Master for the evening will be the (in) famous BINZAY!
HELP!
If you are able to source or
donate any prizes for our raffle,
we would be truly grateful!
You are all invited to...