By Anthony Apubeo, GNA
Bolgatanga, Dec 29, GNA – Afrikids Ghana, a Child Rights Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has supported 10 street children who have been enrolled onto vocational and technical training programmes.
The NGO in addition, gave the children some working equipment and tools to boost their skills training.
The beneficiaries included; young street people undergoing various apprenticeships in weaving, dress making, satellite installation, crafts and leather works among others in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region.
The project, which is being sponsored by the Empire, a UK based Charity Organisation is on the theme, “School of Night Rabbits”, a project under the child protection component of Afrikids Ghana progammes.
The School of Night Rabbits offers opportunities for street children in the Municipality to learn numeracy, English Language, vocational and technical skills as well as receive counselling and medical screening.
The project, which had over the years trained and mainstreamed a number of vulnerable street children into formal education system, earlier this year, mainstreamed 98 of such children who had undergone a nine-month intensive complementary training into formal schools for the current academic year.
Mr Raymond Ayinne, the External Affairs Manager of Afrikids Ghana explained that the main aim of the project was to take street children off the street and send them back to their families and provide opportunity for them to be educated or learn a trade to enable them live normal and dignified lives.
He said the support was part of their various interventions to improve lives through the provision of the equipment and tools and to ensure smooth learning, adding “the whole idea is that they can be gainfully employed, independently support themselves and families.”
He indicated that apart from the school suppliers that Afrikids provided for the children, the Child Rights NGO further undertook routine monitoring to ascertain challenges confronting them and provided interventions to those challenges.
Mr Ayinne urged the beneficiaries to use the equipment purposefully to achieve the objective in which they had been provided and tasked them to take their studies seriously in order to enable them to be self-employed and also employ others.
The parents, master trainers and the beneficiaries expressed gratitude to Afrikids Ghana and its partners and said their work over years had enabled many street children to regain respect and lived dignified lives in society.
Ms Mary Ayinne, one of the beneficiaries said the support was a big relief for them as many had no such equipment and tools and had to pair with their colleagues making learning ineffective and unattractive.
Madam Talata Apasnaba, a parent, explained that as parents, they found it difficult in procuring the working equipment for their wards as result of extreme poverty and that the support had taken off that financial burden on them.
She assured the management of Afrikids Ghana and its sponsors that they as parents would ensure that the tools were periodically maintained and put into good use to derive maximum benefits.
GNA
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