Ghana, Africa

May 30, 2009
Ghana, Africa Update

 

Our experience in Ghana this year was so unexpected, so overwhelming, and so completely necessary. It was emotionally intense to a degree that none of us could have imagined. It was a journey that was pivotal for All For Humanity. As an organization we came away from this experience with a much more comprehensive understanding of the workings of government and non-government agencies in Ghana. And most importantly, a thorough respect for the need not to assist Ghanaian orphanages in maintaining the status quo, but to look forward to deinstitutionalizing these children in as many cases as possible.

The Government of Ghana, through the Department of Social Welfare, has initiated a process called the Care Reform Initiative which supports deinstitutionalization and the closing of orphanages, and promotes kinship care and fostering. The process we have just recently lived through has opened our eyes and our minds to the fact that even in Africa institutional living needs to be avoided where at all possible. Our time and effort that was invested in Ghana in spring 2009 also helped to ensure that we are viewed as a legitimated aid agency in this country that suffers greatly from a lack of resources.

Our five week journey, which began in February, 2009, was punctuated by highs and lows. Rhonda and her team left Canada on February 12, with another group following later in the month. At the Volta Home in Vedeme Rhonda's team found a buzz of young and eager foreign volunteers, and a variety of new faces. While the children were as thrilled to see us as we were to see them, we were left wondering what had happened during the past twelve months to the children who were no longer at the Volta Home. And it was clear despite our work there last year, and the obvious current interest in the Volta Home, there is no real improvement in the children's living conditions or plans for their future.

We would have dearly loved to have spent more time at the Volta Home, but unexpected circumstances at Deladem prevented it. However, as in the past, during our time with the children of the Volta Home we were able to administer deworming medication and vitamins. And like previous visits, we gave each child a gift bag containing a few personal items, hygiene items and footwear, bags filled with donations we had brought from Canada. Again hours were spent sorting, organizing and labeling items for the 35+ children. The kids were thrilled to receive their gifts and we were please to see many had kept the baskets we had given them the previous year.

We recognize that AFH needs to spend some time evaluating our next best steps for the Volta Home. However one area we felt we have made progress in this journey is helping the three visually impaired children who currently live at the Volta Home.

There are experiences and concepts casually and incidentally learned by sighted students that must be systematically and sequentially taught to the visually impaired student. The core curriculum for visually impaired students is not the same as for sighted students. Indeed, it is much larger and more complex. The Three Kings School for the Visually Impaired seems to truly believe this for each of their students. At the Three Kings School they take great pride in teaching the students to learn social interaction skills, independent living skills, recreation skills, technology, career education and visual efficiency skills.

That said, it was our absolute pleasure to return to the Three Kings School for a visit. We brought over $1000 worth of supplies we had purchased from the CNIB in Calgary. It was terrific to see how the children have grown over the last year. To meet some new faces and as always we were met with a lovely ceremony of song and dance! Through our education fund we will support these children from the Volta Home to attend this school, where they will be provided an education and understanding that they need, giving them every opportunity to succeed. We look forward to working further with this school and their students.

Unfortunately, there was very grave news from Rhonda's visit to the Deladem orphanage. The situation there required immediate attention and superseded any plans for work elsewhere. When the group arrived the house mother was gone, and older children were looking after the babies. There were 14+ children at the home, some of whom were very seriously ill, with no food or clean water whatsoever. Rhonda's ability to get to a computer was limited, and something needed to be done immediately for these children. What they needed was beyond a bath, food and clean clothes. Rhonda's only recourse was to call Lori in Canada, as she was still a week away from departing for Ghana. From there began an email campaign to the contacts we had in Ghana. Despite this, it was not until Rhonda was able to forward photos of the suffering children and with that - a meeting was organized. Representatives from UNICEF, the Volta Foundation, and the Department of Social Welfare and government attended this meeting. It was agreed that the orphanage would be closed down, and the children would be removed to their extended families or to foster families. This was progress! Or so we thought...

One of our goals for this trip was to visit the site of OrphanAid Africa. This site is run by Lisa Lovatt-Smith, who is a former author and editor of Vogue magazine. One visit to Ghana with her daughter changed her for life and her desire to help orphans was long-lasting, as she then launched OrphanAid Africa helping to make sure no child would grow up in an institution, and supporting foster care and village families. She also developed an ecologically built and powered children's home integrated into a rural community that cost less to build than a brand new car! We were able to meet Lisa, toured her site, and more importantly learned much about her foster parent plan.

When we met with Lisa of Orphan Aid, we became aware that none of the children had been rescued from Deladem. This was very disconcerting as some of those children were very near to death. We had made the mistake of assuming a western time frame in the resolution of this problem. Several calls were made during that meeting, confirming that the Department of Social Welfare was planning to visit the orphanage. However this was not scheduled for several more days. Knowing how severally ill and neglected the children were, we decided to travel to Deladem immediately, and take the four sickest babies to the hospital. This became the most intense, difficult and rewarding excursion any of us had undertaken.

We arrived at the Deladem orphanage almost three hours later to find a very disturbing situation. As we approached the inside of the building, our first sight was that of the smallest baby (Emma) lying filthy and unresponsive, face down in the middle of the concrete floor. Rhonda approached the baby, thinking what we were all thinking that she was in fact, deceased. Little baby Emma was unresponsive but breathing. Another baby (Michael) was lying in the corner, again filthy, unresponsive, with only a green and pink sweat shirt on, no pants or diaper. The house mother was gone and there were even fewer children present than the previous visit.

It took our small group only minutes to determine which four needed immediate medical attention. We diapered and changed the children into a fresh set of clothes, wrapped them in clean towels and made the 45 minute drive to the Ho Regional Hospital. No car seats are even sold or used - so all babies went on our laps! We had wished we could have taken them all.

In removing these children from the orphanage we were entirely on our own. We had only verbal permission from DSW in Ho, and had no knowledge of the baby's identities or history. The names we called them were simply names that we gave them. When it came time to register them at the hospital we had to provide identities so we used the first names we had given them (Michael, Francis, Emma & Jane) and for a surname we used a version of the last name of the Ghanaian Director of Social Welfare. We paid for all their hospital and administration fees and then we waited.

The babies were so quiet and unmoving in our arms that the nursing staff did not believe there was anything wrong with them. They felt we were wasting their time, and that of other people in the waiting area who apparently had more pressing medical issues. It was only at our insistence that we were finally provided a bed for all four children to share.

Fortunately, the doctor who saw to our babies was amazing and caring, he diagnosed the babies with failure to thrive due to severe malnutrition. One of the boys, Francis, was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that required extensive testing and surgery and once he was well enough he would travel to another city for extensive treatment.

All four babies spent a week at the hospital in Ho. We spent that week visiting them every day, bringing necessary supplies, food, diapers, wipes, clean clothing, medication, soap etc. All of our visits were spent holding the children, trying to give them what they had been starved most of - attention and care. Once released from hospital the oldest child Francis needed to be moved to the Princess Marie Louise Children's Hospital in Accra, 3 hours away. It was there that he would have his heart surgery. Because of our involvement, and the fact that we had a vehicle at our disposal, we were asked to transport him and make contact with the doctors and the foster mother.

We paid the required fees, provided the foster mother with the supplies we had purchased. We then made the long journey back to Ho. We visited Francis a few more times before we left Ghana, providing his foster mom with more supplies and financial support for his several tests and hospital care, as well as paying her the monthly fee to care for Francis.

When we speak of the time spent in hospital, and the children's requirement for medical care, you must remember that none of this is at a western standard. At the Ho Regional Hospital, the floors, washrooms and wards are entirely decrepit, with paint chipping, tiles missing, layers of filth, bugs literally crawling on the walls and the stench sickening. Our expectations of the medical system were lowered such that we were thrilled to see the doctor and nursing staff in the Accra children's hospital washing their hands from a pail of dirty water prior to examining their small patients.

By western standards there obviously is a lack of basic health practices, nutrition and in some cases solid medical knowledge. The patient, or in this case, caregiver, is responsible for every aspect of the patients healthcare. Often with the electricity and phones down in these hospitals it can magnify the difficulties that already exist for patients and their caregivers.

We were able to accompany DSW on their next visit to the Deladem Orphange to document and assist in removing 8 more of the children. We were impressed by the caring and professionalism demonstrated by the social workers on that visit and we are confident that they have taken as much care with the remaining children. It was estimated that there were as many as 36 children living at this home. Ultimately, the doors to the orphanage were to be locked, and the signs taken down. This end result is amazing news. In a matter of two weeks, from a beginning when a future just did not seem possible, all those neglected and malnourished children will now live in homes with families and more importantly, will be monitored and supported in their own culture. We were also able to provide several bags of donations for these children. Thankfully because of the support we have in Canada, we were in a position to help these children and the families who will care for them.

It is difficult to express the gratitude we feel for those individuals in Ghana who listened to us; who took our concerns seriously, and came to the aid of the children in Deladem. We later received confirmation that the remaining 20+ children from Deladem Orphanage were to be rescued and go to foster homes, possibly through OrphanAid.

In order for AFH to continue effectively working in Ghana we have had to examine and reconsider our philosophies. We have had to create partnerships with other trusted organizations such as OrphanAid, and the Volta Foundation, and most importantly, the Department of Social Welfare. To legitimize these relationships, and our own role, we spent several days of this trip taking the necessary steps to secure our status as a non-governmental organization in Ghana. Having NGO status allows us to now take on a more formal role, alongside other organizations.

We are currently in the process of evaluating the viability of a Library project in the Volta Region. We have been advised to discuss our library project with Kathy Knowles who has had almost 20 years experience in helping establish libraries in Ghana. We see the library as somewhat what of a multi purpose 'community center' giving access to books, internet and possibly even a playground for everyone in the community. This could also act as a centre for training and other community programs.

We see our connection with DSW as being extremely significant, for the present and the future. They play the key role in making deinstitutionalization possible. We were able to get a real sense of how important their work is and also understand just how under-resourced they are.

This department has only one vehicle for the entire country, and only recently has the Head Office in Accra started using computers. There are 10 regional offices and well over 300 district offices that have no computers or internet access. To assist DSW we see a potential role in data collection for vulnerable children. We have the resources to move around the country's remote areas to compile information and create files for children. DSW can use these as a starting point to investigate the family history of these children and help prioritize the areas of most need.

We will continue to support the children of Ghana through a long term commitment to education, and a commitment to supporting this country's efforts towards deinstitutionalization. Since returning our group has been hard at work debriefing and making plans for our next journey. We are as committed as ever to improving the lives of children in a place that requires so little to make such a huge impact - one child at a time.

Every so often, we forge an impact. We connect. We make a difference in the life of another person. Often genuine optimism, dedication and tenacity is required to truly effect such change. When we think of the world as such a vast place, it's overwhelming. It's like sprinkling drops of our efforts into the ocean - the overall effect is so little as to be unnoticeable. But to think of those same drops of effort dripping onto one tiny spot, perhaps not in the ocean but on a rock. The drops of water, concentrated on one spot, can eventually break through that rock. And if that rock is supporting a lot of other rocks, those drops of water can cause an avalanche. This same generosity of spirit applies and I hope you will never forget how your dedication and contribution to this project - truly made the difference in the lives of these children of Ghana. I hope you will never underestimate the importance of focusing on the smaller things, because small things can truly change the world.