Child development centre graduates 61 youngsters
The Good Samaritan Child Development Centre (GSCDC) at Kasoa in the Central Region has graduated 61 beneficiaries of its training programme for less-privileged children.
They were presented with certificates while others received start-up tools.
The GSCDC is a social intervention partnership project between Compassion International, Ghana and the Good Samaritan AME Zion Church, aimed at holistic development and advocacy for the less privileged children in Kasoa-Akweley and its satellite centre located within the premises of the Aggrey Memorial Society of the AME Zion Church at Mamprobi, Accra.
On Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. at both centres, beneficiaries are provided with nutritious meals and taught lessons from Compassion International’s curriculum in four areas of holistic development: spiritual, cognitive, physical and socio-emotional.
Consistency
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Chairman of the Church Partner Committee (CPC), Fafa Novienyo Hadjah, said that since 2008, the GSCDC had successfully enrolled and consistently supported over 500 children.
That, he said, was by providing them educational materials, school uniforms, tuition support and tutoring; thereby contributing significantly to improvement in school retention rates and academic performance in the Awutu Senya East Municipality.
“We have trained over 100 youth in various trades, including hairdressing, tailoring, catering and computing, and supplied them with start-up kits to establish their own ventures.
“Spiritually, the centre, through regular discipleship programmes, has led over 200 souls to Christ and nurtured over 400 children in the Christian faith, character development and purpose-driven living, coupled with equipping over 100 youth with skills to assume leadership roles in their respective churches through the conduct of leadership development sessions,” he said.
To enhance the physical well-being of participants and caregivers, Mr Hadjah said his outfit had conducted periodic health screenings, facilitated referrals for medical treatment of all registered participants, assisted over 100 caregivers with urgent medical needs through financial and logistical support and organised HIV screening exercises and education for over 400 caregivers and siblings of registered participants to create awareness.
With regard to caregiver empowerment, Mr Hadjah said the centre had provided start-up capital to over 100 caregivers to establish microenterprises, assisted over 50 caregivers facing housing challenges to secure decent accommodation through complementary support from major partners and distributed relief items to more than 80 households affected by the recent drought.
By way of community impact, he said the centre had conducted several clean-up exercises to improve local sanitation and hygiene, donated food items and toiletries to support over 100 children in orphanages, conducted advocacy programmes on child protection, reaching over 500 students and planted over 100 trees throughout the community in furtherance of the national Green Ghana Initiative, geared towards environmental sustainability and climate resilience.
“We currently have 227 registered beneficiaries under the programme, excluding the 61 beneficiaries who have successfully completed both academic and vocational skills training.
