Nneka Youth Foundation fetes children
The Nneka Youth Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has organised the fourth in the series of Christmas get-togethers for 2014 camp participants at Afienya in the Greater Accra Region.
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The foundation organises youth camps, seminars and development programmes for the youth between 12 and 16 years in rural and deprived communities in Ghana to bring them to believe that they too can be as special as anybody in the world.
Explaining the rationale behind the formation of the foundation, Mrs Cecilia Fiaka, its Executive Director, said the NGO gave the necessary guidance and support to children in rural communities in an attempt to curb social vices and bring them to the point of believing that they too could be world changers.
She said the NGO was determined to ensure that all children in rural, less-privileged communities were empowered and inspired to remain in school, so that they could realise their full potential, even if faced with obstacles such as drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.
Mrs Fiaka also spoke about the camps, saying they were aimed at curbing social vices in the rural communities, especially teenage pregnancy and drug abuse, as well as keeping the youth in school.
“This, we believe, will lead to the betterment of the rural communities which have been characterised by poverty and almost no worthwhile achievements,” she added.
Recalling the camps organised in the past, she said the Nneka Summer Camp 2014 was the eighth youth camp. The maiden camp took place at Ve Gbodome in 2012 for 500 youth drawn from 10 communities in the Afadjato South District. It was a two-week camp.
Mrs Fiaka said in 2013, 1,000 youth from 44 communities were camped in two six-day streams at Ve Gbodome and Have, both in the Afadjato South District.
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She said by 2014, the foundation had grown tremendously and it ventured into four different districts in two regions in Ghana — one in the Greater Accra Region and three in the Volta Region.
She said 2,950 youth were reached in 2014, representing over 295 per cent growth over the previous year’s figure.
She said 650 youth from 16 communities in the Ningo Prampram District in the Greater Accra Region were camped in May 2014.
“In August 2014, a total of 2,300 youth from the Hohoe Municipal, North Dayi and Afadjato South districts, all in the Volta Region, benefited from the camps,” she said.
Mrs Fiaka said a reading club was formed in 2013 and over 5,600 reading books were donated to 10 schools.
She said based on Hohoe Municipal Assembly educational statistics from the 2010 to the 2012 academic period, total enrolment in junior high schools (JHSs) was 3,292, made up of 1,720 males and 1,572 females.
“The number who completed was 2,146, consisting of 971 females and 1,175 males, which shows that 1,146 dropped out of school over the period,” she said.
She added that a survey of 300 children in 10 JHSs in the Afadjato District showed that 84 of the students interviewed, representing 28 per cent, were predisposed to halting their education at the JHS level.
“Thirty-eight of them, representing 12.6 per cent, were victims of teenage pregnancy who could not continue their education, while 21, representing seven per cent, were either embroiled in or had a stint with an illegal narcotic substance,” she said.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey-Agbo, who graced the occasion, was on the dancing floor with the youth.
The unbeatable Justice James Benson really could not stand the Azonto competition on that day.
The Chief of Afienya, Nene Afutu, also attended with his elders.
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