Ghana

Letter from Ghana Country Director Padmore Baffour Agyapong

Dear Sponsor,

I am Padmore Baffour Agyapong. I have been the Country Director of Compassion Ghana for the past six years. My soft spot for the poor and marginalised in our society motivated me to author my maiden book, The Poor in our Midst.

Compassion Ghana is 12 years old and currently supporting more than 75,200 children within 280 child development centres.

I sincerely wish to express my utmost appreciation to you for sponsoring children in Ghana.

Your sponsorship is impacting positively the lives of children in their communities. They have been provided with age-graded Bibles and are learning the Word of God. As a result, many of the children are able to demonstrate the love of God to other people.

The children have unlimited access to medical care and receive annual comprehensive health screening, after which the centre staff follow up to ensure that all identified diagnoses are medically treated. This makes them healthier than other children who are not supported through Compassion. Last year, four children had heart surgery and two others had orthopaedic surgeries, which their caregivers couldn’t have afforded. Their academic prospects are enhanced through the provision of school supplies (school uniforms, books, tuition fees etc.), and they are also trained to acquire income-generating skills in sewing, bead-making, shoe-making, soap-making, baking etc.

The challenges the children and their families face are: a high unemployment rate, low income levels, lack of health facilities, inaccessibility to potable water and toilet facilities, unfriendly cultural practices, child abuse and inadequate infrastructure.

Educational infrastructure, mostly in the rural communities, is largely inadequate and dilapidated. Some children, on a daily basis, walk long distances to attend school. In some instances, the schools lack libraries, computer centres and trained teachers. In some communities, health facilities either do not exist or exist but are seriously under-resourced. Lack of access to health care is so serious in some communities in Ghana that some children and their families continue to lose their lives from preventable and curable diseases such as malaria, worm infestation and tuberculosis.

My vision for the country is to see them released from poverty one child at a time. These children will be physically healthy and economically self-sustaining when they graduate from the program with a strong development in their literacy and numeracy. In the year 2017, programming will focus on prioritising water, sanitation and hygiene needs, and we will also roll out a new youth development strategy.

One of the success stories I want to share is about a child whose registration changed the livelihood of his entire family. Prior to the registration of this child, his caregiver, who was a single mother, could no longer take care of her children and so she abandoned them and left the community in search of a job. She could not find a job and yet failed to return. Upon the registration of one of her children, the program staff followed up on the mother and brought her back to the community. Not long after, her child’s sponsor sent them a family gift, which she used to open a bookshop. Profit from the sales of books now serves as her regular source of income, from which she is able to support her family.

Beyond the implementation of Compassion programs, the churches minister to the community through activities such as community cleanups and other outreach programs, as well as organising free health screening for the aged and donating to patients at hospitals and prisons.

The exchange of letters between sponsors and their sponsored children creates a close bond between them. Encouraging words from sponsors in their letters to their children mean so much. The sponsored children really feel loved and treasured by the content of letters they receive from sponsors. The thought of having caring sponsors abroad who write to them simply makes them feel special. The sponsored children who do not receive letters always look forward to the day when their sponsors will also write to them. Some actually pray about it, and I wish to kindly request you to write to your sponsored child if you are not already doing so. I understand how busy you could be, but I encourage you to still make a little time and write to your sponsored child because they cherish the letters.

Your sponsorship has put smiles on the faces of children and opened the door of hope for their future. God richly bless you and your families!

Ghana went to the polls on 7 December 2016, and I would like to thank you for your prayers for a peaceful election.

I am grateful for your deep love and concern for your sponsored child. I will continue to lead the Ghana staff to pray for God’s blessings for you and your families.

Thank you.

Padmore Baffour Agyapong

Country Director Compassion Ghana