By Patricia Wilkins | Executive Director
We are nearly 30 days away from the end of the academic year. On September 24, children will vacate school in Ghana. and leave the one place that they feel safe and thye can count on for a few things besides learning.
Children are often ready to go to school because they can dress up in their uniform rather than walk about in torn clothing and they can also count on a meal in school. Students in government schools are beneficiaries of the Free Feeding Program, however those not in public school have to pay. BASICS ensures that children are provided a meal; either way. We have been advocates for public schools to ensure the feeding program is in place or we provide the financial means for a children to purchase lunch in school.
So what happens when schools are closed? Children are left hungry, unfed and vulnerable as they seek other means to get a meal. Too often, girls are inpregnated during this time and boys get into unlawful activities - or simply put- they just grow up because they have to find a way to survive.
At BASICS, we learned the hard way, that we cannot turn our backs on children during this time; and implemented a year round program in 2004 ( just 4 years after doing it the other way; closing down when schools were closed)
Our vacations programs are a SAFE place, where children are fed! FED with food, love, new skills, new friends, and most of all fed with SECURITY.
Our dream to expand our vacation program to its own site, Camp Aklowah is finally becoming a reallity, as we have been able to secure funding to start the work on our 8 acres of land.
A borehole will be drilled soon, which will provide water to the site, and allow constructions to start. We will also start farming and creating food security for locals and our program .
Although we have made this HUGE leap, we have so far to go, and look forward to seeing CAMP AKLOWAH fully built.
So whats happening in the meantime, Camp Aklowah is local - taken place as a day program at our current site; and children are SAFE.
but soon, they wll have the ability to run, leap and jump into fresh air -and be a child - they were meant to be
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