Guest Speaker - August 5, 2014 Meeting

A good education comes at a price and it is often a price Ghanaians are unable to pay. In America, public education is free and accessible. There are organizations and resources to help those in need. However, in some parts of Ghana, only 30-40% of the school-age children are able to attend school.

 

While receiving an education is available to children in Ghana, it remains unreachable for a large number of kids. This is due to the inability of the children, their parents, or their life circumstances, to pay the mandatory school fees and the costs of school uniforms, shoes, and basic school supplies--as well as poverty and its related symptoms -- the need for all family members to work in order to survive. This lack of education continues to contribute to the poverty so common throughout Ghana, especially in the rural tribal villages and with children who are deaf.

 

In Ghana, any disability, including deafness, is highly stigmatized. There are many deaf children that have been rejected by their parents and their society so they live in orphanages. Once they turn fifteen years old and have to leave the orphanage, they will become the beggars on the street or prostitutes. So you can see why it is especially important for these children to receive an education in sign language that includes vocational skill training. A Better Life for Kids has found a boarding school for deaf children that have agreed to accept eight of our kids from the orphanage.

 

Child sponsorship will always be one of A Better Life for Kids' main goals. There are many children would love for you to choose them. The gift of sponsorship would change their life. These kids have never heard someone say I love you or I'm proud of you or you can do it. No one has ever believed in them. Maybe you will be that person.

 

Our youngest deaf girl, Ashanti, has had an extremely tough life. She became deaf a few years ago from meningitis and was then rejected by her mother. Ashatu was brought to the orphanage angry, unable to communicate, and confused about why her world had suddenly changed. She has been slow to learn and hesitant to open up. I'm proud to share that when I saw her this July she came running up to me smiling and is beginning to use sign language for the first time. It is very powerful to see that what A Better Life for Kids is doing is working.

 

Our Mission is: A Better Life for Kids' mission is to meet critical needs and provide lasting changes for Ghana’s orphaned and needy children. We work to meet children’s daily needs so they can be mentally and physically ready to learn and receive access to education, which will change their futures and improve their quality of life. We want these children to grow up healthy and loved-- Ghana’s orphans are great, and resources to support the limited. That is why we feel called to help be a change agent for these beautiful but destitute children.

 

How You Can Help: Our greatest need is for financial resources to help meet the needs of the children. We are completely Volunteer-run, so all of donations go directly the school. The cost to sponsor a child to receive a complete education, school supplies, a solar studying at night, and lunch every school day is $35/month or $420/year. We also need people to spread the word about our work through word of mouth and social media! Please like us on link back to our website, www.ABetterLifeForKids.org