Afrikids School of Night Rabbits graduates 41 registered street children

Afrikids restore hope to the hopeless

Narration: As part of efforts aimed at giving vulnerable children on the streets the chance to access free and quality education, Afrikds Ghana, a child right NGO has for the third year running ensured the successful passing out of 41 registered street children enrolled at the school of Night Rabbits in Bolgatanga. The graduants who are between the ages of 8 and 15 were identified and picked from the streets of Bolgatanga and offered the opportunity to taste education as required of every school going child. At a brief graduation ceremony supported by Afrikids representatives from the UK, the graduants were assisted with learning materials to aid them in their further studies. Isaac Asare was at the ceremony and has more for Radio Ghana.

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The School of Night Rabbits is one of Afrikids core projects aimed at giving street children roaming on the streets of Bolgatanga the chance to access quality education for free. The project dates back to 2003 when some partners of Afrikids began what was then known as the ‘schools of Hard Knocks’. It was an informal regular gathering of street children where two ladies offered health support and some basic lessons to the street children. In 2005 when Afrikids became a fully registered NGO, they collaborated with a local orphanage, Mama Laadi Foster home, to take over the lessons, which later compelled them to put the children into a proper classroom where they were offered free tuition by community teaching volunteers.  The children were made to rely on syllabus produced by the GES and also supported with a wider set of social and health lessons, which include basic hygiene techniques and environmental cleanliness among other disciplines.  This was done with the view to increasing their sanitary and dietary needs. The school between 2009 and 2011 has passed out one hundred and one children, several of whom have been made to enroll into formal school. Out of the number, 48 are back in school while sixteen of them for the year 2011 have abandoned the street to resettle with their families. The success story he claimed follows Afrikds numerous interventions such as educational talks and counseling as well as purchasing and distribution of goats to each beneficiary child. This year’s graduation is the third in the series since the school was restructured in 2009. According to the Bolga Area Program Manager of Afrikids, Cletus Anaya, the school is meant to be a transitional one where street children are taken off the streets with the idea of whipping up interest in them to enroll in school while their health needs are provided in addition to the counseling lessons given them. In view of this, beneficiary children have been registered to benefit the NHIS. As a possible long term solution, beneficiaries are linked up with the Next Generation Home, where they are able to feel safe for further studies. Mr. Anaya commended Afrikids partners for their contribution towards the sustainability of the project and called on parents to make the wellbeing of their children their number one priority. A teacher at the School of Night Rabbits, Miss Salamatu Abubakari, said the establishment of the school has impacted positively of the lives of beneficiary children because all hope was lost until they were identified and made to enroll in the school. Kids, she explained takes to the streets to engage in non profit ventures hoping that life will be better than living in poverty in the homes, but often they find that things are much worse when they are on the street. On the streets, children are susceptible to a wide range of threats and pitfalls, which sometimes retards their general development. This, she further noted has informed Afrikids commitment to forestalling hope on the less privileged through school. Miss Abubakari disclosed that graduants did not only underwent nine month lessons but also embarked on field trips, which he observed have broadened their outlook and thanked the management of Afrikids for making those trips possible. She said Afrikds will not relent on its determination to help vulnerable children realize their potentials in life. One of the beneficiaries, Adompika Lucy on behalf of her colleagues thanked Afrikids for their assistance and used the opportunity to advice other children to stay off the streets. Books and pens were later presented to the beneficiaries. 

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