Children’s Fund of Canada donates to AGREDS

The Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), has presented items worth GH¢ 47,000 to the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS), an NGO promoting the socio-economic and spiritual needs of communities and individuals.

The items which included sewing machines, hair dryers, teaching and learning materials, beauty care accessories, assorted beauty care products and beads accessories, were presented by Mrs. Gifty Akosua Baka, Country Director of CCFC.

Present at the ceremony were Mr Mark Lukowski, CCFC Chief Executive Officer and his wife Angela who are on a three-day official visit to Ghana.

Mrs. Baka explained that CCFC was a child protection organization which operates to alleviate extreme poverty in the country, precisely in the northern part of Ghana.

She said the NGO had realized, poverty was among the factors that drive girls to the city centres, further engage themselves with jobs, and at the end become vulnerable to abuses.

The Country Director said CCFC seeks to tackle the root cause, by providing education for children from the Northern Region, which includes the provision of infrastructure and sponsorship, among others, adding that all are geared towards concentrating on early childhood development, to help these girls develop interest in education.

Mrs. Baka said that with the Lifeline Centre, these are children mainly from the Northern Region who have come to Accra to engage in jobs and as a result have been exposed to a lot of vulnerability including abuse of their human right, as such the lifeline was established to train these victims in various vocations and then bring them back to the north to work.

She said CCFC had been part of the laudable initiative, so there was a need to support the course due to the excellent results it had achieved over the years.

Mrs. Baka expressed the hope that the donation will help the girls to train and develop their economic skills so that they would come back to the north and engage themselves to the development of the country.

Mr. Joseph Kwame Wumbee, AGREDS - Ghana Executive Director, who received the donation, expressed his gratitude to CCFC, adding that “your donation will go a long way to put smiles on the faces of these unfortunate girls whose lives are at risk”.

In an appeal, the Executive Director said the Centre needed two deep freezers, three industrial stoves and cylinders, aluminum pots, and a 40-seater bus to facilitate the reintegration processes of the girls after graduation, however the pre-school needs foodstuffs to feed the little ones to develop physically and intellectually.

The AGREDS - Lifeline Worst Forms of Child Labour Project was established in 1998 to address the socio-economic and protection needs of vulnerable children in Accra.

It was relocated from Maamobi to the heart of Agbogbloshie which serves as transit and distribution point for trafficked and exploited children

The centre operates a residential rehabilitation program for children in Worst Forms of Child Labour in Agbogbloshie and its environs in the age bracket of 15-18 years; the rescued girls are empowered through skills training in beauty care, dressmaking, catering, and beads arrangement.

CCFC is a child centred non-govermental organization which has been working to create a future of hope for children, families, and communities by helping them develop the skills and resources to overcome poverty and pursue justice.

The vision of CCFC is to create a world where every child has a voice and the ability to achieve their full potential.