The active and learning phase of children is a good time to let them on information that is crucial to their development. Talk of decision-making, career choices, reproductive health and fire safety knowledge and the effect of Streetism and dropping out of schools are the lessons that are not normally found in the schools’ syllabus. Starlight Foundation’s educational initiative “TEACH THEM YOUNG” core focus is to empower the young ones to stay in school and off the street. Targeting these young ones in schools is a step to ensuring that more children do not join the existing street children and are inclined with some basic safety precautions.
The project is open to institutions and organisations such as schools, churches, fun clubs and individual groups among others. The sessions held are very interactive and help children groom themselves in ways beyond the normal curricular lessons they undertake. A special package attached to this course is the numerous stationaries and personal protective equipment that are given to the students and schools.
Problem Statement
The issue of Streetism is very pathetic, to say the least. The ugly truth of our fellow Ghanaian natives and other nationalities who sleeps on our streets, in front of shops, in front of our homes and some even in disgusting places in our environment cannot go unnoticed.
There are 30 million children living in street situations in Africa, according to a 2011 ILO-UNICEF joint estimate. In Ghana, conservative estimates suggest that there are about 204,000 children living in street situations in Accra, up from an estimated 33,000 in 2011.
Currently, about 61,492 children are on the streets of Accra struggling to survive. In May 2009, a headcount of street children was done in Accra. The result obtained showed that 43% of the total population were males and 57% were females. In Ghana, a large number of street children can be found in central Accra, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area, Kumasi, Tamale and other major centres. The largest number of street children come from the Northern Region of Ghana, forming 28.53% of children found on the streets of Accra which has also increased the number of school dropouts in the region with peer influence being a major factor.
The children of today are very ambitious and adventurous. They see opportunities that the aged do not see. However, they do not receive the tutelage required to guide them to explore the abundant opportunities install for them. They make wrong decisions mostly influenced by their peers and regret them later in their life journey. Making little wrong decisions as children culminates into the waywardness we see on the streets today. In the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of children dropping out of school, those affected by injury, abduction, molestation, and other accidents.
Why teach them young? many adults have found themselves in situations they could have prevented if they had access to information on them. Many are unhappy on their jobs becomes it’s a family legacy they have to follow, some because they thought they had physical stature for it and others because of the money they will gain; no sense of themselves in their jobs and how to make themselves happy on the job as it’s an essential tool of one being productive. We do not want our young ones to take the same path as ours and end up being miserable in life. We want to teach them at this stage how to choose a career that makes them happy and not what makes others happy; how to manage their time as young as they are so they don’t get stranded as they move ahead; how to stay healthy and prevent accidents that would hinder the realization of their dreams.
Why This Initiative?
Why teach them young? Many adults have found themselves in situations they could have prevented if they had access to information on them. Many are unhappy with their jobs because it’s a family legacy they have to follow, some because they thought they had physical stature for it and others because of the money they will gain; no sense of themselves in their jobs and how to make themselves happy on the job as it’s an essential tool of one being productive. We do not want our young ones to take the same path as ours and end up being miserable in life or on the streets. We want to teach them at this stage how to stay in school and not street and choose a career that makes them happy and not what makes others happy; how to manage their time as young as they are so they don’t get stranded as they move ahead; how to stay healthy and prevent accidents that would hinder the realization of their dreams.
Aside from the number of children on the street, there has also been an increase in children who move out of home onto the street. The cause of this move is numerous but primarily, we can say that the fault lies on all of us. The signs that our children give us in respect to their daily interactions are often overlooked. How many parents can boost one-on-one conversations with their children? It’s either the child talks too much or is not worthy of their parent’s time.
Starlight Foundation has made time to visit children in schools and communities with only one motive; to get our children into the right mindset so they can be bold in their decisions and choices. Amazingly these children have a lot to ask about things they encounter every day but most of us are busy with things we deem important. If a child should end up on the street, or in a fire or road accident, the first to be blamed is the parent. Whiles, it might be so, these occurrences affect everyone and we might not find a replacement in our national leaders if we leave these mistakes unattended.
Project Objective
The main objective is to educate children thoroughly on matters which usually confront them and are essential for their smooth development. Children are exposed to many experiences and lifestyles and it’s appropriate that they make the right decisions whiles avoiding possible environmental hazards. The techniques used are to groom their minds of happenings around them so they can make the right decisions for themselves on how to stay safe as they love to explore at this stage and how to take decisions in academics and in real life.
Also, we seek to galvanise young people to effect positive change in the policy process within their local communities to help prevent rural-urban migration as moving to urban areas wouldn’t solve their issues but rather render them on the streets.
Project Activities
Our sessions combine education with interactive engagement to ensure lasting impact.
- Reproductive Health Education:
In an open and respectful environment, we discuss personal hygiene, menstruation and reproductive health topics to demystify the stigma and misinformed perceptions. We provide clear, factual education on hygiene, menstruation and healthy habits to improve quality of life and self-esteem.
- Health and Safety Workshops:
We teach basic health practices, fire safety, and accident prevention, addressing the innate curiosity of children while helping them understand boundaries for their safety.
- Career Discovery and Decision-Making:
Through role-playing, discussions and guidance, we inspire children to explore careers that align with their interests and abilities, avoiding the pitfalls of societal or familial pressure. We also explore the consequences of streetism, such as loss of educational and social development, and the challenges faced by children who drop out of school. We aim to guide vulnerable children in making informed decisions about their education and well-being.
- Time Management Skills:
Many vulnerable children juggle their domestic responsibilities alongside their education. We offer practical insight to help them manage their time effectively.
Starlight Foundation is appealing to individuals, corporate institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations, and all Ghanaians to sponsor or partner with us to make a difference in the lives of these underprivileged ones who find themselves in such unfortunate circumstances.
Novelty
Starlight has introduced the “YOUNG MINDS EMPOWERMENT” Booklet and Brochures. These learning resources are packed with invaluable insights on critical topics like the effects of streetism, personal safety, decision-making, online safety, responsible social media usage, and cyberbullying prevention.
Also, Starlight engaged professionals to quip our young ones with their expert knowledge as we journey to build a generation of safe, conscious, and empowered individuals who will positively shape our communities.
Impact Achieved
The Teach Them Young initiative has benefitted over 9000 students and street-connected families from different schools and communities in 16 different regions in Ghana. We’ve had much positive feedback from parents, school authorities and community leaders about the impacts we are making.
Going forward, we intend to reach out to more schools in all the 16 regions in Ghana by involving most of the authorities in the need for such a programme in their schools.
Also, the project has seen Starlight Foundation engaging with opinion leaders and other young people on how they can also add their voices in advocating for the rights of street-connected children.
Starlight Foundation is appealing to individuals, corporate institutions, Non-Governmental Organizations, and all Ghanaians to sponsor or partner with us to make a difference in the lives of these underprivileged ones who find themselves in such unfortunate circumstances.