Tongo (UE), Aug. 9, GNA – Afrikids Ghana, an NGO working for the welfare of children, has taken custody of 155 children out of 658, who were engaged in mining in the Talensi-Nabdam District and sent them to school.
One hundred and twenty five of the children have enrolled in formal education, 30 in vocational institutions while the others are in Senior High and Junior High Schools, where they were before leaving to work in the mines.
Mr Richard Amoah, Programme Manager of Afrikids Ghana in charge of the Talensi-Nabdam District, made this known during a visit by the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Billy Williams to the area.
He said in 2007, Afrikids Ghana and the Talensi Nabdam District, with support from International Labour Organization, conducted a research in some communities in the District and discovered that 658 children were engaged in mining activities and decided to help them, but they could only support 155 of them.
He said the children were being supported with exercise books, school uniforms, school levies, National Health Insurance Scheme and feeding grants.
Mr Amoah said in addition to the assistance being given to the children, each of the their parents were given finance assistance to go into profitable ventures to support the children, while the children were given animals to rear to help support their education.
He said Afrikids Ghana had rented accommodation for those learning trades and vocations outside the area and also provided some of them with bicycles to facilitate their movements.
He noted that, although the ILO support ended in 2009, Afrikids Ghana was still supporting them and that those in vocational institutions would be provided with equipment and resettlement packages after completion.
Mr Amoah indicated that there were still more children working in the mines and that their lives were in danger and stressed the need for collaborative efforts from all stakeholders to help deal with the problem.
The Chief of Kpatia, Kpatiarana Tongboog Pachia, commended Afrikids Ghana for rescuing the children from mining activities and enrolling them in schools.
He said but for the NGO, the children’s future would have been in jeopardy and expressed the hope that it would contribute to the development of the entire district and the country as a whole.
The Australian High Commissioner visited Talensi Nabdam District to inspect some projects Afrikids Ghana and “SINGHANA” were implementing, in the area of education.
