By Mavis Quansah, GNA
Tema, March 23, GNA – The SOS Children’s Villages has embarked on a float through the principal streets of Tema as part of its 50th anniversary celebration.
Participants in the float used the occasion to educate the public about the villages and the theme for the anniversary, which is “50 Years of Transforming Life in Ghana.”
The first SOS children’s village was established in Tema in 1974, and three additional ones were built over the years in Asiakwa, Kumasi, and Tamale.
Madam Elizabeth Godwyll Ocloo, the Programmes Director for SOS Children’s Villages Tema Location, stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that apart from the villages, the institution also had other programmes to support families in the communities to care for their children.
Madam Ocloo disclosed that SOS’ family strengthening programme aims at supporting local communities in need and also ensuring that less privileged children had access to education, nutrition, and health services.
She added that through the collaboration of stakeholders in the communities, SOS Children’s Villages could point out families that were vulnerable in the community and provide them with grants to expand their businesses to make them economically stable to care for their families.
She mentioned that SOS’ family-life care programme also provided home and parental care for children who were orphaned or did not have any parental care by taking full responsibility for their needs and well-being to ignite hope and joy in them for a brighter future.
“We groom the children through our services with interventions that will help shape their future as they grow and contribute to the development of their communities and the country as a whole,” she said.
Madam Ocloo also stated that SOS was committed to transforming lives in Ghana, explaining that under its Protecting the Future Project (PFP), the institution partners with other organisations to protect children against child labour.
She said that SOS at 50 was looking forward to helping solve the problem of unemployment among the youth by providing the youth with employable and entrepreneurial skills.
She added that the institution had, over the years, transformed over 130,000 lives through its family strengthening programme, built 240,000 families, supported 100,0000 young people, and still has 61,240 children in other projects, with the help of Ghanaians and many international sponsors.
She said, however, that there was a need for them to raise funds locally to support their activities and urged organisations, the Government, and individuals to support them in all forms for them to achieve their goal of “safeguarding and protecting all children.”
GNA