A Kasoa-based orphanage that cares for hundreds of homeless children with grave health conditions, Royal Seed Foundation was denied access to a bus sent to them by a Good Samaritan in the UK allegedly because the orphanage could not raise GHC26,000 to pay bribes at the port.
The bus has since been auctioned and the vulnerable kids in the home run by kind-hearted and selfless Naomi Aku Amoah still walk long distances to school daily.
Naomi is one of ten nominees on the current season of MTN Heroes of Change, which shows on several TV station, including Adom TV every Saturday at 7.30pm.
ALSO READ: Nurse arrested for raping patient on admission at Damongo
In her own words, “A good Samaritan bought a bus for us from UK and exported it to
us for orphanage use, which is to carry the kids to school and church, then back. Though I was not supposed to pay anything at the port for the bus, the officials at the port insisted I give them
something, which was GHC26,000 or else they were going to auction it. They auctioned it and insisted my donor gives them the documents to the bus which he refused till date.”
According to Naomi, as a result, the kids now have to walk two and half hours before they get to the town for school, unless she has funds to rent a trotro to convey them.
Naomi’s Royal Seed Foundation was born out of a passion to bring up needy and
homeless children to become a great persons in future, something that Naomi said she was denied of as a child.
ALSO READ: Under-performing staff to be ‘fired’ – Minister
“I take in homeless and needy children and give them a future. I have here children from 1 month old to 22years who don’t know their families and can’t even trace them,” she said.
According to her, she has over 100 children at the home, most of whom were young
kids and babies who were picked up from bushes and refuse dumps and brought to her, adding that some of those that bring the kids to her never show up again to check up on them.
With an initial support from her mum, her own funds from street evangelism, and gifts from friends, she has been able to put eight of the kids into university, 24 into senior high school and several others into the basic level.
She has also been able to get several of them through life saving surgeries, even though there are more waiting for surgery due to lack of funds.
WATCH VIDEO: I didn’t kill my mother – Maame Serwaa
Some of the grave health cases at the home include a 2- month old baby boy with a hole in his throat and needs GHC12,000 for five surgeries, and a hermaphrodite case.
Naomi said the home has recently moved to a bigger place but she has not finished paying for it, moreover the children sleep under tents in mosquito nets in the open because there is no roof and the she owes workers salaries.
On the MTN Heroes of Change, Naomi is competing with nine other equally selfless visionaries who are also making huge impact through various charity and empowerment projects across the country. Three of those persons are Emmanuel Annobil, Ayisha Fuseini and Linat Osman Kundabirou.
Linat is a teacher and radio talk show host on Wa FM and she runs the Teen Mum Project at Wa in the Upper West Region, with her own money and donations from well wishers.
Teen Mum goes from school to school educating girls on teenage sex and pregnancy, and also helps put girls who have given birth and feel life is over for them back in school.
ALSO READ: Health Minister to kick against TIN number for Health Insurance
According to Linat, some of the teen mothers have extreme cases of abuse at home and therefore run away to the streets so part of the work has been to restore them back to their families.
With the help of community leaders and the social welfare department, she has established a centre where teen mums and their children go and get food, clothes and training in beads making, soap making, sewing and other vocations.
So far, Linat’s Teen Mum Project has been able to send over 41 teen mothers back to school, 27 are acquiring skills in soap , beads and dress making, 13 have been re-integrate with their families and Linat has established at least 10 teen groups in 10 schools with membership of over 40 each, and she dealt directly with over 170 teen in the area.
The main challenges facing Teen Mum Project are the growing numbers and the financial demand it places on Linat; the stigmatization against teen mums up north, and inaccessible roads and transportation to the villages where teen mums are.
Emmanuel Annobil has a rather rare project that goes round with a team and bath for mentally retarded persons, feeds them and clothes them.
His Mental Health NGO goes the extra mile to help rehabilitate some people and restore them to normal life. At least he testifies of one such female patient who is now back to normal life and is selling sachet water for a living now.
ALSO READ: Stop behaving like a foot-soldier- Deputy Information Minister jabs Mahama
Currently, he has a van in which he moves his team round town to do this rather rare kind act. But he says the van is problematic and he would need a new one to continue the good work.
Ayisha Fuseini is the CEO of Asheba Enterprise, which empowers women up north economically by purchasing shear nuts and shear butter from them, processes it and exports.
Through this project, Asheba is helping to reduce idleness among women, killing rivalry among wives of and thus ensuring peace in homes and empowering women to support their husbands at home.
Ayisha finances the project with her own money, plus support from “Campaign For Female Education” under the “Enovation Bursary Project” (IBP)- (2012); Engine Ghana also supported the project in 2014, Youth Enterprise Support also supported in 2015.
Orphanage bus auctioned over non-payment of GHC26,000 bribe at ports
-