ORPHANAGE AFRICA PROJECT FOR RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE-GHANA
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA
(NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION)
P. O. BOX 1238 KANESHIE ACCRA GHANA
TEL: +233-28-7347621/+233-20-8912863/+233-27-6277351
+233-21223661
EMAIL: reliefservice_africa@yahoo.com
Mother and Child Health care Education on Antenatal and Postnatal Care.
Project Activities:
Providing antenatal and postnatal care
Organising pregnancy tests
Diagnosing high risk pregnancies and referring them to hospital
Monitoring child growth
Providing safe delivery kits
Providing awareness through health session
Project Objectives:
To provide a referral service & create health service
Reducing maternal and infant mortality rate
supplying essential medicines & maintain cost recovery systems
Promoting health awareness
Ensuring preventive health care measures such as immunisations and vaccinations
Encouraging physical and psychological development of the poor
Founded in 2004, RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA is a non- profit, non-sectarian, non-governmental organization that seeks to ensure equitable development opportunities for the rural and urban poor, especially women and girls.
Our Mission
Our mission is to advocate and empower disadvantaged people to improve their health, educational and socio-economic status.
Our Vision
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA envisions a world where women/men are given equal opportunities to the basic necessities of life irrespective of where they come from nor their educational levels. As professionals, we derived our name RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA from the ideology that rural populations are also professionals in their own right. As such, we do not impose our ideas on them but instead collaborate with them to undertake projects. Together we develop communities and improve lives. To achieve its objectives, RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA efforts embrace a broad cross-section of rural development and advocacy issues, including reproductive health and education, HIV/AIDS, child survival, income generation, vocational training, and food security.
Our values
Based on the desire to improve people’s lives, combat poverty and inequality, we are committed to the following fundamental values that underpin the mission and objectives of RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA . We therefore commit ourselves to:
• Responsiveness to the needs and welfare of the people of Ghana;
• Respect for the rights and dignity of all, particularly the disadvantaged;
• Intergrity in all that we do;
• Accountability for all our actions;
• Good governance;
• Transparency in our dealing with donors;
• Efficient and effective use of donor funds;
• Co-operation with other NGOs, for greater effectiveness.
EMPOWER ∞ ADVOCATE ∞ IMPROVE
“RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA ! Working to improve lives of the disadvantaged”
Budget. 1 Billion Cedis for 2004.
INITIATIVE
AIDS Counseling, care & social support
Legal aid service to people living with HIV/AIDS
Community sensitization
Counseling & testing
Project Goal
The overall goal of the project is to support the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in West Africa by strengthening the already formed awareness amongst young people.
For young people in their early twenties, the threat of AIDS has always been there and prevention workers see a complacency that does not exist in older target groups. There is a feeling that the epidemic is over. This is, no doubt, understandable. The identity of HIV and AIDS is changing continually. Over the last two years, there has been unprecedented progress made in terms of controlling the HIV virus. We are still no nearer to a cure or to immunization against HIV. There still has to be a very strong emphasis on prevention.
The organization is committed, among others, to reducing the spread of the HIV/AIDS among the youth especially young secretaries, provide treatment and education.
It is our belief that targeting the youth especially the trainee secretaries, working secretaries and the youth at large, will have a snow ball effect in creating a positive behavioral change at the work places, fishing communities secretarial training institutions and elsewhere in the selected communities in Accra.. Since the epidemic began, AIDS has created some 12.1 million orphans in Africa
It is important to remember that the media is not the magic cure to HIV and AIDS as was assumed in the 1980s. Social and behavioral change cannot be separated from such issues as policy, economic and social circumstances, personal attitudes, social norms etc.
Any media campaign, even radio, cannot solve the problems of AIDS transmission on its own. 2. To prevent the spread of HIV/ AIDS by providing access of appropriate and meaningful information, raising awareness and encouraging discussion across Ghana through a series of three radio campaigns prioritizing young people, refugee groups and local communities. To have a well informed young society in the rural and urban schools and out of school on HIV/AIDS
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA mission is to provide employable skills to the women and the young ladies in Africa by way of training in various income generating trade such as sewing, weaving hairdressing , batik and tie-dye soap and pomade making , flower making gari processing , catering services and simple business mathematic and English language. To provide financial support to mothers craft education for teenage girls who find themselves in a position of pregnancy no matter the cuase.
PAST AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA has been in the system since 2004 on a pilot base and now being incorporated in 2004. The programmed started with 20 trainees
And has since trained over 70 young girls and women who are doing very well with their newly acquired skill. The Institute runs the program in two fields. Short term training for adult and illiterate young girls and long term training for those who want to pursue higher education in their choosing career.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENTS
In Ghana HIV/AIDS initiatives began on a relatively ad hoc basis. With improved planning and more strategic investment of resources in HIV/AIDS activities, the question is now to determine the extent to which these activities are truly contributing to the stop of the spread of HIV/AIDS
A Ghanaian philosopher an academic and a brilliant orator once said “if you educate a man you educate an individual but if you educate a woman you educate a nation”. This anthropological statement gives credence to our vision.
The education of a woman is one of the most powerful forces of development particularly in Africa where social welfare and economic an advancement are constrained by valid population growth and weakly developed human resources base.
Although there is increasing political recognition of the importance of women and children education care, it is realized that more action and experimental intervention should be appropriated to demonstrate simple but cost effective strategies.
In order to design high–impact and sustainable strategies in-depth analytical research is essential to understand obstacle to women and children education care, in communities where RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA is located and operates
Our research has shown that the number of child non-maintained cases reported to the women and juvenile units of the Ghana police service was on the increase the unit recorded 2,065 cases as against 1,260 the previous year. While records at the department of social welfare reveals an increase of child non-maintenance cases from 1,213 in 2003 t0 3,889 in 2004 in a single region of the country and the percentage increase is almost the same in several other regions in the country. Causes of similar issues reported to Human Rights and Administrative Justice are more distasting and sympathic.
We have identified poverty on the parts of parents as the main causes of the problems. The organization has agreed with the opinion of the other research institution among other things that women should be empowered economically to support in the upkeep of family since women play a fundamental role in the upbringing of children.
It has also been found out that a strong correlation exist between nutrition and gender. The type of employment and income of women was shown to have impact on malnutrition’s. Regular in come for women reduced malnutrition in house holds as it improved women’s ability to take care for their families better. The most nutritionally vulnerable groups are infants, young children and women, particularly those who are pregnant or lactating.
The multifaceted nature of the cause of malnutrion has long been identified. This is characterized by immediate and underlying causes such as household food insecurity, inadequate care for women and children inadequate health services all due to poverty. The development of our human resource as a nation is hampered to a significant extent by problems associated with mal nutrition. Nutrition has taken center stage in world politics and it has been identified as key in realizing the United Nations millennium development goals which focuses among other on the improvement of nutritional status thorough poverty alleviation and general sustainable socio-economic improvement (esp. women economic empowerment) in politically congenial environments such as Ghana.
It was identified that the incidence of economic constrain made many young women involve themselves in premature sexual habits just to earn a little money for a living. In the process some of these young women become pregnant with no man accepting responsibility because they often engage in multiple sexual partners. Some end up in total prostitution hence risking their lives with deadly sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. St James institute is the obvious choice for the solution of this canker.
Ghana labour force has grown tremendously over the past three decades without a corresponding improvement in the level of quality of employment .unemployment also grew from 2.5% for the labour force in 1984 8.6%in 2002. there also high level of underemployment among the labour force meaning a major human resource lost to the countries development such level of unemployment have an impact on poverty in Ghana. Sources, Ghana statistical services.
Another critical emerging problem is child labour. This is defined as any activity that is either economic or non-economic, that is too dangerous or hazardous and /or for activity the child is considered under-age, since it is likely to have deleterious effect on the Childs health, education, moral and also normal development.
The Ghana child labour survey conducted by the statistical service in 2001 found that 40% of the 6.4 million people aged 5-17 years in Ghana were engage in regular economic activity .child labour occurs in all regions of Ghana. Over 93%of children cited poverty as the reason for working. The income from theses children was not only to help their parent but also to pay their school fees. The incidences of child labour were greater in rural than in urban and involved male and females in almost equal proportion.
The rate of maternal death of 64/1000 is a major contributing factor to new babies being orphaned and preceding children being send away to work.
Theses figures gives and idea of the struggle to meet the basic needs of an entire household die to poverty.
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA is at the forefront of supporting orphans and vulnerable children with scholarship package and also offers its kills training for women and guardian to help alleviate the plight of families.
The organization orphanage center called Ugemote Orphanage located in the Volta Region.
Demographic statistics show that women and children formed three quarter of the country population and so the protection of their rights was critical to national development.
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA center operates. Records available e showed that the weekly collection and special contributions which is usually conducted male’s vs. Females in most churches, the males regularly contribute much more higher than the female.
The problem is that most of them have no profession, no quality jobs hence low income, and simply cannot give what they do not have.
Therefore the need for the institute to empower them with income generating
International donor agencies and developed nations design economic policies with conditionality that directly affects the vulnerable of African. This was further emphasized during the recent conference held in Nairobi, Kenya by the African women millennium initiative on poverty and human rights. The women have accused leaders of the continent of being responsible for the poverty and numerous problems facing it. They said borrowing of money from donor communities had led the continent to “an immoral and odious debt and derailing the development agenda. This according to them had denied hardworking Africans of honest wages for their labour.
Economic growth in sub Saharan Africa reached an eight –year high of five percent recently, according to a report by the international monetary fund (IMF).however the growth improvement recorded in economic performance are not enough to meet the United Nations millennium development goals for reducing poverty.
Expenditure cuts in relation to the African economic crisis and structural adjustment programmed imply that already impoverished households will continue to suffer if measure taken is not fully implemented.
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA programmed had been designed to complement our government efforts of tackling the issues thought its poverty alleviation strategies.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVE
To empower women and young girls, widows and teenage mothers with employable skills in vocational and catering services.
4.1) by empowering this largest group with income generating skill, they can contribute their quoter to the development of the people and improve their economic values and welfare.
to address the economic factor which is the major motive that drives females into prostitution, they engage in it to make ends meet due to the economic hardship in the society. With regular income generating skills the major channel of spreading sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS, which is prostitution, could have been subsided.
to stop poor families from spending their little income in hospital with children due to mal –nutrition by way of equipping and teaching of how to prepare nutritious meals for the children for healthy life.
To support orphans and vulnerable children, in our areas of operations, with scholarship package such as provision of school uniforms ,bags footwear, reading material pens and pencils and payment of schools fees , so that the issues of child labour would be addressed.
to train senior and junior secondary school leavers and other school drop- out in catering and tailoring /dress making.
Leading to National Vocational Training Institute Certificate to enable them to pursue higher education at the polytechniques and colleges.
to teach honor, respect for oneself, other people and God.
our primary objective is to help improve the lost of woman, the youth and children to attain economic self-sufficiency and self reliance to alleviate poverty among them.
ACTIVITES
To periodically organize work shops and seminars for catholic and non-Catholics women and the youth in our operational areas on topics such as wealth creation effective team work, leadership skills and responsible parenting.
to organize activities that will help women and children kknow their civil rights and responsibilities with resources persons from National Organizations such as the Human Rights and Administrative Justices , Federation of women lawyers ,Ghana AIDS commission, child rights international ,etc.
To organize activities in loans procedures and banking and its advantages to organized groups from rural banks in the communities.
EXPECTED OUTCOME
It is expected that after a period of one years of the completion of the project more young women and other beneficiaries would have acquired vocational skills to enable them to be employable .some of them would have aqured equipment and materials to set up their own business in their respective trades to earn their living therefore unemployment and poverty in communities of operation would have been curtailed and families will live a better life than before.
Trainees would have build better relations with God improve their spiritual values and enjoy the free loving favour of Christ.
Teenage pregnancy and its results of child non- permanence cases might have been reduced multiple sexual pastimes by to women earn money will stop and the chances of this habit resulting into professional prostitution might be halted.
Families would have acquired knowledge of modem method of cooking and other catering practices that would help eliminate malnutrition of children and child none manitaince cases will reduce.
Orphans and vulnerable children would have a better formal education and child labour would have been subsided.
By this same period, the impact of the whole programmed would have been felt hence the goal of the center.
SUSTANIANABILLTY
To be able to sustain the programmed to benefit other beneficiaries, a revolving loan scheme also will be introduce to the program.
The organization would advised its trainees to form association after graduation to enable them source loan from the rural bank and other micro-financing schemes to enable them stay in business.
PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUTION
A brief baseline study will precede activities and would provide the bases for determine information required and expected outcome.
Day to day monitoring will be carried out by the project manager of the institute collaborating with the diocesan development project coordination donor agency will also carry out site visit to the project areas to ascertain progress problems and challenges and make recommendations.
Quarterly reports will determine the progress and performance of the organization.
OBJECTIVE INDICATORS
To establish and operationalize a YouthFM Radio Station • YouthFM Radio Station establish and
• Youth and relevant staff trained;
• Youth produce HIV/AIDS radio programs;
• HIV/AIDS radio programs aired in project areas;
To develop a network of RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE-GHANA • Network of RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE-GHANA established and active
To develop and disseminate HIV/AIDS awareness products and publications • Desktop publishing unit established and functional;
• HIV/AIDS awareness materials produced;
• HIV/AIDS materials disseminated.
To produce video educational programs on HIV/AIDS • Drama Studio established and functional;
• Youth and relevant project staff trained
• HIV/AIDS video/film educational clips produced
To train Youth and Project staff in HIV/AIDS awareness raising strategies • Assessment undertaken of training needs of youth and Staff;
• Staff training on HIV/AIDS awareness raising strategies conducted
Establish database and carryout regular monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for HIV/AIDS. • Existence of baseline data on the level of awareness of HIV/AIDS in project areas;
• Inventory of initiatives involved in the HIV/AIDS in Ghana.
Establiesd Orphanage home which care for orphans affected with HIV/AIDS. Project pictures can be view at the organisation website at : www.orpahanageafrica.pledgepage.org
Care and support for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)
Forty-eight PLWHA and fifty-two AIDS orphans are receiving support in form of food supplies, drugs, cash and skills in dye and tie production.
2 : The Organisation complected HIV/AIDS project in partnership with Youth Advocacy & Training Foundation (Yatraf) operates a Youth Resource and Counseling Centre that provide counseling and education on HIV/AIDS to the Labadi Community. Currently, the prpjrct which cost ¢185 million (about $22,000). And prevention project which is funded by Ghana Aids Commission (GAC). The project which is specifically targeted at young secretaries and trainee secretaries in the Accra/Tema Metropolis is completed.
3 : The organisation also complected HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in nineteen communities with the target group been young adults of all categories and patients attending antenatal clinics and out patient departments of the Hohoe Hospital. Churches, mosques and women groups. have also benefited from our programmes. Currently over forty (40) trained peer educators are working in the various communities. Seventeen (17) Anti-AIDS Clubs have been formed; Fifteen (15) in Junior Secondary Schools and 2 in Senior Secondary Schools in the Hohoe District
A:The project is expected to print and distribut1450,000 AIDS awareness plastic bags, and plans to continue printing and packing AIDS messages mostly on youths’ favorite industrial products such as ball pens, exercise books, school bags and T-shirts. This product will be distribute at no cost to schools, colleges, and out of school youths and communities
B:To successfully produce a product with the impact needed the project will be required to
Create a successful blend of local knowledge and advanced technical skills in such a way that local talent receive the opportunity to advance professionally, that the project ‘focus’ is well adapted to the local society, and that the social needs are properly met. The project will provide the needed quality skills and on the job training. The project will bring together, through exchangeprograms
C:It is easy to develop skills and knowledge, but is hard to develop attitudes, behaviors and motives trains amongst youths. Rural Integrated Relief Service-Ghana plans to make videotape on the values, behavior changes and motive trains covering activities of youths, which actual make a difference. The important part of the process is to find out what factors in all the skills, knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and motive trains of Ghananian youths which make the difference in the information, education and communication (IEC) about the epidemic, covering HIV and AIDS, transmission, prevention and condoms with information for specific target groups. And then produce video educational programs in a way, which is measurable, and in language, which actually means something to the young people
D:In Ghana HIV/AIDS initiatives began on a relatively ad hoc basis. With improved planning and more strategic investment of resources in HIV/AIDS activities, the question is now to determine the extent to which these activities are truly contributing to the stop of the spread of HIV/AIDS
PLEASE SEND YOUR DONATION BY CLICKING ON DONATION ON OUR WEBSITE PAGE.
(NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION)
P. O. BOX 1238 KANESHIE ACCRA GHANA
TEL: +233-28-7347621/+233-20-8912863/+233-27-6277351
+233-21223661
EMAIL: reliefservice_africa@yahoo.com
Mother and Child Health care Education on Antenatal and Postnatal Care.
Project Activities:
Providing antenatal and postnatal care
Organising pregnancy tests
Diagnosing high risk pregnancies and referring them to hospital
Monitoring child growth
Providing safe delivery kits
Providing awareness through health session
Project Objectives:
To provide a referral service & create health service
Reducing maternal and infant mortality rate
supplying essential medicines & maintain cost recovery systems
Promoting health awareness
Ensuring preventive health care measures such as immunisations and vaccinations
Encouraging physical and psychological development of the poor
Founded in 2004, RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA is a non- profit, non-sectarian, non-governmental organization that seeks to ensure equitable development opportunities for the rural and urban poor, especially women and girls.
Our Mission
Our mission is to advocate and empower disadvantaged people to improve their health, educational and socio-economic status.
Our Vision
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA envisions a world where women/men are given equal opportunities to the basic necessities of life irrespective of where they come from nor their educational levels. As professionals, we derived our name RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA from the ideology that rural populations are also professionals in their own right. As such, we do not impose our ideas on them but instead collaborate with them to undertake projects. Together we develop communities and improve lives. To achieve its objectives, RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA efforts embrace a broad cross-section of rural development and advocacy issues, including reproductive health and education, HIV/AIDS, child survival, income generation, vocational training, and food security.
Our values
Based on the desire to improve people’s lives, combat poverty and inequality, we are committed to the following fundamental values that underpin the mission and objectives of RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA . We therefore commit ourselves to:
• Responsiveness to the needs and welfare of the people of Ghana;
• Respect for the rights and dignity of all, particularly the disadvantaged;
• Intergrity in all that we do;
• Accountability for all our actions;
• Good governance;
• Transparency in our dealing with donors;
• Efficient and effective use of donor funds;
• Co-operation with other NGOs, for greater effectiveness.
EMPOWER ∞ ADVOCATE ∞ IMPROVE
“RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA ! Working to improve lives of the disadvantaged”
Budget. 1 Billion Cedis for 2004.
INITIATIVE
AIDS Counseling, care & social support
Legal aid service to people living with HIV/AIDS
Community sensitization
Counseling & testing
Project Goal
The overall goal of the project is to support the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in West Africa by strengthening the already formed awareness amongst young people.
For young people in their early twenties, the threat of AIDS has always been there and prevention workers see a complacency that does not exist in older target groups. There is a feeling that the epidemic is over. This is, no doubt, understandable. The identity of HIV and AIDS is changing continually. Over the last two years, there has been unprecedented progress made in terms of controlling the HIV virus. We are still no nearer to a cure or to immunization against HIV. There still has to be a very strong emphasis on prevention.
The organization is committed, among others, to reducing the spread of the HIV/AIDS among the youth especially young secretaries, provide treatment and education.
It is our belief that targeting the youth especially the trainee secretaries, working secretaries and the youth at large, will have a snow ball effect in creating a positive behavioral change at the work places, fishing communities secretarial training institutions and elsewhere in the selected communities in Accra.. Since the epidemic began, AIDS has created some 12.1 million orphans in Africa
It is important to remember that the media is not the magic cure to HIV and AIDS as was assumed in the 1980s. Social and behavioral change cannot be separated from such issues as policy, economic and social circumstances, personal attitudes, social norms etc.
Any media campaign, even radio, cannot solve the problems of AIDS transmission on its own. 2. To prevent the spread of HIV/ AIDS by providing access of appropriate and meaningful information, raising awareness and encouraging discussion across Ghana through a series of three radio campaigns prioritizing young people, refugee groups and local communities. To have a well informed young society in the rural and urban schools and out of school on HIV/AIDS
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA mission is to provide employable skills to the women and the young ladies in Africa by way of training in various income generating trade such as sewing, weaving hairdressing , batik and tie-dye soap and pomade making , flower making gari processing , catering services and simple business mathematic and English language. To provide financial support to mothers craft education for teenage girls who find themselves in a position of pregnancy no matter the cuase.
PAST AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA has been in the system since 2004 on a pilot base and now being incorporated in 2004. The programmed started with 20 trainees
And has since trained over 70 young girls and women who are doing very well with their newly acquired skill. The Institute runs the program in two fields. Short term training for adult and illiterate young girls and long term training for those who want to pursue higher education in their choosing career.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENTS
In Ghana HIV/AIDS initiatives began on a relatively ad hoc basis. With improved planning and more strategic investment of resources in HIV/AIDS activities, the question is now to determine the extent to which these activities are truly contributing to the stop of the spread of HIV/AIDS
A Ghanaian philosopher an academic and a brilliant orator once said “if you educate a man you educate an individual but if you educate a woman you educate a nation”. This anthropological statement gives credence to our vision.
The education of a woman is one of the most powerful forces of development particularly in Africa where social welfare and economic an advancement are constrained by valid population growth and weakly developed human resources base.
Although there is increasing political recognition of the importance of women and children education care, it is realized that more action and experimental intervention should be appropriated to demonstrate simple but cost effective strategies.
In order to design high–impact and sustainable strategies in-depth analytical research is essential to understand obstacle to women and children education care, in communities where RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA is located and operates
Our research has shown that the number of child non-maintained cases reported to the women and juvenile units of the Ghana police service was on the increase the unit recorded 2,065 cases as against 1,260 the previous year. While records at the department of social welfare reveals an increase of child non-maintenance cases from 1,213 in 2003 t0 3,889 in 2004 in a single region of the country and the percentage increase is almost the same in several other regions in the country. Causes of similar issues reported to Human Rights and Administrative Justice are more distasting and sympathic.
We have identified poverty on the parts of parents as the main causes of the problems. The organization has agreed with the opinion of the other research institution among other things that women should be empowered economically to support in the upkeep of family since women play a fundamental role in the upbringing of children.
It has also been found out that a strong correlation exist between nutrition and gender. The type of employment and income of women was shown to have impact on malnutrition’s. Regular in come for women reduced malnutrition in house holds as it improved women’s ability to take care for their families better. The most nutritionally vulnerable groups are infants, young children and women, particularly those who are pregnant or lactating.
The multifaceted nature of the cause of malnutrion has long been identified. This is characterized by immediate and underlying causes such as household food insecurity, inadequate care for women and children inadequate health services all due to poverty. The development of our human resource as a nation is hampered to a significant extent by problems associated with mal nutrition. Nutrition has taken center stage in world politics and it has been identified as key in realizing the United Nations millennium development goals which focuses among other on the improvement of nutritional status thorough poverty alleviation and general sustainable socio-economic improvement (esp. women economic empowerment) in politically congenial environments such as Ghana.
It was identified that the incidence of economic constrain made many young women involve themselves in premature sexual habits just to earn a little money for a living. In the process some of these young women become pregnant with no man accepting responsibility because they often engage in multiple sexual partners. Some end up in total prostitution hence risking their lives with deadly sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. St James institute is the obvious choice for the solution of this canker.
Ghana labour force has grown tremendously over the past three decades without a corresponding improvement in the level of quality of employment .unemployment also grew from 2.5% for the labour force in 1984 8.6%in 2002. there also high level of underemployment among the labour force meaning a major human resource lost to the countries development such level of unemployment have an impact on poverty in Ghana. Sources, Ghana statistical services.
Another critical emerging problem is child labour. This is defined as any activity that is either economic or non-economic, that is too dangerous or hazardous and /or for activity the child is considered under-age, since it is likely to have deleterious effect on the Childs health, education, moral and also normal development.
The Ghana child labour survey conducted by the statistical service in 2001 found that 40% of the 6.4 million people aged 5-17 years in Ghana were engage in regular economic activity .child labour occurs in all regions of Ghana. Over 93%of children cited poverty as the reason for working. The income from theses children was not only to help their parent but also to pay their school fees. The incidences of child labour were greater in rural than in urban and involved male and females in almost equal proportion.
The rate of maternal death of 64/1000 is a major contributing factor to new babies being orphaned and preceding children being send away to work.
Theses figures gives and idea of the struggle to meet the basic needs of an entire household die to poverty.
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA is at the forefront of supporting orphans and vulnerable children with scholarship package and also offers its kills training for women and guardian to help alleviate the plight of families.
The organization orphanage center called Ugemote Orphanage located in the Volta Region.
Demographic statistics show that women and children formed three quarter of the country population and so the protection of their rights was critical to national development.
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA center operates. Records available e showed that the weekly collection and special contributions which is usually conducted male’s vs. Females in most churches, the males regularly contribute much more higher than the female.
The problem is that most of them have no profession, no quality jobs hence low income, and simply cannot give what they do not have.
Therefore the need for the institute to empower them with income generating
International donor agencies and developed nations design economic policies with conditionality that directly affects the vulnerable of African. This was further emphasized during the recent conference held in Nairobi, Kenya by the African women millennium initiative on poverty and human rights. The women have accused leaders of the continent of being responsible for the poverty and numerous problems facing it. They said borrowing of money from donor communities had led the continent to “an immoral and odious debt and derailing the development agenda. This according to them had denied hardworking Africans of honest wages for their labour.
Economic growth in sub Saharan Africa reached an eight –year high of five percent recently, according to a report by the international monetary fund (IMF).however the growth improvement recorded in economic performance are not enough to meet the United Nations millennium development goals for reducing poverty.
Expenditure cuts in relation to the African economic crisis and structural adjustment programmed imply that already impoverished households will continue to suffer if measure taken is not fully implemented.
RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE- GHANA programmed had been designed to complement our government efforts of tackling the issues thought its poverty alleviation strategies.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVE
To empower women and young girls, widows and teenage mothers with employable skills in vocational and catering services.
4.1) by empowering this largest group with income generating skill, they can contribute their quoter to the development of the people and improve their economic values and welfare.
to address the economic factor which is the major motive that drives females into prostitution, they engage in it to make ends meet due to the economic hardship in the society. With regular income generating skills the major channel of spreading sexually transmitted disease and HIV/AIDS, which is prostitution, could have been subsided.
to stop poor families from spending their little income in hospital with children due to mal –nutrition by way of equipping and teaching of how to prepare nutritious meals for the children for healthy life.
To support orphans and vulnerable children, in our areas of operations, with scholarship package such as provision of school uniforms ,bags footwear, reading material pens and pencils and payment of schools fees , so that the issues of child labour would be addressed.
to train senior and junior secondary school leavers and other school drop- out in catering and tailoring /dress making.
Leading to National Vocational Training Institute Certificate to enable them to pursue higher education at the polytechniques and colleges.
to teach honor, respect for oneself, other people and God.
our primary objective is to help improve the lost of woman, the youth and children to attain economic self-sufficiency and self reliance to alleviate poverty among them.
ACTIVITES
To periodically organize work shops and seminars for catholic and non-Catholics women and the youth in our operational areas on topics such as wealth creation effective team work, leadership skills and responsible parenting.
to organize activities that will help women and children kknow their civil rights and responsibilities with resources persons from National Organizations such as the Human Rights and Administrative Justices , Federation of women lawyers ,Ghana AIDS commission, child rights international ,etc.
To organize activities in loans procedures and banking and its advantages to organized groups from rural banks in the communities.
EXPECTED OUTCOME
It is expected that after a period of one years of the completion of the project more young women and other beneficiaries would have acquired vocational skills to enable them to be employable .some of them would have aqured equipment and materials to set up their own business in their respective trades to earn their living therefore unemployment and poverty in communities of operation would have been curtailed and families will live a better life than before.
Trainees would have build better relations with God improve their spiritual values and enjoy the free loving favour of Christ.
Teenage pregnancy and its results of child non- permanence cases might have been reduced multiple sexual pastimes by to women earn money will stop and the chances of this habit resulting into professional prostitution might be halted.
Families would have acquired knowledge of modem method of cooking and other catering practices that would help eliminate malnutrition of children and child none manitaince cases will reduce.
Orphans and vulnerable children would have a better formal education and child labour would have been subsided.
By this same period, the impact of the whole programmed would have been felt hence the goal of the center.
SUSTANIANABILLTY
To be able to sustain the programmed to benefit other beneficiaries, a revolving loan scheme also will be introduce to the program.
The organization would advised its trainees to form association after graduation to enable them source loan from the rural bank and other micro-financing schemes to enable them stay in business.
PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUTION
A brief baseline study will precede activities and would provide the bases for determine information required and expected outcome.
Day to day monitoring will be carried out by the project manager of the institute collaborating with the diocesan development project coordination donor agency will also carry out site visit to the project areas to ascertain progress problems and challenges and make recommendations.
Quarterly reports will determine the progress and performance of the organization.
OBJECTIVE INDICATORS
To establish and operationalize a YouthFM Radio Station • YouthFM Radio Station establish and
• Youth and relevant staff trained;
• Youth produce HIV/AIDS radio programs;
• HIV/AIDS radio programs aired in project areas;
To develop a network of RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE-GHANA • Network of RURAL INTEGRATED RELIEF SERVICE-GHANA established and active
To develop and disseminate HIV/AIDS awareness products and publications • Desktop publishing unit established and functional;
• HIV/AIDS awareness materials produced;
• HIV/AIDS materials disseminated.
To produce video educational programs on HIV/AIDS • Drama Studio established and functional;
• Youth and relevant project staff trained
• HIV/AIDS video/film educational clips produced
To train Youth and Project staff in HIV/AIDS awareness raising strategies • Assessment undertaken of training needs of youth and Staff;
• Staff training on HIV/AIDS awareness raising strategies conducted
Establish database and carryout regular monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for HIV/AIDS. • Existence of baseline data on the level of awareness of HIV/AIDS in project areas;
• Inventory of initiatives involved in the HIV/AIDS in Ghana.
Establiesd Orphanage home which care for orphans affected with HIV/AIDS. Project pictures can be view at the organisation website at : www.orpahanageafrica.pledgepage.org
Care and support for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)
Forty-eight PLWHA and fifty-two AIDS orphans are receiving support in form of food supplies, drugs, cash and skills in dye and tie production.
2 : The Organisation complected HIV/AIDS project in partnership with Youth Advocacy & Training Foundation (Yatraf) operates a Youth Resource and Counseling Centre that provide counseling and education on HIV/AIDS to the Labadi Community. Currently, the prpjrct which cost ¢185 million (about $22,000). And prevention project which is funded by Ghana Aids Commission (GAC). The project which is specifically targeted at young secretaries and trainee secretaries in the Accra/Tema Metropolis is completed.
3 : The organisation also complected HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in nineteen communities with the target group been young adults of all categories and patients attending antenatal clinics and out patient departments of the Hohoe Hospital. Churches, mosques and women groups. have also benefited from our programmes. Currently over forty (40) trained peer educators are working in the various communities. Seventeen (17) Anti-AIDS Clubs have been formed; Fifteen (15) in Junior Secondary Schools and 2 in Senior Secondary Schools in the Hohoe District
A:The project is expected to print and distribut1450,000 AIDS awareness plastic bags, and plans to continue printing and packing AIDS messages mostly on youths’ favorite industrial products such as ball pens, exercise books, school bags and T-shirts. This product will be distribute at no cost to schools, colleges, and out of school youths and communities
B:To successfully produce a product with the impact needed the project will be required to
Create a successful blend of local knowledge and advanced technical skills in such a way that local talent receive the opportunity to advance professionally, that the project ‘focus’ is well adapted to the local society, and that the social needs are properly met. The project will provide the needed quality skills and on the job training. The project will bring together, through exchangeprograms
C:It is easy to develop skills and knowledge, but is hard to develop attitudes, behaviors and motives trains amongst youths. Rural Integrated Relief Service-Ghana plans to make videotape on the values, behavior changes and motive trains covering activities of youths, which actual make a difference. The important part of the process is to find out what factors in all the skills, knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and motive trains of Ghananian youths which make the difference in the information, education and communication (IEC) about the epidemic, covering HIV and AIDS, transmission, prevention and condoms with information for specific target groups. And then produce video educational programs in a way, which is measurable, and in language, which actually means something to the young people
D:In Ghana HIV/AIDS initiatives began on a relatively ad hoc basis. With improved planning and more strategic investment of resources in HIV/AIDS activities, the question is now to determine the extent to which these activities are truly contributing to the stop of the spread of HIV/AIDS
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