Development Ratings

In 1997, Georgie Fienberg was working at an orphanage in Ghana during a gap year. She heard about a home in the northern village of Sirigu where nuns cared for ‘spirit’ or abandoned children. Georgie supported and visited the home for 5 years before registering AfriKids as a UK charity in 2002. Funds were also raised for a street children project in Bolgatanga run by local community members including Nich Kumah. In 2005, AfriKids Ghana was registered and now has a wide range of projects run under the local direction of Nich.

‘Spirit children’ are those whose mothers died during childbirth, or who were born deformed or with severe medical conditions. ‘Spirit children’ may suffer from infanticide, or abuse and neglect. Gold mining is one of the worst and most dangerous forms of child labour, specifically targeted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). About 30% of children live on the street due to neglect, 40% due to poverty, being an orphan, having a single parent, or too many children to feed at home. About 10% have violence reasons not to return home.

Some UK organisations working in Ghana in the sector are currently relatively inefficient with funds and so are not recommendations at this time.