By: Antoinette Abbah
More than 180 street children and some mentally challenged persons in Accra have received packed hot meals, some toiletries and clothing as Christmas gifts from the ‘Enhancing Youth through Education and Health (EYEH) Soup Kitchen’, an NGO.
Elizabeth Quarshie Idun, who is the Director of EYEH Soup Kitchen, said the Organization has for the past four years focused on these group of persons in an effort to rid the streets of children. The NGO has also trained some of them through the vocational schools to acquire skills to enable them to take care of themselves.
The organization hopes to place more children into basic schools next year. EYEH Soup Kitchen, is run by a group of retired careers, who, every Wednesday bring together between 60 and 80 street children at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, to feed and counsel them. The Soup Kitchen works closely with the Department of Children, under the Ministry Gender, Children and Social Protection, and other stakeholders, including; the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“We are a group of retired ladies. We have come together to give street children free medical care, hot food among others. We have been able to put fifteen boys into vocational school. Three have graduated and are working. We are hoping to take on board more kids. If you look around there are so many destitute children around, I encourage the public to also look out for them and help them out. Our partners UNFPA has really helped us to put a smile on the faces of these innocent ones” she said.
Seth Appeagyei, from the Department of Social Welfare in charge of Sustainable and Livelihood Unit speaks of social interventions for street children and how the department works closely with NGO’s like EYEH Soup Kitchen to reach out to street children.
“As a department we go out on the street to sensitize, conscientize and educate them about their live because begging on the street is not the best. We do tracing, reunification and reintegration into their communities. We find out why they are on the street and possibly we link them to our social interventions which our social intervention ministry has always been doing” he said.
After engaging the first group of young people living on the streets of Accra at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, the team moved to Opeibea House to reach out to another set of young people.
