The re-launch of the Kickstarter to fund the book
distribution and launch is well underway and I need your help. I need you to ensure
that these stories are shared globally. I can’t sleep knowing that we have the
responsibility to be the voice for these incredible, strong and impacting
children and staff.
I am in the midst of writing and need to get back to that
very important work. It will help me to focus all of my energy on doing these
stories justice if the Kickstarter gets funded sooner than later. If the
Kickstarter gets overfunded, the impact will just be that much greater – in equal
if not exponential proportion and I can’t tell you what an energy boost that
will be from here. Click on this link to pledge:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1689069355/stories-from-the-streets-0
I am immersed in the interviews, comments and quotes,
heartfelt gratitude and heart-wrenching sadness turned upside down by one
person who cared…Stories From The Streets is one of the hardest things I have
faced and yet I am a speck on the face of the courage that these storytellers
have demonstrated.
I am going to introduce you to several important people –
Comfort and the social worker who learned a lot from Comfort. Here is a glimpse
into my office today. These children have so much to teach us. We must do
everything possible to lift these stories from the streets and let them walk
into our lives. I am shutting off my social media, and any communication while
I meet with these children and listen hard to what they have to tell me. Their stories,
their trust and their inspiration are in our hands now.
Thank you. And now let me introduce you to Comfort…
Comfort
Comfort went to live with her
grandmother after her parents divorced and her mother was unable to care for
her five young children. She dropped out of school at third grade when her
grandmother could no longer afford to pay the school fees. Determined to get an
education, Comfort put herself back in school paying the school fee by selling
fire wood. Unfortunately, she dropped out in junior high and became house help
in the town of Kumasi.
On her mother’s advice, she
eventually moved to Accra to seek greener pastures. She got pregnant in her
effort to survive on the street and the man responsible absconded leaving her
alone, unable to feed herself and her child and concerned about not providing
financial support for her mother back home in Kumasi.
A friend introduced Comfort to
Street Girls Aid and she applied for the vocational training program without
hesitation. And although she was eager to learn a skill, she often missed
classes in order to work on the streets to earn money to send to her mother. It
took some time for Comfort to adjust to her new environment at the refuge and
status as a trainee but she completed her training program and
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| Serving Street Children; Impacting Generations |
now braids hair.
Her thoughts about the impact of
the program, “Life was very difficult. Even to get two meals a day was a
problem but I can now buy food and eat. I can now send my child to the hospital
when he is sick, I am able to send some money to my mother and am saving some
money.”
The impact of Comfort’s experience
on Street Girls Aid staff, “just a little assistance can result in improved
lives for some of the children on the streets.” And the key lesson learned,
“These children have dreams and potential that can be harnessed for their
good.”
