The Drop in Centre which is the main Safe-Child Advocacy’s office is located at Roman Hill, Kumasi. This is the administrative seat of the project and the welcome centre for all children living and working on the streets of Kumasi.

The centre provides a warm, safe and non-threatening space for all children in street situation to rest during the day. Besides rest; the Drop- in Centre serves as the meeting point with children who decide to quit the street and seek help. In this centre children are registered, interviewed, counselled and talked to about other options rather than street life.

At the Drop- in Centre staff provide a range of activities towards motivating children to leave the street. Even while children remain on the street, the Drop- in Centre provides needed support to children, youth and young mothers on the street. Additionally, the centre is where all rehabilitation activities are planned and regulated.

DROP-IN CENTRE PROGRAMMES AND INTERVENTIONS

Safe-Child Advocacy has implemented several programmes, interventions, and activities at the Drop-in Centre. These are rehabilitation and empowerment programmes. Rehabilitation activities are geared towards restoring children in street situations to normalcy, whereas empowerment initiatives are designed to equip children with the skills and knowledge needed to become change agents in their communities and society at large. Through these comprehensive programmes SCA’s skilled, dedicated staff provide street corner education, value talks, interactions, interviews and counselling, games, literacy lessons, creative arts, family reintegration, follow-ups, the rescue of victims of human trafficking, workshops, and sponsorship in formal education, among others.

SPONSORSHIP IN FORMAL EDUCATION

Children deserve to enjoy their right to education. Given this, SCA’s educational sponsorship is directed at giving children living in the streets and in other vulnerable situations access to quality education at the basic, senior high, and tertiary levels.
The beneficiaries of SCA’s programme include children who were formerly living on the streets, those who dropped out of school due to poverty, children escaping abusive environments, and others neglected by their parents or guardians. Through our sponsorship we provide support for the significant costs associated with formal education including tuition fees, levies, stationery, uniforms, school bags, and shoes, along with additional assistance to meet the basic needs of children from extremely deprived families, enabling them to stay in education, enhancing their learning experience. For vulnerable children the support SCA provides to enable them to access and remain in education, is a lifeline, changing and improving the course of their lives permanently.

STREET CORNER EDUCATION

 Safe-Child Advocacy as an organization is concerned about the plight of children who live on the streets and therefore considers street corner education very essential in getting children off the street. Street corner education is our first point of
encounter with children in challenging situations. During street corner education, the field team interact with children in street situations and educates them on essential matters that concern their wellbeing in topics such as:

• Child rights,
• Dangers of street life,
• Sexual and gender-based violence,
• Human trafficking,
• Personal hygiene,
• Etc.

Children are also informed about our work and the support services available to them.

Street corner education is carried out within the environs of Kumasi at principal areas like Alabar, Central Market, Railways, Asafo Market, Roman Hill and Adum. After street corner education children are invited to the Drop- in Centre to participate in the on-going activities in the centre. 

INTERVIEWS AND INTERACTION

 Interviews and interactions are carried out on daily basis for children who come to the centre. These children get the opportunity of speaking to a safe and concerned adult. Interactions help children to build rapport with children while interviews give staff the children to probe and get to know the children better. During interview and interaction, staff members also help children to explore alternative options and enlighten them on steps they could take to change their current life courses.

GAMES AND CREATIVE ARTS

Children in street situations are supported to engage in creative arts and playful activities with their peers, after long hours of hard labour in the markets at the Drop-In Centre. These activities helped them unwind, de-stress and physically recover, while fostering a sense of connection with the staff and with each other. With the help of SCA’s field workers, volunteers and student interns, the children participated in various creative art activities and Creative art session at the drop-in centre playing ludo, oware, skipping, and football. Through these activities, they become more comfortable about sharing their concerns and challenges and opening up about the issues impacting their well-being.  They also participate in Creative art activities such as sculpture, painting, drawing, crocheting, bead making,

WORKSHOPS

SCA organize workshops on different topics for children in street situations as well as our Child Rights Champions. We educate these children on their rights and how to claim them. We organize a multi-organisational workshop in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration, the Anti-Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Talithakum Ghana Network, and Chance for Children. The workshops bring together many survivors of situations of vulnerability enabling them to share their experiences with participants. This help participants to build their awareness and self-confidence while equipping them with hands-on ideas they could use to navigate and escape high risk situations where abuse is
perpetrated including trafficking, exploitation, sexual abuse, etc. whilst still in street situations. Other workshops are organized by SCA staff on important issues such as child/forced marriage, and child migration.

FAMILY REINTEGRATION

Family reintegration is at the heart of SCA’s mission because we aim to ensure every child grows up with their families. Consequently, when children indicate an interest in leaving the street, we visit their families, evaluate their family situations, carry out mediation/reconciliation where necessary and involve family members in rehabilitation plans. We undertook the necessary meetings, correspondence and assessment to ensure the family would provide a safe home for the children before reintegration with their families took place.

With each child we serve our staff, conducts a background investigation to locate and establish contact with their relatives. If a child can be reunited with his or her family that is always our preference. Family is the primary institution where children are nurtured and socialized into adulthood. It is our desire to reconnect children to their families, so in every situation we strive to restore the family unit. If the family is willing to care for the child but unable to do so for financial reasons, we will work with the family to provide the child with an academic scholarship

VALUE TALK

After street outreach children are invited to partake in the activity value talk. Staff of the project use this opportunity to educate children on how to cope with challenges of street life and family pressures based on well- chosen topics. Topics of education include Child Rights, Dangers of Street Life, Sex Education (HIV/AIDS, Sexual Abuse, STD’s etc.), Child Advocacy, Budgeting and Saving, Benefits of Education and Skill training, Healthy living habits among others, Family reintegration and many more. We believe that value talk helps to enlighten the children minds and that they are made aware of the various opportunities, provided by Street Children Project to build up their capacities.

AWARENESS CREATION IN SCHOOLS

SCA believes that many children can find themselves in vulnerable situations likely to cause them to end up on the street. As such, we use school awareness raising as a preventive measure to help tackle difficult issues children might face at the early stages and minimize the occurrences of child streetism. Our school awareness campaign which is designed to mitigate the risks of child streetism is carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Policy Advocacy (CEDEPA) at: Kwadaso SDA JHS ‘B’, New Amakom M/A JHS, St. Peter’s R/C Primary and JHS, as well as schools in Kotingli, Gbrumani, and Zangbalun communities. During these campaigns, the students are educated on children’s rights and responsibilities, child abuse, types and symptoms of abuse, child protection and the importance of education. The impact of this awareness creation is very profound as several children who were silently suffering from abusive situations come out boldly and reported such cases for the necessary interventions to be taken.

COUNSELLING

Counselling is carried out to help children process their situation and issues. To think deeply about their choice to be on the street, consider other possibilities available to develop themselves and decide on rehabilitation activity towards building a future. Regular counselling sessions prepares children to transit from street life into normal living conditions.

LITERACY CLASS/ICT

Literacy classes are organized at the Drop- in centre to help young children who have no basic literacy to learn how to read and write and as well develop interest in education. During literacy classes children who never had attended school are given an opportunity to learn and in they develop interest in schooling and need help to go to school, the project enrols them under sponsorship. Since 2018, computer literacy has been added to the literacy class curriculum. 

MEDICAL SCREENING & EXAMINATION

Safe-Child Advocacy, in partnership with Hopexchange Medical Centre, regularly organize series of free medical screenings and examinations for street-connected children at the Drop-In Centre. In severe situations where the children’s health is seriously compromised, they are referred to HopeXchange Hospital by SCA for free treatment. With these healthcare services for our target group, we are able to offer a more holistic approach to addressing their needs. This collaborative effort does not only enhance the quality of care we provide but also demonstrate our commitment to comprehensive support for those we serve. Through this SCA is fulfilling a crucially important aspect of well-being for street-connected children, ensuring that their health needs are met alongside their other requirements for growth and recovery. Some of the specific health interventions that are provided in a hospital, through SCA’s support included: successful treatment for a young expectant mother whose child’s life is at serious risk, support to deliver babies safely in the hospital and ensuring close monitoring of the mother/baby’s health, treatment for malaria, Hepatitis B, typhoid, and treatment to alleviate the serious impact on the body of carrying heavy loads that had caused bone, joint and muscle problems.

FOLLOW-UP

Every beneficiary is monitored and supervised through the period of assistance and for a minimum of three years after completion of the rehabilitation plan. Follow-up serves as a support system to beneficiaries because it provides opportunities for them to talk to our staff about issues thy may have with their developmental activities. Staff also use this opportunity to listen to teachers and trainers on the performance of our beneficiaries. During follow- up needed fees are paid and learning materials equally provided. Follow- up is carried out both in schools, training centres and families.