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By Leanna Summers August 27, 2006
Forced labor, prostitution and armed conflict are just a few of the horrific traps that exploit poor children. Millions more die needlessly from preventable illnesses. But at-risk children in Ghana are rising above these struggles as they receive lifesaving care and support from Compassion.
Formerly known as the Gold Coast, the West African country of Ghana was built by slaves who mined the country's supply of gold and other resources. But despite Ghana's rich reserves, more than 10 million Ghanaians, 45 percent of the population, live in extreme poverty — poverty so debilitating that some desperate parents have even sold their children to those who end up exploiting them.
Forced labor, prostitution and armed conflict are among the most horrific ways children — many as young as 5 — are exploited. According to a recent report from UNICEF, West African countries have the highest rate of child labor in the world: an alarming 41 percent.
Sadly, more than 11 million children worldwide die from an even deadlier enemy: preventable illness. Diarrhea — easily treated with medicine and fluids — can be fatal for these children. Without intervention, ill children in Ghana will continue to die needlessly.
The tremendous needs of children in Ghana moved Compassion to open child sponsorship programs in 2005 and more than 2,400 at-risk children are now receiving customized care for their needs.
Each child in Compassion's program is ensured a safe place to learn, and through sponsors' donations Compassion has provided school fees for more than 130 Ghanaian children whose parents could not afford to send them to school. Children in Ghana also receive health care, including checkups, hygiene training, nutritional supplements, medicines, surgeries and other critical care at local hospitals.
Compassion also works to rekindle children's dimmed spirits — to tell them God sent His Son for them. Compassion President Wess Stafford explains: "Poverty is a mindset, a spirit that tells its victims they do not matter. We then move from this state to despair, apathy and finally fatalism. We can change this by telling the little ones that to God they matter. They start to gain courage and confidence and then start to change things. When a child moves from 'I don't matter' to 'I can fix this,' we have won the battle."
Tackling Poverty — One Country at a Time
The need in countries like Ghana is urgent, and Compassion must choose countries where at-risk children will receive the greatest benefits. The process starts with careful research and analysis. A country is chosen using the following criteria:
- God's leading: Each decision about a new country is covered in prayer.
- Strong local church partners: A country must have Christian leaders and churches who can support and carry out Compassion's model for long-term child development.
- Government support: A country's government must be willing to allow Compassion to work in the country.
- Risk management: To provide long-term care and to ensure wise use of funds, a country must have a provision for international banking and no legal barriers for working there.
When these criteria are met, Compassion can move into a country and focus on releasing poverty's hold on children. This is already happening in Ghana where children are rising above circumstances that could easily sweep them into despair. Embracing the life God intends for them, they are changing the ugly face of poverty into a beautiful future of hope.
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