<<Print>>

Ghanaians, especially philanthropists and religious bodies, have been encouraged to support the running of orphanages in the country. It is not easy to manage an orphanage without the help of well-meaning citizens and organisations,� Mrs Emelia Turkson Ndom, Director of St. Anna�s Family Home, a Winneba-based orphanage, has lamented. Mrs Ndom, who is also the Coordinator of the Gomoa West District Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) of the Ministry of Education, made the appeal when an Accra-based non-governmental organisation, Orphan-Care Foundation, donated items worth over GH�3,000 to the orphanage. She expressed gratitude to Orphan-Care for the gesture and said it was the third to be made to the Anna�s Family Home in recent time. Mr Kofi Gyan Dom, President and Founder of the NGO, and Ms Beatrice Awotwi Pratt, Co-Founder and Director of Orphan-Care, jointly made the donation to the home. Mr Dom said the plight of children of some orphanages compelled them to establish Orphan-Care in order to support the business of taking good care of children in orphanage homes. He said it was their aim to mobilise resources to support orphanages in the Central and Greater Accra regions. Ms Pratt commended Mrs Ndom for the able manner she had managed the orphanage. Mr Kobena Fosu, a former Member of Parliament for Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, appealed to Ghanaians not to neglect the extended family system, but rather strengthen it to become a bridge in times of difficulty. Mr Fosu, who is a patron of the NGO, said if that was done, children would not suffer unduly when they lost their parents because members of the family would take up the responsibility for caring for them instead of the children becoming orphans. Mrs Florence Owusu Ansah, also a patroness of the orphanage, appealed to women to ensure that they accept only responsible men who could take care of them and their children so as to prevent unwanted pregnancies and babies because of economic hardships