Afia Mary Addai

To think back to when we first met Afia, a vulnerable 12 year old who was living on the streets in her mother’s village. Afia’s mother died when she was young, and she was left with her mother’s family who wanted little to do with Afia and let her roam around the village and sleep on the streets. I cannot imagine a more different lifestyle to where she is now, Family First are so happy to have been able to reunite Afia with her father and to see them thriving in her new village.

In 2016, whilst we had moved Afia to a safe home for children with special needs in Offinso, we made contact with Afia’s father who was unaware of Afia’s situation. He explained that he had little money so had left Afia with her mother’s family so that he could work. Afia’s father seemed disturbed by her situation and wanted to work with us to make sure Afia was safe and well looked after. Family First believe that every child will thrive if they have a strong family support system, so we worked extensively with Afia’s father to understand her needs and to work on building a relationship with his daughter. Through Afia’s sponsors, we are able to pay for the rent for Afia and her father to live in a safe place in the village where he works occasionally as a driver.

Whilst they have been living together Afia has made great progress and we witnessed this ourselves when we travelled 2 hours on a bumpy trotro last week to visit their village. And what a magical experience it was. When we arrived, Afia’s father told us that Afia was with her ‘friends’ and he went to get her. She was so excited when she saw us, she came running and screaming, with the biggest smiles and hugs for everyone (demonstrating a big improvement in her physical ability as her father has been doing regular exercise with her at home). She went on to show us her colouring books that her and her father work on and we managed to buy her “my first copy book” – a pre-writing exercise book used commonly in Ghana which she was ecstatic about. Of course, during this time many children and adults had gathered around to see the visiting O’bruni (white person). But amazingly each of these children and adults knew Afia and wanted to talk to her and truly accepted her as part of their community. Unfortunately, in Ghana there is a great deal of stigma around children with special needs and often they are kept indoors or are treated negatively. To see Afia running around and be regarded as one of them is an incredible inclusive environment that Family First thrive to replicate across Kumasi.

When Afia first moved with her father, we paid a lady who lived close to cook for Afia. This lady no longer just cooks for Afia, but she has built up such a strong relationship with Afia and regards her as her granddaughter. When Afia first arrived, there were many things she couldn’t do, such as bathing independently. However, Afia’s new grandmother has been teaching her daily living skills and she is now independent in majority of her self-care. Due to her increase in independence, her grandmother decided to start taking Afia to the farm to help out with small jobs. She reported that Afia has proved incredibly useful and really enjoys helping, this is an incredible progression as it is offering Afia, at 17 years of age, a chance to work and have a feeling of self-worth.

In 2017, when Afia first started living with her father we decided to explore options of schools that could help Afia and we discovered Deduako Vocational and Life School, for individuals with special needs aged 13 years upwards. However, when Afia was assessed at the school they said her needs were too much for the school to manage. As Family First noted her progression in independence, we discussed with her father trying again with school, and Afia was assessed last month and the teachers couldn’t believe the difference, she has been accepted at the school and will start in September.

This is a fantastic opportunity for Afia, she will board there during term time and then vacate home during the holidays. Not only will this give Afia’s father a rest and time to work to get more money, it will also allow Afia time with peers and time within a classroom learning a vocation. Within the school they offer practical classes in leather work, farming, beading, woodwork, etc. Family First are currently working with this school to develop their sensory room and offering training on teaching individuals with special needs. As Afia has such a wonderfully supportive community we believe she will have a great chance to put the skills she learns at school into practice within her community, allowing her independence to continue to thrive.

Everyone who meets Afia and her father comment on what a wonderful relationship that they have, they really are great friends. It is wonderful to see the transformation for Afia and Afia will be an inspiration to so many families who have children with special needs. We want to say a massive thank you to Afia’s sponsors, none of this could be possible without their ongoing support. Afia always refers to me as "Mama O'bruni", meaning her white mother, and I could not be more proud to be so!