FORMATION AND REGISTRATION OF AN NGO(ST. ANTHONY CHARITY EDUCATION FOUNDATION)

In 1983, a severe drought and famine broke out in Ghana. It lasted until 1985. Foreign aid (food) was given to the Catholic Church all over the country to ration to the people. The priests themselves were responsible for rationing the food to the people. Since then, the idea that “The Catholic priest can supply all our needs” is in the minds of many people. They now go to the Catholic priests whenever they need anything.

This belief has helped lead to numerous boys and girls flocking to Fr. Joseph Boakye Yiadom and his brother Fr. Michael Kofi Akowuah for financial assistance to attend school. The priest’s friend (Father Joseph’s former Altar server) Mr. Daniel Adu Amankwaa, now a government hospital administrator, suggested the idea of forming a charitable organization to assist needy youth. He himself was once a needy boy who benefitted from the assistance of the priests in order to continue attending school. This idea by Mr. Amankwaa brought about the birth of the Saint Anthony Charity Education Foundation.

THE NAME ST. ANTHONY:

Two of the three co-founders; Fr. Joseph Boakye Yiadom and Fr. Michael Kofi Akowuah are brothers from the same parents. Their father’s first name is Anthony. The other co-founder, Mr. Daniel Adu-Amankwaah, has St. Anthony as his special saint from his infancy. Moreover, St. Anthony was very much concerned with the poor and the needy.

OBJECTIVES:The focus of the St. Anthony Charity Education Foundation is to solicit fundsfrom charitable individuals and organizations in order to provide educational services to underprivileged youth and thereby bring back hope to the hopeless.

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LONG TERM GOAL:

Nelson Mandela stated, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” The Long-term goal of the St. Anthony Charity Education Foundation is to provide for the education of needy youth in the hopes of empowering them to become upstanding members of society. This opportunity for education will also give hope to the hopeless, while the education itself will help provide opportunities for jobs, good health care, family, etc. This will in turn make them feel important in life once again. Youth who were considered to be the down trodden will maintain their original dignity as created by God.

As the saying goes, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Those who have no aim in life and have nothing to do usually embrace and engage themselves in unethical and immoral mob action in order to keep themselves busy. When a greater number of our youth are educated and adequately employed, the crime rate in our society will be reduced.

SMART GOAL: Our smart goal is threefold;

-Help the powerless to empower themselves through education.

-Provide relief to brilliant but needy youth who desire to go to

school but have no hope of any financial support.

- Provide educational opportunities to all deserving youth who are interested in pursuing their education.

FORMATION OF THE NGO

We, the undersigned persons, realizing the plight of some youth and how their social and moral lives affect the entire community, have come together with a common aim to help alleviate future occurrences of children not being able to

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afford to attend school. We are therefore forming a NON- GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) by the name ST ANTHONY CHARITY EDUCATION FOUNDATION.

These young people may have gone through some kind of stress or hardship in their young lives. Most of them through no fault of their own.

These might be the most unfortunate people in the community who did not receive any parental care at the early stages of their lives. As a result, they have lost hope and direction in their lives.

SOME FACTORS CAUSING LACK OF PARENTAL CARE IN GHANA

1. Polygamous Society Some tribes in Ghana are of polygamous culture and a man has the right to marry as many women as he can. It is very common for a man to have about five wives with over thirty children. Thus, the man will be financially incapable of taking care of all the children. In addition, the cultures of some tribes in the country do not take the education of girls seriously.

2. Religious Belief

In some religions in Ghana, the men can marry as many women as they wish. These same religions also support divorce and remarriage. The divorced wife’s children usually suffer from abandonment by their father. The net result is that the children of the divorce are no longer acknowledged by their father, who for all practical purposes might as well be dead to them. The Akan clan has a proverb; “ɔhene ba ne de ne de ne maame te awade ase” (the privileged child is the one whose mother is still married to his or her father).

Tragically, some traditional beliefs cause the people to abandon babies in the bush to die due to the circumstances surrounding their birth.

3. Traditional CustomsSome traditional customs often result in girls being pulled out of school at an early age to help manage the household. The main

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message girls receive is that the woman’s main responsibility is to produce offspring to augment the society.In the rural areas, only a handful of female children enrolled in primary schools make it to the High School. The high female dropout rate in basic education is the result of a number of factors. These include cultural practices such as early marriage, teenage pregnancy, and child trafficking.

4. Broken MarriagesChildren from broken marriages, especially the children of broken polygamous marriages, are mostly left on their own and eventually become a nuisance and danger to society.

5. HIV/AIDS With the outbreak of the dreadful disease HIV/AIDS, many children lost their parents and have no one to truly support them and send them to school.

6. Rape and Unexpected/Unwanted pregnanciesChildren who result from these unplanned pregnancies are mostly left to grow up on the streets. These youths then perpetuate the cycle, which results in many youths living in the streets with no one taking responsibility for them.

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When the death of a man occurs and his children are young, the progress of their lives becomes affected. Because of the society and the roles assigned to women, very few women are capable of taking good care of their children when their husband dies. In most cases the children will have to struggle for their survival and are dropped out of school because there will be no one to help them to pursue their education. Feeding the children becomes so difficult for the widow that she dares not even think of paying school fees.

SOME EFFECTS OF UNEDUCATED YOUTH IN GHANA

The fact remains that education is a key to industrialization and modernization. Education counts in political, economic, and social development. In building and developing God’s-given talents, the individual will flourish much better when he/she is formally educated.

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The 2000 Population Census of Ghana and the Ghana Statistical Services indicate that about 60 percent of the unemployed in Ghana can be found in the 15-24 years old age group. Furthermore, the proportion of the unemployed among the youth is higher for females than for males. This has been the trend for the past forty years.

Unfortunate High School students who do not get the required grades in English, Mathematics, and or Science are expelled from school and cannot pursue their education. Nor are they eligible for any government job in the country. Their lack of education also means that they are unlikely to find any kind of job capable of supporting them at an adequate level.

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF LACK OF PROPER EDUCATION

Some unfortunate teenage youths who have no parents or caretakers find themselves working for other well-to-do people as slaves in order to survive. Their human dignity is completely reduced to nothing. These youths stand on the highways amidst the risk of being knocked down by vehicles in order to sell items like handkerchiefs, bottled water, different kinds of cookies, pens, dog chains etc., Their reward depends on how much they sell. Some hardly even get food to eat.

Some youths, both males and females who are not fortunate to have succeeded in life due to lack of education, become frustrated and join gangs and involve themselves in armed robbery activities. They deal with drugs and many of the males take delight in raping women indiscriminately. Young girls snatch married men from their wives causing unhealthy rivalry. Many teenage girls stand by the streets at night and market themselves and trade in sex for survival. This has been one of the causes of the spread of HIV/AIDS within the society. These youths make life within the community and the society at large very uncomfortable and at times dangerous.

PROJECT PROPOSAL:

In the light of these facts we would like to extend help to as many youths as possible by forming this NGO so as to enable us to support the less fortunate (orphans, abandoned children, children of broken marriages, children of very poor parents, etc.) who are willing to go to school but have no means.

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BENEFICIARIES AND SOME OF ITS POSITIVE EFFECTS:

Many kids have benefited from this movement. One of them is the current administrator of the New Edubease government hospital in the Adansi District of Ghana. He started benefiting from it after his mother had told him to stop going to school after the death of his father so that she could afford to take care of his senior siblings. He was then in the primary school. He was the initial recipient of aid, and it was his idea suggested to the two brother priests, Fr. Joseph and Fr. Michael who helped him to form this NGO in order to aid other youths.

The other beneficiaries include a Catholic priest who lost both parents while in the primary school, and another Catholic priest whose parents could not afford his High school education. Others include an optometrist, lawyer, nurses, teachers, auto mechanics, tailors, hairdressers, electricians, masons, carpenters, etc.

SOURCE OF INCOME:

Until now, the St. Anthony Charity Education Foundation has been relying upon the donations of the friends of the founders as well as donations from former beneficiaries of the organization. Recently, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church of Lake Linden Michigan, USA, and some of her individual parishioners have been giving donations to help the organization carry out its work.

WHO IS TO BENEFIT FROM THE FOUNDATION?

The St. Anthony Charity Education Foundation is open to all the needy who desire to go to school or learn a trade. The foundation does not discriminate. There is no restriction as to the recipient’s religion, tribe, sex, or political affiliation.

PRESENT BENEFICIARIES:

Presently we have on our list who are being supported:

1 Seminarian in the Major seminary

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12 University students

18 Polytechnic students

23 Nursing school students

22 High School students

15 Vocational school students

BOARD MEMBERS

1. FR. JOSEPH BOAKYE YIADOM (CO-FOUNDER)2. FR. MICHAEL KOFI AKOWUAH (CO-FOUNDER)3. MR. DANIEL ADU AMANKWAA (CO-FOUNDER -CHAIRMAN/CEO)4. MR. ANTHONY OWUSU SARPONG5. MR. SAMPSON KOFI ANOKYE6. MR. DANIEL ADU AMANKWAA7. MR. DANIEL ADU AMANKWAA

MMANGEMENT TEAM

1. MR. PETER AKWASI OPOKU2. MR. CHRISTOPHER BOAKYE YIADOM3. MRS. KATE NKANSAH TWUMASI4. MRS. JOSEPHINE KYEI BOATENG OPOKU5. MR. DANIEL ADU AMANKWAA

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BEHOLD, THE CROSS OF THE LORD Website:http://saintanthonyfoundation.com/ Bankers: Ghana Commercial Bank

Tel: +233-3220-61364

Email: sttonyfumesua@yahoo.com

Mobile: 233-246845593 / 233-208151188

ST. ANTHONY CHARITY EDUCATION FOUNDATION

P.O. BOX UP 152KNUST- KUMASI

Ghana, West - Africa

US: +906 250 3053

Email: stanthonycharity1988@gmail.com

Mobile: 233-244362927 / 233- 244774696

FOUNDERS

Rev. Fr. Joseph Boakye Yiadom

Mr. Daniel Adu- Amankwaa

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Rev. Fr. Michael Kofi Akowuah

Mr. Daniel Adu-Amankwaa

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Fr. Joseph Boakye Yiadom

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SOME BENEFICIARIES

Fr. Isaac Nti Asamoah Fr. Anthony Kwadwo Darko

Gloria Kyei Boateng (Teacher) Lawyer Sylvia Afia Owusuaa

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Rebecca Owusu Jacinta Asare Bediako Perpetual Sekyere Nurse Nurse Nurse

Dr. Kate Sarpomaaa Gaisie

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STILL IN SCHOOL

Grace Obeng New Edubeasi SHS)

Joseph Osei Agyemang Vincent Appiah (SUNYANI POLYTECHNIC) (Kintampo Medical School)

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Gifty Amankwaa (KNUST) Francisca Asare Bediako (KNUST -Sunyani Campus)

Roberta Twumasi Samuel Adjei Yeboah(KN UNIVERSITY - KUMASI) (ST. PAUL SEMINARY - ACCRA)

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Emmanuel George Anthony Doris Anane(KN UNIVERSITY – KUMASI) (University of Ghana – Accra)

Edward Osei Agyemang Fr. Joseph feeding his adopted priest sons (KNUST – Sunyani Campus)

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