We are pleased with our humble beginning from the middle of 2018 when the foundation was birth on giving HOPE to the street-connected children and also help train some youths on the streets and in the rural communities through our trainer of trainee program to help build their capacities in various fields.
Our journey has been remarkable and is almost unbelievable.
Often, we portray them as being street children when what they need is to be represented. When we describe them with their physical appearance, it paints a picture devoid of one action; representation. When we represent them, we acknowledge their situation, we place ourselves in their position to feel their anxiety and suffering so that the feeling mimics our action towards them.
This is what the Starlight Foundation seeks to do; Representing the Street-connected children and becoming a voice for them.
According to Act 560 of the Children’s Act, no person shall deprive a child of access to education, immunization, adequate diet, clothing, shelter, medical attention, or any other thing required for his development. No person shall deny a child medical treatment by reasons of religious or other beliefs.
We are to note how it didn’t state which child can benefit, for this course there is the need to represent street children to gain what they’ve been deprived of. In the case of street children, they have been denied all these treatments, cheating them of their rights and privileges of existence.
These might not necessarily be children leaving on the street but the everyday child we see in our communities and neighborhoods, wandering and begging and having no sense of belonging.
Starlight Foundation has discovered the need not to only portray the needs of street children but represent them thereby bringing to the notice of society its aspect that has been neglected.
This representative is also a call to governmental bodies in charge of the welfare of children to infuse in their activities, things that improve their state of being.
But the irony of the matter is that these governmental bodies and NGOs consist of individuals in society with whom these children can be found in their communities.
Let us not look at the broader scope outside which may seem huge and impossible but focus on the little we can do for the ones near us who intend to make up the street children we see outside. It’s just like not neglecting your dirty compound to sweep another’s compound, let us work for our own, let’s make our own better.
I want to congratulate my honorable team members and enthusiastic volunteers who have been there with us working tirelessly to ensure we reach our goal as an NGO.
We ended the year with a fun Christmas party for our families on the street to put smiles on their faces and also give them hope that Streetism will soon become a thing of the past in Ghana.
We want to build a world of Hope in which every child can grow up safe, in Good Health, and to its Full Potential without any Threat.
YENHOHIA – Representation is the way
Many thanks for supporting us as we build Starlight!
Isaac Opoku
(CEO of Starlight Foundation)
