Atlas Copco Ghana Limited had out with children of the Street Children Empowerment
Foundation (SCEF) at an event dubbed “Be Free ….Be You. The maiden edition of the
“Be free… be you” was held the aviation social center on the 19th of November, 2011
from 10am – 6pm. The program, solely sponsored by Atlas Copco Ghana Limited was
powered by Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) and supported by volunteers
from Move the Globe foundation.
Driven by Atlas Copco’s core values of interaction, commitment and innovation, the
company found the request of partnering with Street Children Empowerment Foundation
(SCEF) to support the initiative of “BE FREE…....BE YOU” a laudable one; an
educative, motivational and entertaining event for vulnerable street children to be
in sync with some aspects our Corporate Social Responsibility Theme for 2011.

Atlas Copco continuously strives to contribute to social development as part our
corporate social responsibility. We have made significant strides towards the
continuous development of the Obuasi community where the company has its operational
hub. The company has been involved in various charity and community engagement
projects with special focus on health, education, and disaster relief.

Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) holds firmly the expression that
Education is a Human Right and is working assiduously to make this dream possible.
With over a half three hundred (300) vulnerable street children in our database,
being sponsored through formal school from primary to tertiary level and engaged in
various activities, An educated populace is a key to a better future for the whole
Ghana.

In line with our vision, SCEF seeks to become the leading NGO in Ghana providing
educational support for street children. Our mission of SCEF is to strategically
position and equip our team with the skills and resources needed to create that
enabling environment for the empowerment of the street child through training and
education. The overall objective of SCEF is to reduce to the barest minimum school
dropouts and illiteracy among street and vulnerable children. While empowering them
to a sustainable livelihood though advocacy, Education, Skill Training, activities
and projects.

The “Be Free … Be You” event was offered an avenue for empowerment and career
guidance to these under privileged children with the assistance of volunteers from
Move the Globe Foundation whose specialized is child care and training in deprived
communities. The Sports Hour had 8 kinds of sports to offer. The most familiar ones
were basketball, volleyball and Ghana’s number 1 sport football. These ball games
were all about playing the game. Athletics included running against the time and
long jump. Some great runs and jumps were measured, but world records still remained
unbeaten… In Relays children were running and sack jumping trying to help their team
to perform well. Team Building was about working as a group. Every member of the
group had to be part of the human buildings or it would not be completed. All kinds
of choreographies were seen and even high pyramids were built. In Children’s Games
German volunteers taught kids few of their favorite European school games from their
own childhood and Tug of War created some tough battles between the two teams
pulling the heavy rope.

The workshops gave education about important issues through fun and interesting
interactions, instead of just talking passively to listening children about them. We
had 10 different workshops, 2 each, so all in all 20 workshops were placed around
the Aviation Centre, among which are basic fire fighting aid, first aid, nutrition,
sign language, Making of Dream Books and Canvass.

In Atlas Copco Ghana, we recognize the importance of aligning our activities with
the expectations of our stakeholders for sustainable development in relation to our
economic, social and environmental activities and the larger community in which we
operate. The importance of educating children who are our future leaders cannot be
over emphasized. We believe that education balls down to the total grooming of these
kids, these activities helped unearth and hone their potential for future
development.

Atlas Copco is committed to fostering its responsible in its operating communities
with sustainable investments.

Source
Name: Paul Semeh
Email: paulsemeh@yahoo.com/sceffoundation@gmail.com
Contacts: 0243438580/ 0302 632086
Website: www.scefinternational.org