ORPHANS IN PAIN AND MISERY…

Anas Aremeyaw Anas reports from Girls’ House 2, Osu Children’s Home and the Police Hospital Morgue, Cantonments, Accra.

It is 9.23am at the morgue of the Police Hospital in Accra. The cold and icy body of a nine year-old male child is lifted onto a slab for pre-burial washing. As one gets glued to that gruesome curiosity, three dead children of similar age is heaved in and put astride each other on a piece of yellow cloth. That was the beginning biographies blotted out at their very preface. Yet, even for a preface, they have enough ingredients to fully tell a chilling story of many deaths of babies.

For months, this undercover reporter had the opportunity to witness first-hand, the living conditions of children in the Osu Children’s Home. In the disguise of Rev. Abednego Akpabli from the Christ of Jah Church, most of the children found the trust and confidence to piece together chilling tales that have remained untold for years; tales that recount the many traces of neglect, abuse and maltreatment which have led many of their brothers and sisters down the grave. To these children, the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Koby Stephens, Victor Atta, Cynthia and other forgotten souls of the Osu Children’s Home needed the attention that only a trusted Servant of God like Rev. Akpabli could put forth.

The plight of disabled children in the Home is even more disturbing. They are kept in stationery posture, made to eat and respond to nature’s call at the same spot. Considering that these children are extremely vulnerable to abuse of all kinds than the average non-disabled child, there is the need to give high priority to protecting themand ensure that safeguards are rigorously applied. But the special needs of these children are put in the back burner in the Home.
This called for the needed intervention by this reporter, who posed to play a second role as a rich female philanthropist from Mali called Hajia Balkisu, to unravel the mystery surrounding the deaths of the children in the leading Child care Home in Ghana. The investigations gave special attention to the disabled children in the Home, who have over the years registered the most preventable deaths in the Home. Hajia Balkisu witnessed the life and death of Yaw Moses.
Yaw Moses, a nine-year old physically-challenged boy spent each day straddled in a wheelchair in the Home till his eventual death. From his wheelchair, he lived, ate and exchanged smiles with those who came his way each day when he was not left for hours facing a wall or kept for an entire day in a dark room. In spite of his physical condition, Yaw remained cheerful and tried to share in child’s play with other babies as often as he could. But this cheerful and playful life gave way to one of pain and misery when he one day fell from his wheelchair. For days, Yaw sat in pain as his fall resulted in a torn lip; but with his visible plight, caregivers in the home were not bothered. He was neglected and left to wallow in pain, even though he went into an emotional recluse and refused to eat. A few days after his fall, Yaw Moses passed away in his sleep; without any medical care.

When he died, the body of Yaw Moses was kept in the morgue for six weeks to be added to three other babies who had died; accumulating enough dead bodies for a mass burial. It was at this point that Hajia Balkisu came in to provide a coffin for Yaw’s burial as well as an ambulance to convey three other dead babies.

Sudden as it appears, Yaw’s death did not come as a surprise to the children and caregivers, who have seen countless similar occurrences that have played out in the Home over the years. “When he came into the Home, he was sickly, so we thank God that all his struggles are over”, Auntie Florence, a caregiver stated at his graveside.

Yaw’s death and the attitude of caregivers however came as a shock to this reporter, and other volunteers who came to work in the home. “This is a child that had too much difficulty and tied down to a wheel chair. And we tried every day to find out that he was taking all his medication. But all that [death] happened when we were gone for just one week. He had fallen off his wheel chair and I think that he had broken his vertebrae”, explained one of the volunteers who helped the children in the home for a few weeks.

Meanwhile, a daily logbook that kept details on the physical condition of children in the Home was being filled with such remarks as “Yaw is well”, “Yaw is in a good condition”, as he suffered through his ailment till his sudden death. On the day of his death, the record books still showed: “Yaw had a peaceful night”.

A Grin Picture on Blogosphere

While the actual state of the Osu Children’s Home is kept from the eyes of the general public, the ghostly details that lie behind the walls of the Home become apparent as one spends some time with children in the Home. Over the years, many volunteers from across the world have served in various capacities to offer humanitarian services in the Home. While working, they are greeted with the ever-ironic situation in the Home that has been touted as the leading Home of child care in Ghana.

Through web-based communication means, they send signals to their family and friends abroad of the ghastly details of neglect and abuse they witness in the Home.

In a recent blogpost by a volunteer who worked within the Osu Children’s Home this year, we found telling details of the situation that has over the years being kept from the Ghanaian public. From tales of abduction and multiple deaths of babies, this blogger gives an account of her six month stay in the Home. In one post, this volunteer writes about Yaw Moses’ life and death:“Yaw’s Funeral. We did end up having a proper funeral for little Yaw last weekend (about 6 weeks after his death). Antonio, another flight attendant who comes to the home often, organized the event. I was both happy that there was going to be a proper burial but shocked to learn that his body had been sitting in the morgue all this time. They didn’t let the children attend the funeral because they said they were too young. It’s amazing at how they just don’t deal with death there at all, and most of those children already experienced it. The Home provides them with no outlet or opportunity to grieve, or to understand death and what it really means”.

OTHER ‘UNTOLD’STORIES

These volunteers have chronicled the sad aspects of life which they could not confront without offending authorities in the Home. To them, posting these observations on the internet was a better way to share these untold stories with the rest of the world. We bring you excerpts from some of these blog posts which have been posted:

Saturday, April 10, 2010
Little Yaw
I’ve been meaning to write this post for the past week in honor of Yaw, but it seemed fitting to wait 1 week, since that is when the Ghanaian culture celebrates one’s life after death.
Little Yaw passed away in his sleep last week. I believe he was 11 years old, and also believe he had cerebral palsy, although I’m not sure if this was an official diagnosis or not.

Last week we were traveling up North with our families and came home late Thursday evening. On our way home, Laurie called to tell us that Yaw Bob was very sick. Since we returned so late on Thursday, we got up at 5 AM (when the children get up for chores) on Friday to run over to the orphanage to check on him. Yaw Bob was very sick but apparently doing better than he had been. As I sat with him, they discovered little Yaw had passed away in his sleep.
I never wanted the children to see me cry, because being consoled by orphans wasn’t what I came here to do. I got up and walked over the curb across the way and watched them carry his body away. I was told he would first be taken to the police station, then the hospital. I asked if there would ever be a service, or some recognition of his life and his death. I know now that there would not have been anything if Laurie hadn’t held a small service in the dining hall with the children later that night.

While that morning will be one of the hardest experiences I’ve had here yet, I learned more about some of the kids. Big Joseph (17 yrs) sat silently with me on the curb and when I cried he told me Yaw was just really tired. Christianna came and rubbed my back and didn’t say a word. And little Samuel, who spends most of his time angry and violent, sat next to me and cried. I was embarrassed to have them see me cry, but appreciated they understood my sorrow, and hoped they understood that his life mattered

Of course, my next thoughts were how did this happen? Since I had been traveling I hadn’t seen Yaw since we left the previous Sunday afternoon. I was told that on Tuesday or Wednesday he had fallen and split his lip. He stopped eating and noticeably lost weight (he was already very tiny). I think he may have contracted an infection through his open wound.

To further understand my frustration with the orphanage... I don’t believe during the two days he was ill he was ever taken to a doctor. I can’t stop thinking that his death may have been prevented. My concern for Yaw Bob grew since I couldn’t be sure he was properly being looked out for. Because his sickle cell, he is more vulnerable to bacterial infections among other things. We found out later he was being treated for Malaria. People with sickle cell are immune to Malaria. While I can’t report good news hat his diagnosis had changed to a more plausible one, I can say that he is almost back to his normal self.
As for Yaw, I think about him a lot and the huge smile on his face when we would walk into the courtyard. Later that same day Dan and I both saw his wheel chair that Kary had brought for him sitting there all alone with a ray of sunlight on it. It was sad and peaceful at the same time. I know he’s in a special place in heaven. Now that I’ve shared his memory I am glad he is in more people thoughts. I hope this blog serves as a remembrance of Little Yaw’s life. May he rest in peace.

At 5:47 AM0 comments
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Best Things &The Worst Things...
I’ve been dreading this post for a long time. To sum up my experience into these two categories seems like the best option. I’d rather share it here for everyone than to come home and repeat myself a million times when asked... mostly because some of these things are difficult to talk about.

I’ll start with the worst things about the experience, starting with the one that is eating me up right now:

• Prince is missing. He was abducted on Wednesday at some time. When he never came home from school, the Home alerted police and started a search. They found “the abductor,” a woman who claims Prince lived with her prior to OSU Children’s Home. That’s a lie. He was living on the street after his mother left him with 4 cedis and left for Togo and never came back. She said she sent him to the Eastern Region and police were supposed to find him and bring him back. It’s now Monday and I’m still waiting for him to come back. The Home told me that they will “discharge him immediately” because they “don’t want any trouble.” I guess my facial expression was a look of horror and they responded to it with “that’s how we do it in Africa. Extended family takes in children.” I wanted to respond with “that’s how we do it everywhere when possible. It’s not an Africa thing, it’s a family thing. And if that’s ‘how it works’ and he has family that will take him, why has he been living here for the past 6 months???” I’m terrified of never seeing him again, of him being sent into a situation that is not in his best interest, of him never being found to begin with..and where/what he is doing right now. I keep a note in my pocket at all times to give to him in case when I do see him I only have a minute to say goodbye. I think about him and worry all the time.

• Yaw’s Funeral. We did end up having a proper funeral for little Yaw last weekend (about 6 weeks after his death). Antonio, another flight attendant who comes to the home often, organized the event. I was both happy that there was going to be a proper burial but shocked to learn that his body had been sitting in the morgue all this time. They didn’t let the children attend the funeral because they said they were too young. It’s amazing at how they just don’t deal with death there at all, and most of those children already experienced it. The Home provides them with no outlet or opportunity to grieve, or to understand death and what it really means. It was attended by Antonio, myself, another volunteer Maria, the current and past House Mother of the boys house, the nurse, and a couple of Auntie’s from Administration. Traditionally in Ghana, you were the traditional dresses and the colors black and red. I did have any black or red cloths, and I didn’t exactly bring any “nice” cloths to substitute. I had to wear my nicest white tank top with a skirt I had made. I was embarrassed. Maria, who is German, did her best to wear black but also came up with an interesting outfit. Only two Aunties wore dresses, though they weren’t the proper kind for a funeral, their effort was still far greater than the others. Other Aunties wore jeans. This upset me a great deal for some reason. I know their presence should mean more than their outfit, but Yaw did not receive the same respect as any other Ghanaian would have, and that bothered me.

• The infant mortality rate of the nursery. While they will never give you an accurate number, I know it is high. After Yaw’s funeral, the ambulance (who transported the body to the cemetery) said they had to go back and collect 3 babies that had died in the nursery. I thought of Yaw Bob, and how he has been there since he was an infant..and how grateful I was that somehow- he survived it.

- By Kirsten Sands
Checks by The New Crusading GUIDE at the Home revealed that since the abduction of Prince occurred in May, not much progress has been made to trace the whereabouts of this child; and each day, many more are tempted to escape the harsh realities of the Home into unknown.

READER COMMENTS

Inge said...
I am upset at how they treat the death of the children. I am furious
at how they diregard the disaperence of Prince. My thoughts
go out to him and hope the police
find him safe..
The babies in the nursery are in my
thoughts also, they need all the love they can find I just wish I could bring them home for that love...
May 31, 2010 1:58 PM
Katherine said...
omg i cant believe prince is missing!!! please update me with any new info i am so sorry to hear that! my thoughts are def with him! have u figured out a way to put yaw bob in your suitcase yet? I can’t believe you will be home in a week... i hope your last week goes well and i look forward to seeing you so soon!! Send everyone my love.
- June 1, 2010 5:33 PM

A Stark Contrast
Written by Elizabeth Gorman
Monday, 05 July 2010 12:41
The difference between the Osu Children’s Home and Kinder Paradise, the orphanage at which we are working this week, is like night and day. Privately operated from predominately donor support, Kinder Paradise is a mix between compound and retreat, situated in the Accra Plains, about thirty miles outside the downtown area. There is no open sewage—in fact, there are nicely manicured lawns, with pretty flowers and walkways. The living quarters don’t smell, and the children look clean and well cared for, and are, on average, a much happier looking bunch than those we encountered at Osu, who were mostly starved for attention. All these children go to school, either at the school on-site or travel. The staff seems very friendly. Managing the place is a German woman, and (I think, I haven’t been able to figure out his accent) a German man, and the staff made us lunch and brought us cold water bottles throughout the day.
The files on these kids are massive—at least 30 pages a child, up into the 60’s. Scanning them is a time-consuming, often tedious task, but one I don’t mind doing because such thorough record-keeping means the children are looked after. Virtually every child I saw had been to the doctor at least once, for everything from a cold to malaria to a rash, and were all prescribed medicines. Most had Ghanaian health insurance cards, and the lady who ran the orphanage said that they were in the process of providing all the children with them.
I tried to determine how a child got admitted to this orphanage (instead, say, to Osu) and came to the conclusion that it was the luck of the draw. In several children’s files, the Department of Social Welfare asked Kinder Paradise to admit so-and-so because of the usual issues of abandonment or as a measure of protection. It just boggled my mind how different these two living situations are; Osu is a place where not all children go to school, for multiple reasons, and simply loiter around all day. For those who do go to school, their predicament isn’t much brighter—they usually perform way below grade level, and there is no job training or sense of social transition into the “real world.” On the other hand, everyone at Kinder Paradise goes to school, some have after-school jobs, and I think that most are at or above grade level, from looking at their report cards. They are healthier and have a more sanitary and comfortable living environment. Though I am ecstatic that places like this exist, it is discomforting that there can be such a disparity between orphanages, who are all supposed to have the same goal of fostering child development.
Community Service
Posted by Sugar ‘n’ Spice under Cause | Tags: Community, Ghana, Osu Children’s Home, service, Volunteer |
[2] Comments
As part of a course requirement in uni, it was required to carry out a thirty-six (36) hours community service that would be beneficial to the local community.
I chose the Osu Children’s Home which is a community for orphaned, neglected, abused or missing children between the ages of zero and eighteen.
At the beginning, it was some sort of challenge to me. I believed that engaging in community service at the orphanage would carry out rewards beyond the obvious and tangible. Moreover it would help support a minute part of the community.
My first day at the home was not as I had anticipated. I came across cases of abnormalities and illness among the children and I must say there has been some form of discrimination from the staff.
I met a cute little two-year old boy ‘Addo’. He was not sent to school with the other children because the house mistress (care taker) claimed he was ill. Later I got to know from other volunteers that he was HIV positive. I was shaken at that moment, I had been there for like 2 days, and “Addo” was always by me, carrying him, helping him change, calming him down when he cried. Besides all the stuff I knew about HIV/AIDS, I couldn’t help but panic. Then I tried clearing up my mind about it, so as not to disappoint little Addo – it’s not his fault that he has AIDS. Later they claimed that he did not understand what was taught in school and the teachers complained that he was a mischievous. (I refuse to buy that) – “Addo” was recently transferred to another center that caters for HIV positive kids
The life of orphans at the home is a sad and disturbing one. It is poorly equipped, overcrowded, under-staffed, and I believe unattended by officials.
I hope to go back some time to check on them. Some unfortunately passed away, and others transferred to other centers. I remember little Addo, stubborn Akua, innocent Annabel, naughty John and the others.
This experience made me appreciate that I have my parents around. I understood how important family bonds are.
Besides, I really hope I made the kids happy when I played with them and stood up for them when the older boys bullied them. Although majority speak the local language and communication was difficult between us, I understood every expression.
Sugar.

2 Responses to “Community Service”
LuayRahil Says:
23/03/2010 at 3:06 pm
I’m driven by giving and caring, and your story touched me deeply, I love the way you express your connection with those little kids.
Addo represents every sick kid, and the fact that you connected with that child is moving.
Aladdin Says:
24/03/2010 at 11:01 pm
Surprisingly TRUE..The world speaks a variety of languages, yet the most commonly expressions such as,love,care,anger, concern,sympathy,etc all carry a Universal Expression!
In our next issue, we bring you the full the story of how children of the Osu Children’s Home are threatened daily with confinement in the Osu Remand Home. Here, offences such as taking a bottle Coca-Cola can lead you to a month-long life behind bars without a chance for hearing. Stay tuned.