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Happy Kids Project
The happy kids project is a foundation in Ghana with the purpose to advocate, educate and raise funds for the development progress of orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana. They focus on implementing and empowering sustainable and income-generating projects for kids in the community.
Starting in 1995, the founder, Elizabeth Gbone, created Happy Kids as a response to the growing numbers of orphans and vulnerable children in the Volta region of Ghana. Elizabeth gathered these children out of compassion and started teaching them under trees. Over time, the number grew to a 100 kids and the facility began to be bogged down by the lack of resources. In view of this, Happy Kids partnered with an American, Kelsey Finnegan to expand the infrastructure and implement empowering and income generating projects.
This article will outline some of the projects Happy Kids are undertaking at the moment. According to the Happy Kids website, every project is run by a local consultant contributing to the long term sustained impact. The first project is the Secondary School fund. This project seeks to support the continued education of their wards. With the challenge of finance being their main hurdle, Happy Kids, through fundraising, support kids with an average of $1200 a year. The organization believes that continued education is the bridge for skilled employment that breaks the cycle of poverty.
Another interesting project Happy Kids is undertaking is the Volta Charity Soccer League (VCL). Launched in 2014, this project was established to create a network of orphanages in the Volta region of Ghana through soccer. This helps break down barriers and establish new relationships and friendship with the orphans from the other orphanage organizations. This event in itself is a fundraiser where the funds are actually used to get more sporting kits for the kids.
It is interesting to note that, although Happy Kids started as a school under trees, it has undertaken infrastructural upgrades to enhance the livelihood of the children. The first major project was the construction of a dormitory in 2010 which is currently housing 40 children. Following this, they worked on 8 classrooms and 5 bathrooms with running water in 2013. Additional dormitories and facilities were created as the years went by.
Happy Kids began as a dream of one woman to help vulnerable kids and it is growing to provide shelter for needy children. One of the children has grown and is currently working as a program manager at the organization.
References
Happy Kids Foundation. (2017, March 17). Projects – Happy Kids Foundation. http://happykidsfund.org/
http://happykidsfund.org/project/
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