Nyohini Children`s Home cries for help

The Nyohini Children's Home in the Tamale Metropolis is confronted with many challenges, which are affecting the smooth upbringing of children seeking refuge in the Home .

After its establishment in 1969, the Nyohini Children's Home still remains one of the most unattractive and devastating children's homes in Ghana.

The Home has 28 inmates, whose ages are between two weeks and 37 years. When The Chronicle visited the home, it was discovered that the children and their supervisors were faced with a severe water problem.

The Assistant Supervisor of the home, Mrs. Beatrice Agyeman, disclosed that their taps had not been flowing for the past seven years. Besides, the only borehole constructed by a sister children's home in the USA (Cato Children's Home), had been broken down for the past five months.

Though the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), she says, had agreed to supply water to the home, the tankers come as and when they desire. The home has no fence wall, and no means of transport, especially to send the sick ones to hospital.

Mrs. Agyeman disclosed that some stray cattle, and other irresponsible people within the Nyohini community, were defecating indiscriminatingly around the compound, posing a health danger to the lives of the children.

She said the only labourer of the home was finding it very difficult to keep the place clean.

The road to the home is also completely inaccessible to motorists.

Mrs. Agyeman, therefore, appealed to the government, through the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to come to the aid of the home.

She called on churches and philanthropists to assist the home register the children under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), to reduce the burden of footing medical bills. Currently, ten foreign volunteers from Holland and Norway were assisting the Nyohini Children's Home.

Two of the volunteers, Roxanne Berg from Holland, and Amun Jama from Norway, expressed happiness working for the home, but appealed to the government to renovate the place for the children, since they were the future leaders of Ghana.

Nevertheless, an inmate of the home, Master Emmanuel Azuri, a disabled from Bawku, told The Chronicle that he was brought to the home when he was eight months old, but no one had expressed the interest of adopting him.

He is now 37 years old and has no source of livelihood, though he has completed technical training school.

According to him, he had personally petitioned the Office of the President, the Northern Regional Coordinating Council, and the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, for assistance or job placement, but all to no avail.

He attributed his predicament to his disability. Meanwhile, much is expected of the public, religious and other organisations, to generously make some donations to the children, to make their Christmas festivity a complete one.