In Ghana's poorest and most isolated villages, many families choose to entrust their children to people who promise to take care of them. From that moment on, many children disappear without a trace. The children with the worst fate are the girls: false documents in hand, they are conducted by criminal groups into the Gulf countries, where they are exploited in humble jobs, often undergoing sexual abuse.
To help them all, the Salesians opened the "Child Protection Center" in Ashaiman in 2014: a shelter for minors between 6 and 17. They are offered a path of rehabilitation and, when possible, family reinstatement.
Through the funds that will be collected during the XI "Corsa dei Santi", the center's focus area will be expanded to also include older girls aged between 14 and 20, offering them the possibility for rehabilitation, vocational training and family reunification.
The activity is organized as follows:
- Contact/welcome 100 girls/young women, victims of trafficking in the country's slums and borders, personalized research to verify current conditions of each;
- Reception of 50 girls for 12 months at "Child Protection Center": for first 3 months, offer a rehabilitation program, followed by vocational training courses in making pastries/baking, beauticians, tailoring/dressmaking, costume jewelry;
- Research to trace the family of origin and for family reintegration, whenever possible;
- Social and psychological accompaniment for the family;
- Provision of micro-credit to start a small income-generating business;
- Formation for the family towards supporting their daughter in carrying out her business;
- Awareness-raising campaigns against trafficking and child exploitation, through distribution informative material and meetings with leaders of Accra market, traditional leaders and beneficiary families.
For more information on the project, please visit: www.missionidonbosco.it
For more information on the sporting event, visit the website: www.corsadeisanti.it
