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Donations to homes unwholesome

Donations from benevolent organisations and philanthropists to orphanages are sometimes unusable or unwholesome.

 Quite often, food items, mostly canned, have either expired or are near expiration before they are donated to the homes while some of the clothes are also worn out and dirty.

 This came to light when the Junior Graphic visited some of the homes in Accra to find out how they were coping with and providing for children in the homes and orphanages.

Representatives of some orphanages said some of the items donated to them were so bad that they often had to throw them away.

In an interview with the founder of Teshie Orphanage in Accra, Mrs Janet Anyeley Parker, she said some people were of the opinion that orphans had no choice and, therefore, should accept anything given to them.

“But that is not right, orphans are people just like anybody else - they are children who also want good things like other children in various homes”, she added.

When Mrs Parker took this reporter on a tour of the orphanage she found broken and damaged baby seats that people had donated to the home which could not be used packed in a corner.

 At the Osu Children’s Home in Accra, the story was even more pronounced. This reporter saw a 40-footer container filled with discarded clothes, shoes, and other items donated to the homes which were so bad that the children could not use.

  The head of the Osu Children’s Home, Mrs Sharon Abbey, said it cost about GH¢300 to dispose of damaged goods every month and described it as a worrying situation.

She explained that the cost of disposal was high because some of the items such as mattresses, baby seats, cots and toys were often were bulky and not easy to dispose off.

Story by Eugenia Adjei-Mensah

 

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