ICT AND THE GROWING CHILD
PRESENTS ICT AND THE GROWING CHILD Venue: Huhunnya, Eastern Region Date: 3rd August, 2013 PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY SORONKO SOLUTIONS (www.soronkosolutions.com) DEVELOPING POSITIVE IMAGE THROUGH INFORMATION TECHNOLOG 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PerVita Foundation is committed to the use of human potentials in achieving its objectives in the areas of health, education and livelihood. The direction of achievement lies with creative activities which will draw the attention of the general public in building a healthy environment through education and maintaining a positive life style. PerVita Foundation wishes to indulge growing children into ICT by way of competitive analysis. The ICT session, will bring on board creative ideas from growing children whiles we package such ideas and groom them into greater realities for the children and the nation at large. 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT The growing child is seen as adventurous and curious and it is at this point that development of skills and talents are given that needed attention. The use of ICT has been a big developmental issue confronting the youth in Africa. Despite the growing infrastructure and advances in ICT, computer and internet use has largely been concentrated in the cities with a huge disadvantage to those in the rural areas. Even with the introduction of ICT in the education curriculum, most schools lack ICT infrastructure and the lessons also do not develop ICT skills, such as programming and software development. It is mainly exam oriented and thus does not encourage creativity in the youth. Most of the youth explore ICT use on their own in internet cafés without guidance and pick up bad ICT practices; such as internet fraud and visiting undesired sites. In effect, the trend of ICT in the 21st Century has carried a lot of positive and negative vibes by way of its usage. The idea of this event is to eradicate the negative perspective attached to ICT in the growing child. By way of this event, PVF would like to channel its resources and energies to ensure positivity in development of the growing child through ICT. Dream Hunt (our charity affiliate) had a prior chat with an old man at about 56 years and the conversation was to find about the keen interest parents took in developing their children in the area of ICT. The old man emphatically that ICT will in no effect affect the development of his child but rather it has this negative touch which in the long term will corrupt the minds of the child. We took hours to convince this old man about the benefits of ICT to the children. The chances of these less privileged ones in the area of Information Technology is very slim that is why we thought of having this event to help create the awareness of negativity attached to ICT. Again, moving forward, we would like to use this medium to solicit for funds to help the children on Huhunnya by building a computer Lab for them. 3. PROGRAM DETAILS According to ICT adviser Harriet Price it is no longer simply a case of thinking in terms of the benefits that an ICT-rich educational experience brings to children. She insists that technology is now such an important part of children’s everyday lives that a learning environment without it would be completely out of touch with their own realities. PerVita Foundation over the years has researched on ICT in the growing child and our research concluded that, ICT is a fantastic motivator and enabler, but it is necessary to choose only the technology that will enhance learning and not to simply use it for the child’s own sake. ‘Children are fascinated by pressing buttons and making things work. Using appropriate technology provides opportunities to develop independent learning skills.’ Huhunnya is a small village found in the eastern Region. It is 20 kilometers from Boti Falls. The people of the community are mostly farmers and most of the parents have not had proper education. The little village has a population of about 500 people as residents. It is a town that fell on the heart of the group and a team from Dream Hunt (our affiliate charity partner) had the town researched. Issues found out from the town reveal that There is high level of teenage pregnancy in the village Information Technology is not something that is a part of their practical life. Water and Sanitation is also a major issue facing the community. The team decided to move there and have all these issues addressed. Dream Hunt too the Water and Sanitation session whiles the ICT was powered in collaboration with Soronko Solutions. We were very happy to be there because for a fact, a number of these young ones have not seen a computer before. An interview sessions with the children revealed that, they only have an imaginary idea of what the computer looks like but they have not practical touch of a computer. Again, with a different set of school children, they indicated that ones in a while their teacher brings in a computer to have some demonstrations for them. This means that, they do not have that full control over computer and technology. However, the beautiful part of this event was that, the children were willing to learn. They were eager to take advantage of the session and get a feel of how best they can move with technology in this era. The session has quizzes, mathematic questions, typing and other technological fun games. 4. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM At the end of the training program participant must – Develop the attitude of acquiring knowledge through ICT – Ensure effective use of technology in their growing life – Be Encouraged to participate in competitions via technology (opportunities for youth) – Eradicate negative perspective attached to technology and its development 5. RECOMMENDATION The whole event was insightful but PerVita and Soronko were highlighting more on developing the children through ICT and technology. We would recommend a computer Lab to help these children
REPORT ON CHOSEN REHABLITATION CENTRE- ACHIMOTA, ABOFUNU, ACCRA, GHANA
Chosen Rehab Center (CRC) is an NGO that provides free boarding facilities to rehabilitate drug addicts, alcoholics, street kids and the homeless. The rehabilitation occurs over a year in which they are not allowed to leave the premises and all their needs are taken care of by the organization. After completion of the program we reunite them with their families and integrate them back into society by securing jobs and accommodation for them. We also offer free transportation to the public during rush hours; hold strong and compassionate outreach programs in the slums; and organize End-of-year parties for the under privileged in our society. On The 3rd of August, 2013 PerVita Foundation collaborated with Karisha Foundation to have a medical visit to the rehabilitation Centre. The visit was in two sessions. We had the medical team who did an eye screening for the inmates. Most of them did not really have a lot of medical issues but some others due to old age and the high level of influence due to smoking and drinking, they were put on medical attention. The medical team however noticed that some issue needed much attention and we are planning on going back there to help them get lasting helath solutions to their problems. There was the counseling session which really was inspiring because some stories were to good to be true. The counseling sessions were done to motivate the inmates, it was also to get them to come out clean and repent from some of the wrong doings. There is no better way to start a good life by confess and pronouncing what past life one has gone through. The centre also has the female rehabilitation home at Darkuman. They comprise of abused women and children. The female centre was result developed and the PerVita team is yet to go there and make some impact. Over all, we made some donation of food items and clothes but there are still more that they would need. Amongst these are 1. Clothes, shoes and slippers 2. Medication for housemates & Support for Medical Bills 3. Educational sponsorship & workshops for vocational skills and computer classes 4. Bedding – mattresses, pillows, bunk-beds, sheets, medicated mosquito nets 5. Vehicles – Bus for Outreach programmes, car for errands 6. Appliances – Gas cookers, deep freezers, fridge, polytank for water storage, 10 ceiling fans 7. Office Equipment -2 desktop computers, 2 laptops, 2 printers, cabinets, Internet Service 8. Foodstuffs & Toiletries 9. Building Materials to help develop the girl’s site
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SHINE GHANA
PerVita Foundation, on the 6th of April, 2013 took a fun charity trip to Nzulezu, Western Region and some of the revelations as per the visit serve as an eye opener and a privileged for others to go out there and help. PerVita Foundation is committed to the use of human potentials in achieving its objectives in the areas of health, education and livelihood development. The direction of achievement lies with creative activities which will draw the attention of the general public in building a healthy environment through education and maintaining a positive life style. It is founded by locals with a touch of international expertise which help in following through with its ideas. As part of our touching lives activities, we have what we call TOURING WITH A PURPOSE (TWAP) and this is mainly to get the youth together to impact positively in certain aspects of communities in the country. The brain behind TWAP is to visit beautiful sites in Ghana, in order to expose and educate the youth to our country and also ensure we leave something for the native people of the sites we visit. During such trips, we identify peculiar issues facing these communities and come up with ideas and solutions to help ameliorate their situations. The village of Nzulezo is located near the village of Beyin, roughly 90 kilometers west of Takoradi, in the Jomoro District of the Western Region of Ghana. Nzulezo overlooks the Lake Tadane, and is entirely made up of stilts and platforms. Inhabitants of the village are said to have migrated there from Walata, a city in the ancient Ghana Empire. According to legend their ancestors were guided to this particular spot by a snail. Nearly every structure in this village is built on stilts, creating a platform on the water. All daily activities take place on or just above the water – cooking, schooling, recreation, etc. Whenever a new baby is born, it is baptized in the lake, which is believed to be a protection against drowning. To protect the ecology, the local people use traditional bamboo hooks instead of lead ones for fishing. We as a foundation took special interest in their educational and health system on the island. Our activities were centered on three areas, health, education (science and technology) and livelihood. HEALTH: Issues with health have been a major challenge for the people of Nzulezo. There is no health post in the village for them to access in times of difficulties. In case of emergencies, inhabitants have to ride 45 minutes to Beyin which is the nearest town, inorder to get access to the nearest health facility in the city. This is a major hindrance in cases of medical emergencies especially complicated labour in pregbancy. Due to lack of readily available orthodox health care, the inhabitants rely on local herbalists for their primary health care needs. In times past, when someone dies he or she is buried in the shortest possible time because there are no mortuaries to keep the corpse. In other cases, bodies are embalmed. Although recorded cases of maternal mortality has been low, as women use traditional methods of child birth and midwives, there is still the need for a health post to be set up in the village to help with medical emergencies especially in cases of complicated labour, this would go a long way to healp reach MDG goals of reducing maternal mortality and providing access to primary health care. Local residents could also be sponsored to go through training to man such health posts. EDUCATION: The chief of the village, Nana Taklika passionately talked about issues affecting the education on the island. He clearly stated the need to improve the very deplorable state of education on the island and recognised that it was only through education that the human resource potential of the village could be developed. It would also go a long way to improve the quality of life of his people as they would be empowered to apply morden technologies to their day today activities. The GES basic education system is run on the island. However the classes available are from class 1 to class 6 with no JHS. Students that get to the JHS level will have to cross long distances to access education in the nearest town. Other challenges plaguing the education in the village is the lack of qualified teachers. Currently there is only one proffesional teacher on the island as most teachers posted refuse to take up appointment due to the remoteness of the area. The locals have made a compensation for this lack by employing one of their own and other persons to help in this area and payment is made from the proceeds they receive from tourists that visit the village. This shows the commitment of the inhabitants in educating their children. Lack of educational materials is also another area where the school is severely lacking. There is a small library provided by AIESEC of the University of Ghana Legon with support from ACCESS bank. This facility needs stocking with books of the standard GES curriculum, books on literature and stories as well science illustrative science text book to introduce early the concept of science and technology. With current access to electricity on the island, a video library to show some documentaries would also be helpful and enlightening. With this in mind, resource personnel especially teachers and expanded facility to include JHS on the island to further improve the education on the island ICT education is also another area that is lacking severely in the area. Most of these inhabitants have little or no access to computers in their village and this makes ICT education a big challenge for pupils of the village. As today’s world is gearing towards the inclusion and use of ICT in all aspects of life particularly education, an ICT facility would also go a long way to improve quality of life of the people. SANITATION: Sanitation is an
