Light for Children (Ghana)

Project Report
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program
January 1 - 10, 2010

By Patrick Bostrom
Introduction:
Light for Children – Ghana is a non-governmental, child centered, development
organization without religious or political affiliation.
Our concern is the welfare of vulnerable and disadvantaged children, especially those whom
are HIV-positive. Many of these children face abandonment and social stigmatization, and
lack the family support systems to take care of their basic needs.
Since our establishment in 2005 we have been working closely with regional HIV/AIDS
clinics in identifying vulnerable children, assessing their needs and assisting them.

Background:
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the prevalence of sexual assault on
boys and girls under 18 years old is 7% and 14% respectively. This violence can have
devastating impact on children inculding risks of lifelong health, social, emotional and
cognitive problems.

“While some violence is unexpected and isolated, most violent acts against children are
carried out by people they know and should be able to trust. Parents, boyfriends or
girlfriends, spouses and partners, schoolmates, teachers and employers. Most violence
against children remains hidden; children who face violence, as well as those who witness
it, often remain silent for fear of retribution and because of the stigma that violence carries
for both victim and perpetrator. Many people, even children, ‘accept violence as an
inevitable part of life. Often, children who have suffered violence or those who are aware of
such violence keep quiet because there are no safe or trusted ways to report the violence or
get help.”
Source: UN Violence Study 2006.

The Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy (ASRH) identifies the need for
sexuality education. The policy recognizes that adolescents and young people need accurate
and reliable
information about their sexuality and will behave responsibly when they are well informed.
However; there are no programs in Kumasi that work first hand with adolescents to
reinforce personal safety skills as a means of prevention. Sexual assault education is not
taught in schools and teachers are not equipped with the appropriate training to teach
students about assault or common misconceptions. There is a need for an outside agency to
administer this education and protect the future of Ghana.

Objectives:
All adolescents in the Kumasi Metropolitan should feel empowered to protect themselves
against sexual assault. Also, all adolescents should feel comfortable to speak freely about
past sexual assault experiences, with the confidence that they have a strong community
support network.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
The purpose of the sexual assault prevention workshops, held within a safe educational
environment, was to encourage the development of strong support networks within the
schools. Teachers became advocates for the students and the students felt empowered to
protect themselves. Most importantly the workshops provided adolescents with the personal
safety skills required to prevent child sexual assault.

To facilitate this education, Light for Children held sexual assault workshops in the Kumasi
region schools for adolescents aged 10-19. The workshops was taught by trained Light for
Children volunteers in a four day program. Throughout the sessions students was introduced
to the issue of sexual assault, whereby skills to identify, prevent and to cope with sexual
assault was taught. At the end of the sessions a community help-list was given to students as
well as the school principals.

The following objectives set the guideline used for implementing and teaching the Sexual
Assault Prevention workshops.
To enable adolescents to speak freely and confidently about child sexual assault
To increase adolescents personal safety skills to prevent sexual assault
To decrease common misconceptions associated with child sexual assault
To enable adolescents to compile a comprehensive list of community support resources
to refer to in the case of sexual assault
To increase the support provided to adolescents by school faculties. This will be
accomplished by increasing their knowledge and understanding of the issue

Project Delivery:
On 31st of December 2009 a group consisting of students from The University of Hong
Kong started their journey to Ghana, Africa. They landed in Accra international airport on
the 1st of January 2010 whereby they started the long journey to Kumasi where child sexual
assault prevention program would take place. The first three days of the time in Kumasi was
spent on introducing the volunteers to the NGO and the work they do, understating the local
culture and things to keep in mind. Most important was the volunteer education training and
preparation where all students made teaching materials, rehearsed presentations and was
given feedback on their work.

Before leaving Hong Kong the coordinator Patrick had arranged a meeting with End Child
Sexual Abuse Foundation in Hong Kong, during the meeting the issue was introduced, the
way they teach students and materials they use. This greatly aided the volunteer efforts
when preparing and providing the workshops to the schools that was visited during the
volunteer project.

During four days of school the volunteer group was able to reach out to 7 schools, each
varying in terms of status and number of students attending the school. The group was
received by open arms from principals, headmasters and teachers after introducing who they
were and what they were going to do. All schools requested Light for Children to provide
their teachers with training and material enabling their staff to continuously perform the
Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
same education year by year. In total 7 schools were visited, 34 classes and around 1300
students were educated during the four days of work.

All student volunteers lived in groups together with warm and friendly host families, giving
both parties great opportunities to learn about each others culture and to share stories. The
volunteer group was split into half and divided amongst two host families. After working
during the day the volunteers socialized with their host families and locals. Other spare time
was spent exploring Kumasi, historical spots, local cuisine and meeting other volunteers.

Workshop structure: Within the structure of Sexual Assault Prevention Workshops

that was held in public schools in the Kumasi region we fulfilled our objectives by:
- Facilitating open discussions about issues related to sexual assault.
- Defining child sexual assault.
- Defining personal safety and compiling lists of important personal safety skills.
- Defining “Yes” and “No” feelings and practicing how to express such feelings.
- Defining “Body Talk” and practicing its use to prevent sexual assault.
- Engaging the adolescents in activities to differentiate between the facts and
misconceptions related to child sexual assault.
- Engaging school children and faculty together in discussions to create a safe environment
for children to seek support and advocacy in the case of sexual assault.
- Noting down key points to ensure that the concepts have been understood and to provide
adolescents with a chance to express past experiences of sexual assault.

Outcome:
Throughout the delivery of this project Light for Children was able to achieve the following:
1. Arranging the World AIDS day at HKU (Global Lounge)
2. African cultural and language sessions with Mr. Adams Bodomo from HKU African
studies program.
3. Workshop development and knowledge sharing together with End Child Sexual Abuse
Foundation in Hong Kong.
4. Created teaching material for child sexual assault workshops, which was later given to
Light for Children to use for future education.
5. Visited a village in which Light for Children had built a living quarter for local teachers
near the kindergarten school.
6. Visited children's day in Kumasi, with the aim of giving children a day to celebrate their
youth and to perform dances and songs.
7. Visited a local church which educated parents and caretakers of how to aid AIDS infected
children, throughout the ceremony the children was served drinks and food by the church.
During this event Light for Children also received recognition by the pastor for their
generous donations and help to AIDS infected children.
8. Educated 1300 students on how to protect themselves against child sexual assault (7
schools and 34 classes).

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
9. Visited Swedish volunteers involved in helping a local hospital to care for newly born
children.

Post-trip:
1. Produce a photo journey book, sharing the experiences of the volunteers their reflections
and learning.
2. Create a 5-10 minute video showing the work done in Ghana, this will be shared during
the Global Citizenship week in end of March.
3. Establish a partnership between Light for Children and ECSAF in Hong Kong.
4. Create a teaching manual/video for Light for Children to use for the sexual assault
prevention workshops.

Budget:
INCOME AMOUNT ($) (Actual REMARKS
expense)
Global Citizenship Fund 35,000 CEDARS
TOTAL $ 35,000
*Researcher Min Yang and
CUHK student Vicky Ho are not
part of funding scheme

EXPENDITURE
Air ticket 12,140 x 11 = Emirates airlines (10,130HKD
Hong Kong – Accra (Ghana) when estimating expenses)
Accra (Ghana) - Hong Kong
Ghana VISA 300 x 11 = 3,300
Immunization 1000 x 11 = 11,000 Estimated: Varies from needs of
each person.
Volunteer fee 1000 x 11 = 11,000 Payed by all volunteers working
on Sexual Abuse Prevention
Program.
Costs in Ghana; $1000 x 11 = 11,000 Estimated: Covering basic living
accommodation, transportation, costs in Ghana.
food
TOTAL $ Estimate: (13,430 per person)
*Actual costs was to some extent
higher then expected.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
Partners & Supporters:
This project was partially funded by the Global Citizenship Education Program
under CEDARS:
HKU promotes a whole person education approach which combines learning in classroom
and outside. CEDARS is committed to working with the faculties to provide educational
opportunities for students outside classrooms. The educational aims of HKU are to foster
students' ability in intercultural understanding, commitment to global citizenship, and
preparing them to be leaders and advocates for improvements of human conditions.

ECSAF (End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation):

The End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (ECSAF) was founded in 1998 by Ms Shao Fong
Fong, an internationally renowned actress and a qualified clinical psychologist with the
mission to protect youngsters under 18 from sexual abuse.

Student acknowledgement:
PATRICK BOSTROM - Volunteer Coordinator

My personal belief is that if we are fortunate in our lives and have the ability to give back to
the society we must put sustained effort to improve the quality of life for other people. We
are all sharing the same planet, inequality and imbalance in the world affect us all wether
we are aware of it or not. Being a volunteer benefits all parties involved, you help others to
help themselves and you service others because you believe it is the right thing to do,
having a positive impact in the world. No matter the reason for traveling abroad as a
volunteer everyone and anyone can take small steps to aid the underprivileged, to share a
small part of your time and wealth to have an impact. Not everyone can be a world famous
movie star or a superhero, everyone can volunteer, everyone can be a change maker,
everyone can spread a positive impact around them, the decision is yours.
To quote my mentor and dear friend Sebastian Lindstrom “People say volunteer work is
about giving to people, but volunteer work is also about giving back to yourself.”

I will continue to advocate and work with CEDARS throughout my studies and hopefully
after graduation. The passionate feedback, support and funding has enabled us students to
go out in the real world to make a difference, having an impact together. Many students
dream of being able to give such kinds of contribution to society, CEDARS makes this
possible.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
LAURENCE WONG - Volunteer
Walking out of the airport I really got a sense of what it meant to be a foreigner. I quickly
found however, that Ghanaian people were very friendly and welcoming, particularly our
house mother, Millie. She would wake up early and cook us breakfast served with freshly
squeezed orange juice in the morning. At night all of us would play cards and watch
television together and I was humbled by how much effort she put into taking care of us and
making sure we were happy. She told us about her culture and how to cook Ghanaian food.
Her loving attitude has inspired me to embrace the unknown with open arms and give me
confidence in exploring a place completely new to me.

Right before we presented our first workshop, I have to admit, I was intimidated. The room
had over fifty children patiently waiting for us to begin, all eyes on us. Normally, when
speaking in front of such a large audience I get stage fright, but when we started I barely
stuttered. At the end of the presentation, the principle and the proprietor both gave us
heartfelt thanks, and reminded the children how important our message was. I got a great
sense of accomplishment when I knew my work was appreciated and overcame my
speaking problem. My aim for the trip was to be sure that I had helped or influenced
someone’s life. Later that day we were told three children spoke out about their problems,
this made the whole experience worthwhile.

My one regret is that since we spent at most 2 hours in each school and visited many
schools, we did not have a chance to interact closely with the students other than taking
some pictures. Thus I felt distanced from the students, like a lecturer in a university.

This trip has inspired me to do more service in the future. I have learned to become a more
tolerant of people and their cultures but intolerant of tragedies and atrocities like sexual
assault and poverty. I have gained a sense of responsibility to make a difference and with
this I hope to continue social work for years to come.

JASON HO - Volunteer
As a year-three student studying in BBA(Law), work is always overloading and life can
sometimes be too stressful and tense to spare myself for others. Spending most of my time
at university on studies, self-enhancement and career planning, I seem to have ignored the
real purpose of education all along – how can you be a better person and make a better
world? It is the quest for such an answer which motivated me to join the trip to Ghana. At
the end, the answer could be different to everyone but I am sure all of us felt the same way
that was beyond happiness, we felt contented.

Everyone in Hong Kong is leading a hectic life. The first thing that had stroked me most in
Ghana was that life indeed could be very simple. When you came across the street, you
could find out that all the shops, stores and merchants were basically selling more or less the
same things. Branding was redundant when the things people badly needed were just bread,
water and ice-cream. Without many options to choose from, you would be surprised that
Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
businesses could still sustain and people would not have complained. As poor as it sounded,
it inspired me that actually living standard should not only be a set of measures like GDP or
GNP, but it should also take into account the way people treasure things. While the whole
world is talking about customization and diversification, it is always worth a step back and
question whether a better world necessarily means more products and options while no one
treasures or less demand while all of us can equally share a simple life.

The second thing which inspired me a lot was a scene where I saw a little boy sprinting
along the highway trying to sell water to the drivers passing by. The road was dusty and the
sun was hot, not to mention it was very dangerous as the boy was just standing in the midst
of speeding cars. It was imaginable that the boy might only have sold a few baskets of water
after standing and running on the road all day long. However, he was exactly a role model
which showed us that perseverance did pay off. Urban citizens like us are sometimes so
fragile that a little setback may pull us down. Comparing to the little boy who is risking his
life everyday to make ends meet, we should find ourselves blessed no matter what kind of
hardship is facing us.

Spending my third year at university, I can say that the trip to Ghana is the greatest lesson I
have ever taken so far. Not only it broadens my exposure and deepens my understanding of
life, but more importantly it teaches me to become a grateful, stronger and better person.

SUHANI JAIN - Volunteer

A 20-hour plane ride, and 5 hour tro-tro (the local mini-bus) trip later, we reached our host
home. Millie, Robert, Mariama and Kafui greeted us with big smiles and a hot meal! Since
this moment on they began to feel like family.

Put simply, my experience in Ghana has been great. Kumasi is a city so alive. Every street
corner has a new sight, a new scent, a different kind of music. It’s amazing! Local food,
made by Millie expert hands, and Kafui and Mariama’s kind help, is spicy and exotic: just
perfect.

While training at Light for Children, I learnt just how determined they were to make a
difference. Mike and Yao, its founding members and leaders, believed, with all their heart,
that our ten day long endeavor to educate children about sexual assault would really pay off.
I knew I wanted to make a difference, but I wasn’t so sure of our effectiveness. But with
their dedication to train us and explain to us how deeply entrenched this issue was, I knew I
was going to do my best.

As we went from to school to school, spreading awareness about the issue, how to deal with
it, who to tell, I was surprised to see the kind of results we got. Within the first day of the
visits, Light for Children already had 5 calls from children who wanted to talk about the
issue and their specific experiences. We were actually getting through to these kids.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
At each school we were greeted with shouts of “Obruni (meaning ‘foreigner’ in Twi,
Ghana’s local dialect), How are you?” Little children with innocent smiles and unabashed
warmth were all around us. Not just that, everywhere we went, we met enthusiastic teachers
who were willing to assist us in our cause in every way possible! Warmth and kindness is
characteristic of the Ghanaian experience.

Through this program I was able to reconnect with my first love- Teaching! I was happy to
go from classroom to classroom and interact with these children. With every time we
conducted these workshops, I felt myself improving, being able to reach out and relate to
them more and more.

We got to interact with other volunteers hailing from Sweden and Amsterdam. So it wasn’t
just an African experience. This experience was going global. Another example of this
globalism would be the amount of Cantonese I picked up from my group mates. Who would
have thought that I would go to Africa and learn Cantonese?

Besides learning about Ghana, Kumasi in particular, sexual abuse, teaching skills, I have
also learnt to be a team player. I have seen how in a group your energies can rise and bounce
off each other to create a unique sense of unity. We were there, together, with a mission to
help. As a group, I felt we were very successful in this mission.

It is frightening to hear the kind of cases of sexual assault that have occurred in Kumasi.
Even more frightening is the entire complication of trying to help the child in such a
situation. I realized, through the course of our workshops, that the main reason behind child
sexual assault on Ghana was unawareness about the issue.

I hope that through our workshops we will be able to contribute to spread enough
information and awareness to children throughout the country so that they are able to stand
up and Say No.

As I think back, I feel that I have made a difference. In Mike’s words, rather, out of tune
singing! - “They may ask who are we. We are foreign volunteers. We are working to build
Ghana-a-a!”

CENTRAL WONG - Volunteer

The trip to Kumasi, Ghana was a memorable one. The 10 days in Africa really opened my
eyes to the amazing world, for me to see an entirely different facet of the world. Throughout
the trip, I was interacting with the local Africans all the time. I could feel their genuine
enthusiasm towards people and their comical characteristics, which explain the reasons why
I love Africa so much: the people. Through organizing protection against sex assault
workshops for the children there, I used my knowledge to educate the children and I
sincerely hope that what we did can bring peace to the innocent children in Ghana.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
LEO LI - Volunteer
On the last night of 2009 I flew to Ghana with uncertainty – that of the other 8 volunteers
whom I hardly knew, that of living conditions in Africa and that of my own future. The first
day after arrival had been physically demanding, as the group was packed into a small van
for a bumpy six hour ride along Africa’s infamous pothole dotted highways immediately
after a fifteen hour flight. This, however, was trivial as we soon saw streets after streets of
dilapidated houses, gutters jammed with garbage, and crowds that filled the lanes selling
plaintain chips for a scanty amount, hopefully making a living out of it. I was aghast, only
to be relieved when I was greeted with the most extraordinary hospitality from my host
family.

As part of the volunteer training, we learnt a great deal about the perseverance of the locals,
we also learnt that sometimes what they really need is to have a shimmer of hope brought to
them by volunteers, to keep them going in times of darkness. To this end, Light for
Children is a people-oriented group and triaged jobs by the needs of the populace that they
are serving. On this particular trip we were assigned to host workshops on prevention of
sexual assault. We had the opportunity to interact with local children, some with a hidden
history of continuous abuse. It was encouraging that the workshops were effective in
identifying such victims, yet hopefully we brought to them not only the message against
sexual assault, or the toffees that we treated them, but also a tad of joy that brightened their
day up. The volunteers are not the same people they were as they returned to Hong Kong in
2010.

RICKY CHEUNG - Volunteer

‘What can I actually bring to the people in Ghana?’ I kept on asking myself on the way to
Ghana, during the 14 hours of flight from Hong Kong and another 6 hours on a packed
minibus to Kumasi, where we’d be spending the rest of the trip in.

The mission of our trip was to deliver workshops on child sexual abuse prevention to
primary and secondary school students. Having been to the End Child Sexual Abuse
Foundation (護苗基金) centre in Hong Kong for training prior to the trip, we designed our
workshops and prepared the materials with ease. Before I thought that Ghana has been a
relatively developed place and such abuses should not have happened. It was until we have
arrived at the scene that I observed the significance of the issue. About 1 in 7 children have
been sexually abused. Only 30% of the victims told someone about the abuse, owning to
fear of putting a shame on their families or lack of self-confidence. The students raised very
intelligent ad well-thought questions, such as ‘what happens if your uncle touches your
body parts’ and ‘is it right for others to touch yourself if he has given you money’, showing
a keen concern for the subject matter. Shortly after the first night we conducted the
workshop, we have received 5 to 6 anonymous calls from students reporting about their
previous unfortunate incidents. On one hand we were very excited seeing our work has
made a difference; but on the other we felt terrible for realizing how serious the situation of
child sexual abuses is in Ghana.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)
We also visited some far-flung villages and orphanages. I was totally unexpected when
being treated with such welcome, honor, and love by the orphaned children. I still recall the
eagerness shown by the children to show us the oranges they grow, furniture they make and
songs that they sing among themselves.

Our spare time was filled with fun and joy. We have had two wonderful families hosting us,
who spent most of their time with us off work. They introduced us to a variety of exotic
African cuisines, such as Banku and Fufu and yams, as well as the colorful African music
and drumming cultures. We received a warm welcome at a beautiful Christian church,
playing and dancing with adorable kids at a party and watched an exciting football match.
The panoramic views at the Cape Coast Castle were so impressive, though the stories of
slave trade that happened there were very disheartening. Despite this and the other
difficulties the locals have gone through, they always possess a strong faith to God, and a
optimistic attitude that left a strong impression on me.

I went to Ghana with the expectation to serve and teach and to change people’s lives. But
apart from bringing a change to students’ lives, I myself have received a life-changing
lesson. Passion, optimism and a big smile will get you through everything. Seeing things
from such an angle has been difficult to me, until I have met these people who see the real
beauty of simplicity and embrace everything in life with enthusiasm. I loved my every
single day at Ghana and would definitely look forward to come back again in the future.
Thanks to Light for Children for this amazing experience.

Child Sexual Assault Prevention Program 2010 Light for Children (Ghana)