Counseling encourages school attendance and supports family reintegration

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries are providing psychological support for children at the Don Bosco Child Protection Center in Ashaiman, Ghana. The initiative, which was funded by the Italian institution CAI and coordinated by AiBi in collaboration with International Voluntary Service (VIS), ensures children and their families receive counseling to encourage school attendance and support family reintegration.

Diana is a young psychologist who has been working at the center and providing sessions to children and their families. Through the sessions, Diana learned of the severe difficulties that many families face including food insecurity. Some of the children did well enough in the counseling sessions that they have expressed a desire to go back home and return to school. Youth also work in group therapy sessions so they can connect with and learn from others their age to begin to understand and address their life challenges.

“The children at the center have gone through a great deal of challenges in their short lives and psychological support is essential to ensure successful family reunification,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “At Salesian centers, youth access the supportive services they need to start the rehabilitation process, reunite with their families and return to school so they can start skills training.”

AiBi and VIS also provided funding for personal hygiene materials for children including bathing and washing soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, hair creams, body creams, and other essential products.

While Ghana’s economy continues to improve, nearly 45 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day, according to UNICEF. Rural poverty remains widespread in the dry savannah region that covers roughly two thirds of Ghana’s northern territory. Small-scale farms suffer from a lack of infrastructure and equipment, both of which are needed to shift from subsistence farming to more modern commercial farming which would yield greater incomes and a chance to escape poverty.

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Sources:

Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Child Protection & Youth Empowerment Projects

Don Bosco Child Protection & Youth Empowerment Projects Newsletter July – Sept. 2022

Salesian Missions – Ghana

UNICEF – Ghana