A Message from PK!
My experience in Ghana so far has been a challenging and learning one. My patience is tested everyday but I know the importance of the work and that makes all the struggles fade away.
I have visited four orphanages in the two months that I’ve been here. Each orphanage seems to be worse than the one before. My first trip was to B—- Foundation. One building housed 35 children between the ages of 3-18.This significant age gap is the perfect breeding ground for abuse. On that same trip, the team also visited G—– Needy Home. It took everything in me not to scream at the home director because I knew they were verbally abusing the children. 90% of the children would immediately start crying the second they sat down for their interview.
This was starting to take a toll on me but about three weeks ago the team received pictures of seven children from a residential home in Beman Assikuma which allowed me to see the beauty of all the hard work. We went to an orphanage to prepare the children for reunification. One boy was hysterically crying. He finally shared with a member of the team that his mother left him at the residential home because he was a product of his mother being raped. He wanted to live with his mother but he wasn’t sure she would accept him. But she did!
When we got the photos of them post-reunification I quickly scrolled to find this boy’s picture. He had the biggest smile out of all the children reunited that day. I couldn’t help but be emotional when I looked at his picture because I could see he was finally getting the love and acceptance he’s always wanted.
It’s that same love and acceptance I felt when I was adopted by my parents and the same love and acceptance every child in the world deserves.