Ghanaian minister is on a mission

Ama, 15, lives in Accra, Ghana. She
has no money, food or shelter. She
dropped out of school five years ago.
Her mother died from AIDS-related
complications two years ago. She never
knew her father.

Ama’s tired, hungry and alone. She
walks up to a man and asks him for
$4 for food. In return, he wants sex.
She obliges and takes the money. She
repeats this ritual throughout the day.
It’s her only means of survival.

In the United States, prostitution is
illegal and punishable by law. But in
Ghana, said the Rev. Eric Kwasi Annan,
scenarios like this happen every day,
often involving girls younger than Ana,
a fictional example. Why? Because it’s
legal, and it pays well.

For the past 15 years, Annan and his
wife, Felicia, have been on a mission
to end such problems and other issues
affecting their native country. The Annans
co-direct Sovereign Global Mission
(SGM), an organization that seeks to
reduce poverty, provide education and
meet the needs of Ghana’s people.

SGM was established in 1992, Annan
said, because of a governmental push
to decrease poverty and respond to the
increase of “street children” in Accra,
Ghana’s capital city.

“The government put it on us (the
churches) to go out in the communities
and make a difference,” Annan,
40, told students in a VCU journalism
class on Wednesday. He came to the
U.S. for the first time to raise awareness
about SGM and attend “For Africa”
benefit performances sponsored by Chris
Burnside & Dancers and Peacework.
The three-day, sellout event took place
this past weekend to raise funds to help
build an educational center for children
in Accra.

SGM has instituted several programs
since its 1992 inception. The Homeless
Street Girls Project assists girls like Ama.
SGM will provide medical care, food and
education in basic skills such as sewing,
hairdressing and secretarial duties
through apprenticeships for participants.
The organization also will locate foster
homes for the girls, ages 12-15, or
provide a room for pregnant mothers
so they can care for their children while
they search for employment.

“We provide them with what we call
a ‘single room,’ ” Annan said. “It’s a 10-
by-10 foot room where the mother can
raise her child and live her life safely.”

Orphan sponsorship is another SGM
program. For $130, a child can attend
school, wear a uniform and shoes, buy
books and supplies, pay exam fees and
afford food for an entire year.

Randi Buerlein, the School of Social
Work field director, has been closely
involved with SGM since 2002. She said
child sponsorship is an integral part of
the organization’s success in keeping
Ghana’s children off the streets and in
the classroom.

“While 65 percent of children attend
primary school in Ghana, 45 percent
of children still drop out,” Buerlein
said. “Because of costs and materials
. $130 a year is just not possible (for
students).”

In 2004, two years after Buerlein’s
initial experience in Accra, the School of
Social Work students started traveling to
Ghana to volunteer with SGM. For twoand-
a-half weeks during winter break,
students assist the Annans in educating,
feeding and caring for orphans while
also assisting in the Homeless Street
Girls Project.

Volunteers also help build the child
development center in the nearby village
of Adoteiman. Buerlein said the center,
which broke ground in 2001, is about
a third of the way finished.

Annan praised VCU’s efforts during
his lecture.

“They’ve really been the workhorses
of this project,” Annan said.

Although SGM’s work with children
has been beneficial and successful thus
far, he thinks that a completed center
would be optimal for future efforts.

Students now walk five or six miles
to school, walk back home to eat
lunch, then walk back to school before
heading home at day’s end. Annan
said the two-story, $60,000 center will
have dormitories and 18 classrooms
for students to learn in a comfortable
environment without having to trek
20 miles.

“The best thing is to have a (center),”
Annan said. “That way we can make
sure (the children) are well-cared for,
well-fed and taken care of.”