Our mission is to alleviate the plight of vulnerable children in Northern Ghana through promoting their active participation and building relationships with them, in collaboration with their parents, guardians, local authorities, communities, central government, relevant NGOs and the general public.

OUR MISSION & VISION IN BASIC TERMS We give a street child a chance at life through education! Its not about giving kids handouts, its about giving them the tools to make themselves a better life!

YOU CAN HELP If you have found yourself reading this website we believe you are a person with compassion and care about the children in the world. We are a small NGO charity based in Ghana, Africa, that survives upon donations and help from the public. If you can we would ask that you could make us a small donation (£3 can buy a child a text book, larger donations can give a child an education), as your donation will help us to continue our valuable work. Click on our donations page to make a donation.

HANDLING OF DONATIONS Our website and all online donations are administered by our volunteer webmaster David Pain, who lives in Norway and the UK. David is closely connected to our project and has seen first hand the work we do. All online donations are made safely through Paypal.com, and then David ensures that they arrive safely to our offices in Ghana.

FUNDRAISE Download our fundraising pack today, click here to download the pack for free!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Ernestina Akakiya, Patricia Alemna and Linda Atobila (see their pictures to the left) graduated, in December 2011, from the University for Development Studies. The three are the first Youth Alive sponsored females to have graduated from university. Ernestina and Patricia studied Integrated Development Studies (IDS) specializing in Economics/ Entrepreneurship Political Science respectively. Linda studied Agricultural Technology with a specialization in Animal Science and is back at UDS performing her national service as a teaching assistant in the agricultural department. Ernestina is now completing her national service with the Ghana Revenue Authority.

All of us here at Youth Alive are very proud of what you’ve accomplished, and wish you the best for the future! We hope you will be an inspiration to the numerous girls out there who face difficulties and have given up or contemplate giving up in life.

You could help us help many more women like Ernestina Akakiya, Patricia Alemna and Linda Atobila! Its easy and safe to make us a donation online today. Remember your donation goes straight to where its needed, so you know you are making a huge difference. Thank you for your support!

SHOUT ABOUT US ON THE WEB Tell your friends about us on the internet. Click the share button on the left handside of this webpage to tell all your friends on any of the social networking sites available on the internet. There is even a option where you can just email your friends directly about our website!

 Streetism by Alhassan Hamza, a street child in Ghana.

There is one major problem confronting the people of this country which if not checked and controlled will have serious effect on the economy of the nation. Streetism or street life is something no one wishes to associate with. However, certain situations push children into this kind of life or activities.

Streetism can be attributed to so many causes such as poverty, broken home, fostering, child abuse etc. Most of these children found on the street are people who can become prominent personalities if they are given the opportunity. These children engage in all kinds of activities just to earn a living. Some are the bread winners of their homes and contribute to the survival of their siblings. They do this to the neglect of their education and future.

Looking for help

Many of us are looking for help to move away out from street life so that they also contribute their part to the development of the nation in future. Society however thinks negatively about them. The use of inhuman words and names like ‘useless’, ‘thieves’, ‘criminals’, ‘market vultures’ and the like. In short people have no iota of respect for street children. Such people forget that these children are also human beings just like them.

A street child also has knowledge, wisdom, conscience and ambitions. The only difference between a street child and that of the home child is the opportunity that the home child has. Street children have a lot to offer if they are given the opportunity.

I was a street child but, now in school, I compete well with children from good homes. I perform better than most of them in class. If street children are given half of the opportunities that the home child has, they will perform wonders.

Society must begin to see something good in street children and help them out of their present situations rather than insulting and condemning them. This nation will be better developed if the necessary assistance is extended to them.

Youth Alive is helping me and my colleagues to rediscover ourselves and to realize our dreams. We cannot afford not to mention Youth Alive always. I wish to call on our government and help disadvantaged children. Despite the capitation grant most of us are still not in school because various levies imposed by school authorities, eg development levies, printing of examination papers’ etc. All to contribute generously to Youth Alive so that they can continue to help street/vulnerable children.

Help take care of a street child today and God will richly bless you.

Bye, Alhassan

Kayaye by Abdul-Karim Zelia, a child that attends school with the help of Youth Alive

Dear parents try as much as possible to educate your children especially the girl child. I always feel very sad when I see girls suffering or working in the street/market instead of being in school due to lack of support.

Due to their inability to go to school, most of these girls migrate from the northern part of the country to the south in search of non existing jobs. These girls have no rooms to lay their heads after a hot day’s suffering. They work under very harsh conditions. Talk of the scorching sun, the harmattan cold, rain, mosquitoes and what have you.. Some engage in prostitution just to earn a living. They give themselves out to unscrupulous men who end up impregnating them. They very often engage in menial or tedious jobs. They carry very heavy loads for their clients to the detriment of their health. Can you image a girl of about 12 years or a little over that age carrying a load weighing between 30 – 40 kg?.. This kind of job is what we call Kayaye, meaning porter.

I never for once thought that human beings could be exposed to such a chilling whether condition until I was taken to the sleeping places of these Kayaye girls in Agboblorshie, Accra, to see things for myself. They were all small girls from Northern Ghana. I have since then vowed to sensitize any young lady or girl I meet who has the intention to travel to the south for such jobs.

These girls do not only suffer by carrying heavy loads or sleeping under chilling whether conditions but also human injustices. They are verbally abused, assaulted, raped and sometimes have their belongings stolen. Most of them return to the North either with sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies. These kinds of pregnancies also produce fatherless children who end up in the street. Thus, continuing the cycle and reinforcing the poverty situation in the family.

I am so thankful to God and Youth Alive for the support being given to me to enable me achieve my ambition. But for this support, I would equally have been in the south undergoing this kind of suffering.

Having seen what some children go through due to lack of support, I am more than determined to study hard so that I can become a responsible person in future to be able to help put a stop to this kind of suffering by girls. I will make very good use of the opportunity given me.

Youth Alive is doing wonderful things for street/vulnerable children in the Northern part of the Ghana, so please make a little contribution to this Organization so that they can reach out to more street/vulnerable children.

I end my story by saying a big thank you to Youth Alive and Comic Relief of UK for their intervention.

Bye,