Missing Children Ghana (MCG) does not only find and reunite children with their families; beyond the reunification is a project to economically empower families in dire need.
It is in this regard that the Family Based Care Alliance (FaBCA) has collaborated with MCG on its “Strengthening Families Beyond Reunification” Project.
The project
Strengthening Families Beyond Reunification Project is an initiative by Missing Children Ghana to support vulnerable families financially. It seeks to assist these families to take good care of their child who has been reunited after the child went missing.
Cash is given to the families to enable them start a business or expand an already existing business. In some instances, the cash is to support the family to pay the school fees of the child where necessary.
Speaking in an interview with the Founder and Executive Director of Missing Children Ghana, Regina Asamoah, she explained that the Strengthening Families Beyond Reunification Project is a research-informed approach to increase family strengths, enhance child development, and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.
After two years of implementing MCG’s flagship project, Missing Children Documentary Series, several reasons have been identified as contributing factors to the Missing Children phenomenon.
One of the reasons is children leaving home due to hardship with the hope of getting a better life outside of home. Some of these children who are reunited with their families are unable to enjoy their childhood days due to poor conditions in the home.
Hence, Missing Children Ghana believes in supporting these vulnerable families beyond reunification. When families are economically sound, they are in a better position to adequately provide the basic needs of the child, she explained.
The Strengthening Families Project targets specifically families who desperately need to be supported to take care of their children. A need assessment is conducted by the team before a family benefits from the support. MCG believes that every child deserves to live and grow in a family, she intimated.
Missing Children Ghana – FaBCA partnership
Speaking on the partnership, Regina Asamoah expressed her joy over the cash-grant partnership.
“It is fulfilling to know that a fairly new organization like MCG is being supported by FaBCA to strategically implement one of its projects. I am fully convinced that it is because of FaBCA’s assessment of the impact MCG has made in the lives of over 200 families through our first project, the Missing Children Documentary Series, which we started in May 2021” she noted.
According to her, this partnership will help strengthen families to be economically viable which will not only benefit the family but the community and nation as a whole.
The one-year partnership will help MCG support at least three families every quarter.
Lead coordinator at FaBCA, Rev. Kingsley Kwayis,i in an interview stated that their organization is a movement of Christ-centered individuals and faith-based organizations that strongly subscribe to family-based care for orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana.
He explained that their partnership with Missing Children Ghana falls within their programme areas of Family Strengthening, Family Reunification, Foster Care and Adoption.
“FaBCA believes in collaboration and partnership with organisations to achieve our vision of helping children remain in, be reunited with biological families, or regain a healthy family through foster care or adoption so that they can reach their God-given purpose and potential” Rev. Kwayisi noted.
Appeal for Support
“Missing Children Ghana has been very successful and impactful with its projects because of the support of organizations such as the Department of Social Welfare, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Italian Women Association (GIWA), IPMC Ghana, Plan International Ghana, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Ghana, Interplast Company Limited, and Family Based Care Alliance (FaBCA).
It is in this regard that, I appeal to organizations and well-meaning Ghanaians to support Missing Children Ghana’s projects aimed at improving the life and well-being of children as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The children are our future resource and we all have a role to play” the Missing Children founder appealed.
