Challenges
*Funding: With our expansion to cover the three Northern regions funding has become our biggest challenge. Our geographical growth has led to a corresponding growth in programming yet our resources remain the same. This can affect the quality of our service delivery.
*Public acceptability: A positive public perception of the children is crucial to elicit public support. There has been improvement in this area but much more needs to be achieved if the organization is to win the kind of support that will attract technical and financial support from the public
*Advocacy: The street child is only the symptom of the real problem, which is family poverty. The child is essentially the responsibility of the parents. However, the state has the responsibility of creating an enabling environment that offers equal opportunities for parents to earn regular and decent incomes that meet the needs of their children. Influencing government/donor policies and programmes in a way that positively discriminate in favour of the poor is a concern of this organization. This has not been easy.
*Lessons Learnt
*Rehabilitation of street children is capital intensive. Do not experiment with the lives of street children if you are not sure of a regular, reliable, adequate and sustainable source of income.
*Street children are the smart children from poor homes who refuse to succumb to poverty and would do anything to earn an income for their survival.
*Street children are not necessarily criminals and miscreants as perceived by society but children who lack opportunities to make something out of their lives. Given equal opportunities as their colleagues, they could excel.
Our Achivevements
* The restoration of the self-esteem and confidence of hundreds of street children; they now feel human and very much a part of the larger society.
* Reduced migration of the youth from the Northern Ghana to the Southern Ghana.
* In 12 years we have produced a male mechanic with the Ghana Armed Forces, a police woman, a male trained teacher, hundreds of artisans, 10 professional drivers, etc.
* Have successfully lobbied for the registration of street children under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
* Facilitation of closer relationship between the children and their parents/guardians.
* Have successfully lobbied for the registration of street children under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
* Facilitation of closer relationship between the children and their parents/guardians.
The achievements of the Youth Alive have been slowed by many, including local and international development organisations. Youth Alive's approach to the phenomenon of streetism is being replicated in other parts of the country such as Kumasi and Accra by Action Aid International Ghana (AAIG).
A great way to learn about Youth Alive's achievemets is by watching the many short videos that Dominique Chadwick has made about us. Click here to view the videos on our video page.
For more information about Youth Alive please contact Agnes Chiravira, the director of Youth Alive, by email to Alagba54@rocketmail.com.