Ghana Government Orphanage Reforms

Just a little update about orphanages in general in Ghana. The Ghanaian government, specifically the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) is doing some major reviews of orphanages in Ghana. There are some orphanages that will be closed. If an orphanage is closed the children will be in one of 3 situations:

1. Where the children have living parents, they will be placed back with their parents.
2. If their parents are deceased, the children will be placed with extended family members.
3. When the family cannot take the children they will be placed in a government-approved orphanage.

All orphanages must update their paperwork and re-apply for certification. This includes inspections and reports written by a social welfare employee. The DSW has issued a set of requirements and guidelines for orphanages. We feel confident that My Mother's Home will not be closed. We have seen the guidelines and are complying already with at least 95% of them. Examples of areas where we are already in compliance are: 3 meals a day; beds with mosquito nets; school attendance; shoes; clothes; ratio of workers to children; health care etc. The guidelines make good sense and are in the children's best interest. Where we are not in compliance is being fixed. There are two things we are fixing.

1. We have always provided good health care and brought the children to doctors as needed. However, the guidelines require a visit by a physician to the home once every 3 months. We have found a local doctor who will be doing these home health care visits.
2. There are paperwork requirements documenting total number of children in the home etc. that must be completed annually. There is a new form and format that we'll be filling in and submitting.

Also, the director of DSW in our region has visited and inspected our home with both announced and surprise visits. She has also spoken with local leaders and is happy with our home. She is working with us to ensure we have all our paperwork and processes at the highest level. We are very grateful for her help. So, there is no need to worry but prayers and good thoughts for our home are always welcome!

Onto a new subject. Yesterday I saw the land survey. We will have 7.7 acres of land with 800 feet of water frontage and 420 feet into the shore. This is great! We'll have plenty of space for cages and water flow between cages. We'll also have plenty of room for storage of feed, equipment storage, hatcheries and ponds. I also saw the land lease agreement. The person who drew it up made a couple of mistakes. Instead of rewriting the entire lease, an amendment (or addendum, I don't know what is the correct term) is being written that will be recorded with the courts and with the lease agreement. The lease term is 100 years. We'll pay for the first 50 years now and at the end of the term, the rent will be paid and the lease renewed for the remaining 50 years. The mistake made was that there was no rent increase at the end of the first 50 years. That is not what we had agreed upon, so we are getting it fixed before meeting with the landowners. We want to be sure everyone is satisfied and the written agreement matches the verbal agreement. When the updates to the paperwork are complete, we will be signing the lease. YEAH!!! I hope to post a picture of the signing when it is done.