ACWA - African Child Welfare Association - Humanitarian Projects / Projets Humanitaires - Association pour le Bien-être des Enfants Africains

Updates for now ...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:35:00 +0200

Hi all,

I hope everyone is doing well!! I just want to give those who keep up with the blog an update of what I’m doing with the projects! The two ongoing now are:

The University funding for Peter Kennedy Owusu is going well, we have enough funds and pledges so fund the three first years at the University for Development Studies, in his degree in Business with a specialization in Accounting. All that is left is 500€ / $712 / 1000 GHc to fund the final year! If you’d like to make a donation specifically to this scholarship, make sure you notify me.

The Construction of a Maternity Block at Kumasi, which we are getting ready to start (first by a competition with the local youth of who can clean up the most in the construction area!!). I haven’t been able to spend much time to this project, as I have taken on a new job with the NGO Projects Abroad, and am simultaneously taking university classes! The good news coming from that is that this project might be helped by Projects Abroad … I’ll tell more about that later, for now it’s bureaucracy time... :)

Bank Details

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:20:00 +0200

Some of you have asked for bank details, so here they are for the three accounts dedicated to the African Child Welfare:

-*-*-*-*-

voilà the FRENCH Bank details:

NAME: MLLE SOPHIA PLANCHE
ADDRESS: 12 rue rouget de Lisle 78100 St Germain en laye

DOMICILIATION (?maybe that's equivalent to 'branch location'): Saint Germain en laye Jaurès
- Banque: 30003
- Guichet: 01874
- Account number: 00053772316
- Clé RIB: 35

IBAN (International Identification): IBAN FR76 3000 3018 7400 0537 7231 635

BIC (Bank's International Identification): SOGEFRPP

-*-*-*-*-

And here are the GHANA details-ooo :

BANK NAME: Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited

ACCOUNT NAME: African Child Welfare Association
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 064-113 450

BRANCH CODE: 005
SWIFT CODE: BARC GH AC
SORT CODE: 03 01 05

ACCOUNT BRANCH: Accra Mall Branch
POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box GP2949, Accra

-*-*-*-*-

Then I am using what was once my GERMAN account!!

BANK NAME: Deutsche Bank
ACCOUNT NAME: Sophia Rainbow Planche

BLZ: 100 70124

FILIALE: 701

ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0 363 945 00

-*-*-*-*-

So make your pick. Keep in mind that a commission will be taken at each transfer, so a transfer to the Ghana account is ideal, but if you send it to the French or German ones we wait until the amount is substantial to send it, keeping the commission to a minimum! :)

Further Donations and Full Project Description

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:07:00 +0200

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I want to let you all know that following individual donations have led us to an estimated 5560 € / $7877 / 4855£ of funds raised for the Maternity Block Project!!! I am very excited about all your goodness and consideration, and this means we’ll soon start seeing concrete results!

A special thanks to my parents, Karen and Gerard Planche, who have tirelessly supported all my projects in as many ways as I could imagine!! Even when they came to visit and saw that the previously constructed well was damaged by a Coca-Cola truck, they fully funded and supervised the fixing of it, and made a nice little brick construction to protect it! :)

Another special thanks to Estelle Candau, who organized a 80’s themed dinner party in London which helped raise funds towards this project!!

Some of you have asked for further details about the project. Here is the link for the project description in the form of a proposal:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BwRwp7QSDS-qMjQyMjFiNjktMWIxMy00MDlhLWFjOGEtYTA1ZjUyYTQzMWM5&hl=en&authkey=COLo3rgO

Email me if you have any questions!

rainbow.planche@hiu.edu

Kumasi Children's Hospital - Maternity Block Update

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:32:00 +0100

Although a little overwhelmed by the size of this project, my prayers were answered as Tonata Shivute volunteered to join me in working towards the maternity block! Here’s where we are so far:

- Evaluation of the land was done in May 2010.

- Preliminary Sketch and meeting with the hospital staff and ACWA was done in June 2010.

- Production Design was completed by the end of June by Kojo Darko-Asante and two of his students.

- Establishment of supervision and estimate of costs was done in a subsequent meeting.

- I have so many people to thank for Fundraising!! Tonata, Ruth, Aunty Gladys, Edna and the Planche family for supervising, Tonata, Mimich, Edna, Cyril, Glenda, Aunty Hilda, Steffi, and Scott for making yummy contributions. A final big thanks to those who donated. We are now well over 1 500€, and just getting started! ;)

The building will be divided into a sub-basement, ground floor, first floor, and second floor. The estimated total is at 460,000€ and will be divided between ACWA’s fundraising and the hospital’s budget. Whatever you contribute through ACWA will go towards any part related to maternal and newborn care: central sterilization unit, operating theatre, intensive care unit, delivery room, labour ward, emergency room, nursery, waiting rooms, nurses’ stations and rooms, bathrooms and washrooms. The hospital’s budget will fund any additions, as well as the potential second floor dedicated to new offices, allowing more staff to work at this central and ever-growing unit. It is important to remember that the price estimate is a very flexible one, as the construction of a building that size depends on so many factors such as the price of the cement, inflation, modification of the structure design, etc.

I hope your thoughts and prayers are with us! Contact me if you would like to get a copy of the proposal for this project, which includes the production design and the latest update on the costs.

January 3^rd, 2011

Kumasi Children's Hospital - Maternity Block Project

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:45:00 +0100

Since doing the well project at Kumasi Children’s Hospital (see articles below), I came to know the staff, and I speak with some regularly. Over time it became increasingly clear that the next project falling into place was a much bigger one – the construction of a maternity block in this hospital.

The current situation is a sad one and it’s even more heartbreaking to see it personally. The building is evidently small compared to the needs and number of mothers and their children. Unfortunately, many are forced to leave nearly immediately after giving birth due to the next patients coming in, this added to the fact that the population is just generally increasing. For this reason the qualified staff has to hurry the work and has extremely little time for pre- or post-labor care. This leads to a number of orphans left in the care of the hospital, and many unfortunate although preventable maternal and child deaths.

I developed the project after speaking to several architects and contractors. We determined several phases:

- Evaluation of the land

- Preliminary Sketch and meeting with the hospital staff and ACWA.

- Production Design

- Establishment of supervision and estimate of Costs

- Fundraising

- Execution of the project.

Many thanks to those who have been encouraging and incredibly enthusiastic for this project!!

June 2010

Kumasi Children's Home - donation

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:23:00 +0100

The most pressing need for these children was daily hygiene. Waiting to develop a long-term project with these children, I got together some of the funds donated in october 2009 by family, friends and Emmanuel International Church. Unfortunately counseled to purchase items rather than donate money, I headed off to Kumasi's Kejetia market with a friend and a staff member.With 100 euros (roughly 200 Cedis) and memorable bargaining, we purchased:
- soap
- diapers
- underwear
- towels and rags
- a mop and broom
- antibacterial cremes
- nutrition formulas for babies
- buckets for bathing and a baby-bathtub
- cookies for the kids to celebrate, plus Laughing Cow cheese was donated by Mrs. Gladys Opoku.
The staff sends their thanks to all who gave, and I still get humungous smiles every time I go back to visit!

December 13th, 2009

Kumasi Children's Hospital - Commissioning ceremony

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:39:00 +0200

In exactly two weeks, the water project was finished! there is now clean and constant water running throught the pipes at the children's hospital, serving the maternity ward, the laboratory, the malnutrition rehabilitaion centre and the children's building.

Thank you to all, continue to support us!

These are pictures of the commissioning ceremony which was held, first there were a series of speeches, then I (Rainbow) was given the honor of cutting the ribbon before officially switching on the pump!

Kumasi Children's Hospital - The Water Project

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:57:00 +0200

This is where most of my newest funds will go. What the Children’s Hospital needed most was water, so Gladys and I have decided to put together a team which could see us through this project. Thanks to strategic relations and very good-hearted people, we have been able to establish a great price for drilling this well on the hospital grounds – about 2650€ to get it into the Hospital’s pipes.

We told the people and some engineers about this project andt told them ce could fund it, and a few days later they came in with a drilling machine to start the work! ...

My parents, Karen and Gerard Planche, have paid for the entire project, so that it could be done while I was here to see it. Right now the engineer and electrician in charge of the project have taken the water to a laboratory to test for cleanliness. It is almost finished! The commissioning will be tomorrow and I will take some pictures there.

November 20, 2009

Kumasi Children's Hospital - Context

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:54:00 +0200

The Maternal and Child Health Hospital does not receive any extra funds for their rapidly decaying building (which was built in 1924 by the colonial forces). This branch of the main hospital is forgotten and left to thirst by the government, which has just implemented a system of National Health Care. The consequence is that the patients come in many numbers, and the hospital can no longer receive funds from private payments.

So what they need is funds to build infrastructure, a generator for a reliable electricity system, but more importantly water. They rely on old donated water tanks, currently rusted; they get their water from Ghana’s public water system, which supplies them once per week and often leaves shortages. I was told a gruesome story about doctors who were bringing a child to the world, and ran to the sink with bloody arms and … did not have water. The children whose condition requires them to be washed can often not be done quickly or with the quality water needed, sometimes worsening their sickness! It’s one of those things that we have only heard of on TV or reportages… it is so different and overwhelming to realize it is real.

Impressions of Kumasi Children's Home

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:45:00 +0200

The staff is very kind and welcoming to volunteers. Children are all over the place, keeping each other company and trying to make up games as they go, often not the cleanest or safest ... but it's all they have.

I put a picture of this little girl sleeping on the floor, since that is the first thing that shocked me - the children spend most of their time on this little protected patio : eating, crawling around and, well, going to the bathroom if a bucket is not found fast enough. The caretakers manage to sweep the place if it gets too dirty, but by then many kids have already picked up things laying on the floor to chew on them.

November 3, 2009

Besides the sad things I have and will describe, there is an overall feeling of happiness at the children's home. The children are glad and giggly for the smallest things, whether it is a smile from one of the caretakers or a curious poke from a peer. It is obvious that their condition makes it logical that ils se contentent de peu, but this remains impressive. It even remains when they grow up, I can tell as I talk to the older girls.

They have one TV, and the children watch whatever's on, which is sometimes the news, and other times not-so-edifying stuff. In the picture above, you can see them dancing to the music channel and teaching the younger kids how to dance. From where I'm sitting, everyone else is clapping along and watching them, smiling.

Everyone shares everything here, and it is closer to a "children's home" as they call it, or a big family than an orphanage. As you can see at the bottom of the picture, the children learn as early as 4 how to feed the younger ones. It gives the older children something to do, and they develop really close relationships with one another.

November 4, 2009