Description:
Background: The Assemblies of God, Relief and Development Services (AGREDS) is a Church-based non-profit NGO that co-ordinates all the development and relief programmes of the Assemblies programmes of the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana Although the Assemblies of God Church had operated clinics in Northern Ghana since the late 1940s AGREDS was formerly incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on January 24, 1991, and subsequently registered as an NGO in April the same year. Since then AGREDS has played key roles in rural health delivery, the facilitation of integrated rural development as well as emergency relief and rehabilitation of victims of natural/man made disasters, ethnic and socio-political conflicts. The Northern Field Office in Tamale is responsible for projects/operations based in the three Northern Regions and Brong-Ahafo. Main Objectives: AGREDS seeks to minister to the material and social needs of the poor and under-privileged in society and to emphasize and ‘practicalize’ the truth of the biblical teaching concerning caring for the needy, alleviation of suffering social justice and stewardship of resources. Activities: Advocacy and Conflict Resolution: AGREDS, in carrying out its developmental programmes in deprived communities, advocacy and conflict resolution as very fundamental to any effective development. It has since 1994 been deeply involved in peace building initiative and conflict resolution programmes, all aimed at creating a peaceful atmosphere for effective development. AGREDS has championed the Rights of the Child over the years and is currently fighting the course of Street children, particularly “Kayayes” (Head Porters) through the Lifeline Street Children Project. Community Development: AGREDS community development programmes over the years have centred on infrastructural development, with emphasis on education health and sanitation. It has been involved in the construction and rehabilitation of school blocks at Langbensi, Bincheratanga, Kukpaligu and Makayili all in the Northern Region. AGREDS has also supplied books, teaching and other learning materials to schools to improve upon teaching and learning and thus increasing basic schools enrolment by over 150% in these communities. The Yendi Girls Vocational Institute, established in 1999, provides skills training in dress making/designing, broadloom weaving, food processing technology and sheabutter/groundnut Junior Secondary Schools and other levels. There Satellite Centres have been established in Zabzugu, Bimbilla and Gushiegu and are making a great impact on the lives of many girls in these areas. The Institute has turned out over 100 girls, most of whom are now in gainful self-employment in their various communities. Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation: AGREDS was responsible for the distribution of food and other relief items to over 180,000 internally displaced persons in the 1994 Northern Ethnic Conflict rehabilitation process, over 500 yam farmers in six communities in the Zabzugu/Tatale and Yendi Districts are being supported under the seed yam support programme. This is to help the farmers to regain their pre-conflict production levels. AGREDS is currently hosting the secretariat of the Inter-NGO Consortium, an umbrella organization of all NGOS (local and international) operating in the areas of emergency relief and rehabilitation in Ghana. Health Services: Provide community-based Preventive and Curative Health Care in 113 Outreach Communities in two districts. Preventive Health Care include health education (working in partnership with communities to have healthy and self-reliant individuals), TBAs and VHCs training, Maternal and Child Health Services and Outreach Clinics. The Saboba Hospital is responsible for the curative aspect of the health services delivery, and serves as the Secondary Referral Centre for the Saboba/Chereponi District. The services extend to the Zabzuzugu. Tatale and Nanumba Districts as well as some communities in neighbouring Togo. In the heat of the 1994 ethnic conflict when the entire Saboba/Chereponi District was cut off from the rest of the Northern Region, the Saboba Hospital remained opened with its full complement of staff to provide medicare to the many internally displaced persons. The Nankpaduri Health Centre caters for the health needs of communities in the Nankpandure, Bimbagu and Naswan Zone, reaching out even to communities down the Gambaga scarp such as Worikambo and Denigu in the UER. HIV/AIDS Awareness Education: The programme, initiated in 1999, focuses on awareness education among the youth, other identifiable bodies in the Church and the target communities. AGREDS is also supporting an Association of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) financially, morally and spiritually to live positively with the disease, with emphasis on abstinence (for singles and married couples). AGREDS is providing skills training on techniques for effective and Biblically balanced HIV/AIDS counseling for Pastors, Counselors, other church leaders and workers, with emphasis on support and care for people infected and affected by the disease.
Recent Accomplishments:
Through organization of extra classes, in-service training for school teachers, PTAs, SMCs and supply of TLMs to program schools contributed to 100% students pass rate in the BECE exams results released this year in respect of 3 JHS supported by program (All 177 students who wrote the exams got placement in SHS at carious places within the region: Dakpa-71, Pusuga-59 and Nasamba-47) against 90% pass rate last year) 2. Assisted two students from Pusuga to complete EP College of education and are currently teaching in addition to two (2) student from Binda one of which will be completing this year and the other next year through school fees support. 3. The introduction of the Learning Through (LTP) approach in 8 program communities led to an increase in promotion of child protection issues: Parents and caregivers are aware and assist in promoting child rights by making sure the right environments are created for children to play, learn and be attended to. 4. The introduction of the LTP approach has also led to the enhancement of family life. Relationships between husbands and wives have improved- According to the Wife beating by husbands at will has reduced in programme communities. According to the women; “Our husbands are now very understanding and supportive. They take us or support us to go for antenatal and weighing sessions” 5. With the supply of food items to ECD centers as part of the school feeding program, school enrolment in program ECD centers have increased from 920 t0 1102. This further enhanced school retention as children at ECD stay in school rather than going home to get food to eat after break and certain times stay back at home instead of returning to school. 6. Saboba Medical Centre in 2011 succeeded in reducing Maternal deaths to 0. 7. The Lifeline program has trained, equipped and successfully reintegrated 1,211 girls into communities of their choice. 8. 908 (75%) of reintegrated girls are in full employment and supporting their families. 9. Increased collaboration with the Ghana Police Service-Anti Human Trafficking Unit and other agencies resulted in the rescue and placement of children in school and transfer of others to countries of origin. 10. Increased the number of teacher accommodation apartments from one (1) to 15 apartments thereby attracting 17 additional primary and JHS teachers to programme partner schools in Tongo-Beo, Nangodi, Ugando, Saboba and Langbinsi. 11. Increased the number of classroom in programme schools from 23 to 47 with an increase in enrolment by 30% in Lagbinsi, Langbina, Gbani and Zogiligu primary schools and Nangodi, langbinsi and Nanjong # 1 JHSs. 12. Improved access to clean water by pupils in four programme schools in Langbinsi, Langbina and Tongo-Beo primary schools and Nanjong # 1 JHS. 13. Over 4000 pupils in13 programme schools practice hand washing in school 14. Community participation in local school support and management improved as community members initiate and use local material to construct houses for teachers, carry out minor repair works on school buildings, weeding around and keeping the school environment clean etc. 15. Programme JHS schools continue to emerge as best performing schools in their districts – Bunkprugu/yunyoo and Gabaga districts. Nakpanduri AG JHS for the period 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 recorded the best grades during the BECE examinations in the districts. 16. Community Leaders are now more able to strategically lobby GES and the District Assemblies for specific development projects which they consider to be their right. 17. Reported increase in the number of parents and guardians of programme schools who are getting more interested in their children performance as they link up with community school teachers to know more about the performance of their children. 18. Programme communities continue to increase number of meetings organized to address basic education challenges locally.
Quote:
Transforming communities through partnership.
Partner Activities:
Community Infrastructure Programme. The main objective is to contribute to the improvement of livelihoods of rural communities of five marginalized districts in rural Northern Ghana in the area of basic quality education, with the goal of contributing towards the achievement of education for all in Ghana (MDG 1). In an attempt to contribute towards this goal, AGREDS Basic Education Support Programme is working with stakeholders to achieve improvement in access, quality and policy influencing in basic education through the provision of physical infrastructure, capacity building for classroom teachers and School Management Committees/Parent Teacher Associations (SMC/PTA’s). Other cross-cutting issues such as water, sanitation and hygiene, promotion of girl-child education and HIV/AIDS are integrated in the programme. b. Health Services. AGREDS runs two hospitals and one Health Centre in the Northern Region. All these health facilities focuses on Preventive and Curative services to their catchment districts and communities through the provision of 24-hour services, community based health education, maternal and child health services and outreach clinics. The Curative aspects of our health service delivery include the operation of a 90 bed capacity hospital in Saboba, which also serves as a referral center for the Saboba District, as well as neighboring parts of other districts. Approximately 10-20% of our patients come from western Togo; in addition, we attract surgical patients from the northern part of Volta Region, Brong Ahafo, and Ashanti Region. We serve as the district hospital for the Saboba District, and also get many patients from the Chereponi District, since Chereponi currently has only a polyclinic, not a district hospital. The Nakpanduri Health center is AGREDS’s second health facility established in the 1950’s by the Assemblies of God church. It is a busy clinic that provides the curative health care needs of communities in the Nakpanduri, Bimbaagu and Naswan zone. c. Anti- Child Trafficking programmes ( Life Line Programme) The programme tackles the issue of child labour/ trafficking with two prolonged protection and preventive strategies. The protection entails providing basic care, employable skills training through rehabilitation and reintegrate trafficked victims. Whilst the preventive aims at promoting early childhood development of vulnerable children, awareness creation, community mobilisation and policy influencing. d. Emergency Relief and Livelihoods Enhancements Programme. In partnership with UNHCR and UNIDO AGREDS is working with Liberian and Ivorian refugees across all the five refugee camps in Ghana situated in Ampain, Krisan, Buduburam, Egyeikrom and Fetentaa in the Western, Central and Brong-Ahafo regions respectively through the provision of skills training to improve the livelihoods of refugees. AGREDS also continues to play a leading role in emergency relief and rehabilitation operations throughout the country and consequently currently hosts the Secretariat of the Inter-NGO consortium for Relief and Rehabilitation, an umbrella organisation of NGOs focusing in relief and rehabilitation in times of disaster. e. Child Sponsorship and Family Support Programme. The programme operational areas are Yendi, Nanumba North and South Districts respectively. The major intervention areas of the program are: Child sponsorship, Strengthening Community Organizations (SCO), Education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Health and Nutrition and Sustainable Livelihood Development (SLD). f. Advocacy and Conflict Resolution AGREDS, in carrying out its developmental programmes in deprived communities considers advocacy and conflict resolution as very fundamental to any effective development. The rights of the child has been one major area that AGREDS has championed over the years and is currently championing the course of child trafficking and the worst forms of child labour through the Lifeline programme. Since 1994, AGREDS has been deeply involved in various kinds of peace building initiatives and conflict resolution programmes, all aimed at creating a peaceful atmosphere for effective development. A series of peacebuilding workshops have been held in partnership with WANEP and other partners in parts of the Northern and Upper East regions that were affected by the 1994 ethnic conflict. AGREDS also facilitated peace talks between the warring factions in both Bawku and Dagbong that led in the signing of a peace pact at Damango, now known as the Damango Declaration.
