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OAFRICA FAQS

Unfortunately we cannot support a child for travel to Europe or the US for educational purposes

  • There are good universities in Ghana – a donor can sponsor a special program here so that the child can stay in Ghana.
  • We would like educated Ghanaians to stay in Ghana to help contribute to the economy and society.
  • The child must be evaluated by a certified doctor in Ghana.
  • The doctor must conclude that proper care cannot be given in Ghana and the child will only get better or survive if sent for medical treatment abroad.
  • We facilitated the trips of 2 children abroad for operations in the past: Sekina had a successful operation to recover her poor eyesight in Spain in 2005; Daniel was sent to the US in 2006 to recover full eyesight, but unfortunately he was unable to undergo the operation due to a degenerative retinal disease which could not be corrected.
  • Our policy is to try to help as many children as possible, and usually we cannot justify the energy and resources spent to help one child. Usually these initiatives require an active partner organization, specialized in these types of medical initiatives, who will take up that burden.
  • OA is not an official entity mandated to give formal advice regarding adoptions.
  • While OA promotes the idea of adoption and hopes that all adoptable children are adopted, OA has no legal power to process adoptions.
  • All adoptions in Ghana must be approved and directed by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) in Ghana. All individuals interested in adopting must go through all the proper legal channels in their country of residence and obtain the proper legal documents/permission. Laws, requirements, etc are subject to change or differ depending on where the adopting party is from, their gender, marital status etc. Laws differ from country to country.
  • These proper documents must be presented to DSW in Ghana. After approval by the DSW prospective parents can adopt any adoptable child (under the guidance of DSW’s own in-house lawyer).
  • The adopting party must obtain the appropriate visa from their country’s consulate in Ghana before bringing the child back to their country of residence.

No, OAfrica doesn’t believe in promoting Institutional care.

We advocate providing community-based programs that strengthen families rather than institutional care which is not economical and often violates children’s rights.

For example, you could do this by:

1. Collaborating and strengthening the Social Welfare system and civil society in the country where you are working to improve policy, planning and delivery systems to orphans and vulnerable children.

2. Enhancing the capacity of ill and impoverished parents thus preventing the premature separation of the child from their family.

Look at Unicef “Better Care Network’s www.crin.org web site and to the Government of Ghana Web site www.ovcghana.org.

You can also see specific guidelines at http://www.unicef.org/protection/alternative_care_Guidelines-English.pdf

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