In 1996, S.Aid assumed the responsibility from Catholic Action Street Children (CAS), a sister organization, to administer the first experimental day-care facility for children who live on the streets of Accra. This crèche was located in the shanty area of the Kokomba market in Accra. The program proved popular with street mothers and their children and has since expanded to five day-care facilities in strategic locations throughout Accra. Every day, the various crèches care for over 750 children.
Education is a top priority in the crèches and they aim is to ensure that school-age children are adequately prepared to enter primary school. Children are expected to attend class every day. There are four distinct classes in every crèche corresponding to the children’s age (0-3, 3-4, 4-5, and 5-6 year olds).
Another concern is the parent’s ability to keep their children in school. Social workers regularly visit the crèches and visit the homes of the children to promote enrollment in school and discourage sending their young to work for a mere pittance in the markets.
In collaboration with the Salvation Army, each crèche also contains a resident nurse who monitors the growth of the children and provides them with proper medical care should they fall ill. The children are also fed two nutritious meals and a snack each day.
S.Aid recognizes that life on the streets demands unpredictable work schedules and strives to keep its services open accordingly. Children may arrive at the crèche at 6:00a.m. and stay until 5p.m. Monday thru Friday.
The day-care facilities are named after the areas in which they are situated:
1.The Railway 1 crèche
2.The Mamobi crèche
3.The Kinbu creche
4.The Railways 2 creche
5.The Railways 2 Annex
Parent - teacher conferences are held bi-annually to discuss ongoing issues and problems that occur at the crèche.
This picture illustrates the dismal alternative to S.Aid’s crèches. Children either do not attend school or they occupy their day in community crèches where the facilities are not appropriately sanitized, the children malnourished, under-stimulated, and improperly supervised. At the local crèches, the children were enclosed in a small wooden structure with inadequate light. They were being fed the same meal that they have had every other day of the week and the floor was still flooded from yesterday’s rains. Mother’s drop their children off at these crèches to leave their children in a secure place and the ‘minders’ attempt to take care of the children but they simply don’t have the resources and training for such work. S.Aid launched a campaign in October 2006 to support these local crèches and make them S.Aid satellite crèches. S.Aid is working to train the women who run the community crèches in proper child care and also strive to improve the general condition of these facilities.