Lotus Children’s Centre and Nursery Schools

Lotus Children’s Centre and Nursery Schools

Lotus girls with volunteer Soujin. From left: Mukti, Ratna, Arati, Asiima, volunteer Soujin, Abigail, Gloria

Started in 1993 by AMURTEL (a sister organization to AMURT), Lotus Children’s Centre is the home of nine talented girls ranging from 6 to 23 years. They live in a safe and caring family environment and have access to wider educational and job opportunities .

The Girls at Lotus

Some of the girls at Lotus. From left. Ratna, Abigail, Mukti, laksmi, Gloria, Aruna

Several of the girls at Lotus came to the centre because their parents were overburdened and could not afford to educate them. 17 year old Aruna is one of them. She came to Lotus as a four year old girl and recently entered Senior Secondary school after successfully passing her exams. With 12 brothers and sisters, Aruna’s chances to even complete primary schooling were almost non-existent. To save her from a future of poverty her parents asked Didi Shanta, the project co-ordinator, to help educate her thereby increasing her life chances. Aruna’s ambition is to become a doctor.

Opening doors to gainful employment

In Ghana the higher education system is highly competitive. Just having good exam results is not enough, it is only available to those with financial means. Lotus provides the opportunity to access higher education so that girls and young women can reach their full potential. This opens doors to gainful employment, increasing their chances of leading a life without poverty. All the girls are expected to complete senior secondary school, which is funded by AMURT as well as other organizations and individuals. 

The ‘Sponsor a Child’ Programme

Gloria

Didi Shanta, who runs the centre, has also set up a Scholarship Programme for the girls that will allow them to complete their schooling, as AMURT often struggles to cover all the necessary expenses. Didi is currently looking for a sponsor for Gloria, who came to Lotus 6 years ago and just completed Senior Secondary School. Gloria’s dream is to attend the Nursing Training College at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. To make this possible, AMURT aims to raise US$ 1,430 per year for three years. Click here to contact Didi or here to make a donation.

Lotus & Korlegonno Nursery Schools

To demonstrate our commitment to opportunities in quality education the Lotus Children Centre is managed alongside two nursery schools. These projects have  benefited, both educationally and financially, from the regular long-term visits and creative inputs from the committed volunteers who have come via the Kids World Wide program - click here for Kids Worldwide.

The Children at Lotus are happy to play all day with the many toys brought to us by volunteers

Our international volunteers are involved in running art and craft classes, story-telling and other creative activities such as drama and music. Sadly, this creative approach to education is still rare in conventional schooling in Ghana, where children are not taught to think for themselves and where memorizing and learning by rote are the predominant teaching methods.

The girls at the Lotus children’s home have had fun face painting with one of our volunteers

At Lotus, we are slowly trying to change this by actively involving our local teachers in planning the curriculum and by raising awareness of the specific aims of our education system. We encourage every child to embark on the joyful journey of learning and self-expression.