HISTORY OF DESTINY HOPE AFRICA

Destiny Hope Africa was started to contribute to curbing the problem of illiteracy, child trafficking and poverty hampering on the neck of the township of Senya Beraku. The Foundation was started in June, 2009. At the time, Mr. Abeiku Okai, founder of the foundation, was on vacation from school and was providing extra classes for some children whom he was training in theatre performances.  He then noticed that there were so many children who were not schooling in spite of the government’s free basic education programme. He further consulted some parents and realized that apart from school expenses, securing daily bread for families is a serious burden. And that has been the reason why most children are home while their colleagues in other parts of the community and the country are in school.

He then decided to offer his vacation time to bring hope to the people of his town. Another friend of his, Gloria Graham, was at his support with this vision of bringing hope.  Both of them went round the vicinity, accompanied by yet another friend, who had already been inspired by the very conception of the dream. They wrote the names of some few children who were home. To their utmost surprise, the first day of school recorded a number of forty children coming in with their parents.

The academic journey then started in an uncompleted building. That first day was a hectic one as the handling of the crying children with inadequate supporting staff was cumbersome. At that moment, it seemed the foundation had bitten more than it could chew. But the dream moved on with firm determination.

The school had its first vacation in August, 2009, with the total number of children reaching almost a hundred.  When school re-opened in September of 2009, the number shot up to almost one hundred and fifty due to the ease it brought to most parents and also the dedication with which each team member of the foundation worked. 

In January, 2010, two foreign whites by name Lucy Mason and Blaire Smith, who were also inspired by the efforts of the foundation, presented some books to the school. In gratitude, they were honoured with the Blaire and Lucy Destiny Kids Awards, which are annually given to the first three best pupils in the school in memory of their love. Earlier, an American lady, Adjoa Margaret Stack, visited the foundation and gave the children doses of anti-malaria medicines to help fight against malaria. Adjoa Stack continues to use her Senya-Tamale Homeopathy project to keep the children in good health without any token fee in return. 

Colleagues in the University of Ghana also got interested in the dream when it was communicated to them. Two of them, Sarah Hammond and Sarah Dodoo, endeavored to visit the place during vacation in December, 2009. This visit attracted their passion to continuously fight for the needy.  As part of their support, they donated four bags of cement to support a new wooden building project being put up to accommodate the children. They also sewed uniforms for some of the children and have since remained faithful members of the foundation. Over time, a number of individuals have shown interest in the vision of the foundation and are contributing to fulfilling the destinies of the kids.