Florida State University

Akwaaba Trissanne !!!

Trissanne Keen, a previous intern of Patriots Ghana has been offered an internship position on the microfinance project. Trissanne is a Florida State University student, a recipient of the 2018 David L. Boren Scholarship Award and through the program, She is currently studying at the University of Ghana (UG). This Award provides students with the opportunity to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. National Security. She spent two months in Gainesville learning how to speak Twi and she is currently also taking a twi class at UG among other classes. You can read more about the award here : https://www.borenawards.org/

Last year, during her internship, she worked on the child labor and trafficking project, and served as a team leader. She led efforts of 7 local and international volunteers to implement innovative project activities and strategies to address child labor and trafficking in the Awutu Senya East and West Districts. Her team carried out several child rights advocacy and educational awareness campaigns, research and one on one tutoring. She also carried out a capstone project that analyzed the academic and social performance of sponsored students after they have been rescued from child labor and trafficking.

Below is what Trissanne had to say:

“It’s already been three weeks since I’ve been in Ghana. After completing my Twi summer class and enrolling in courses at the University of Ghana, I’m proud to announce that I will begin my internship with Patriots Ghana next week. For the fall semester, I will be working on the Patriots Ghana Micro-Finance Project. This projects empowers women by equipping them with financial knowledge to start and expand their small businesses. The project also facilitates a stronger sense of community among women. Having the opportunity to intern with Patriots Ghana last year, I know that I will be surrounded by dedicated and passionate Project Coordinators. I’m looking forward to having a great experience again!!!”

From September to December 2018, she would be playing the role of Project Development Intern. In the next couple of months she would be working directly with Patriots Ghana and our Partner organization, Gadrage Aid Foundation International (GAFI). One of her main tasks would be to work with project team to develop a document that facilitate learning of basic twi language for international volunteers to ensure effective communication in the project. Other tasks she would be engaged in are:

Assist the organisation with basic administrative work including writing project financial reports, research data analysis, report writing, designing newsletters, social media and online research where necessary
Facilitate the development of fundraising strategies and participate in fundraising activities with the team to support more women on the project.
Assist project managers to conduct demand-driven workshops on bookkeeping, budgeting, business plans, digital financial services, savings etc. (As at when necessary)
Work with local team to evaluate ongoing project and make recommendation for project improvement. (As at when necessary)

We look forward to working together towards providing interventions that lead to social and financial freedom for women.

Interns Present Research at Harvard University – “Implications of Family Planning on Child Labor: A Ghanaian Case Study”

Summer 2017 brought two amazing interns Leah Singleton and Taegan Dennis both of whom are undergraduate students at the Florida State University (FSU). They served as project coordinators for Patriots Ghana’s Child labor and trafficking prevention project in three fishing communities in the Central region of Ghana (Senya, Fetteh, and Nyanyano).

As part of their internship with Patriots Ghana, they conducted a study into the Implications of Family Planning on Child Labor. They presented their research at the National Collegiate Research Conference (NCRC) which was held on January 18^th-20^th at Harvard University. The NCRC aims to build an interdisciplinary research community among undergraduate students and promote undergraduate research. Their project explored how stakeholders in Senya-Beraku understand the role of family planning in reducing poverty and child labor within their community. Patriots Ghana offered community volunteers who acted as translators in the target community, Senya-Beraku, Ghana.

Background of Senya

Senya Breku is one of one of the villages located in Awutu-Senya in the Central Region of Ghana. Like most of the coastal communities, Senya too is based primarily on fish and fishing. Senya, in particular, relies almost entirely on fishing. As a result, they have to find other ways to make money but none are available. Families are forced to send their children to work at the shore untangling nets, selling fish and working on the boats. The men fish while the women sell the catch in the markets in Kasoa or Accra.

Methodology

Recruited local elites from the Senya Beraku fishing community through snowball sampling and conducted 22 mid-length interviews (30-45 minutes). The interviewees include religious leaders, the stool elder of Senya, an assemblyman, local health workers, our National Coordinator and staff of our partner organization, Cheerful Hearts Foundation. Transcribed and inductively coded the language used by interviewees to describe family planning and child labor as well as relevant background information. Compared Codes between demographic factors such as gender and community role. SAS Software was used to portray the descriptive statistics and analyzed differences.

Findings

75% of respondents believe contraception is highly accessible in Senya-Beraku

64% of respondents mentioned stigma against contraception
90% of respondents mentioned potential side effects as a barrier to contraception use
30% of respondents mentioned fear of infidelity as limiting contraception use
Mean number of children for interview respondents was 2.68 children, compared to mean ideal number of children as being 3.3
85% respondents cited considering finances when deciding if children will work or go to school
81% of respondents identified a relationship between large family and prevalence of child labor

Significance

Theoretical

Clearer understanding of barriers towards contraception use: while contraception is considered to be widely available, social factors impair community willingness to publicly purchase contraceptives or discuss family planning.

Practical

Need for economic development: respondents’ emphasis on finances’ influence in family decisions implies a greater problem of economic hardship
Need for increased outreach resources: 87% of respondents cited education as a potential community solution.

Their study has provided Patriots Ghana an insight into some of the root causes of child labor and trafficking in the Senya-Bereku community in relation to gender roles and perspectives, religion, economic and social structures that need to be considered in addressing the problem.

Aside from working on their research study, they played key roles in various activities on the project. They assisted in coordinating community meetings and child rights advocacy & awareness campaigns in schools, one-on-one tutoring for rescued child laborers, and assisted in organizing the 2017 Worlds Day Against Child labor.

Recognizing the need for women empowerment in the three fishing communities, Leah and Taegan collaborate with Patriots Ghana, fundraising to expand our Women Entrepreneurial and Leadership Development (WELD) – A project that trains 72 girls per year (24 each quarter) in entrepreneurship and leadership. –https://www.omprakash.org/global/patriots-ghana/crowdfund/women-entrepreneurial-and-leadership-development–weld-

We are proud of our interns and impressed with their exceptional dedication to their research and rural community development.

Citations

(1) Ghana Statistical Service. Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 6 (GLSS 6): Child Labor Report. 2013. ix.http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/glss6/GLSS6_Child%20Labour%20Report.pdf

(2) Laird, Siobhan. “The 1998 Children’s Act: Problems of Enforcement in Ghana.” The British Journal of SocialWork 32, no. 7 (2002): 893-905. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2371656.

(3) Thakurata, Indrajit & Errol D’Souza. “Child Labour and Human Capital in Developing Countries—A multi-period stochastic model.” Economic Modeling (2007) EBSCO. DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2017.09.006

(4) Singleton, Leah & Dennis, Taegan. “Implications of Family Planning on Child Labor: A Ghanaian Case Study”. NCRC Poster. 2018.

(5) Dennis, Taegan. Omprakash Blog: Contrasting Voices on Family Planning.2017. https://www.omprakash.org/blog/contrasting-voices-on-family-planning

Photos Credits: Singleton, Leah & Dennis, Taegan.

Source:Emmanuel Yamoah (National Projects Manager).