Youth groups

We have through the mercy of God been able to establish youth groups in different suburbs of Accra. These youth groups have been meeting since many years back. Some of these children have grown and are matured enough to take up responsibilities in the groups. We have began a leadership training time to train these upcoming leaders to take up the responsibilities of helping the upcoming ones in the areas of our beliefs, social help, counseling, and even in academic work. It is our hope that they can even help financially in the future.

The youth groups help them to find their identity as people belonging to a group and having friends with a common goal. They can learn from each other and get taught about the bible, they get to know how to pray and also get lessons about different themes such as HIV/ Aids, childhood, family problems, life skills and also future choices such as courses to do in school, work, profession, marriage. In the groups are girls and boys who fall out of school because they couldn’t get through their exams with good grades. These always need counselling and help so that they don’t fall into wrong hands and get involved with the wrong friends.  They are also helped to make other choices like entering into other institutions where they learn hair dressing, sewing and many other trades. Whiles others have finished learning and begun working, there are others who are also in it whiles we wait for those who will be coming.

Vineyard Football Club (VFC)

As a branch of Shepherd’s Home, Vineyard Football Club comprises of street guys who have come together to play football, have fun and to grow friendship among each other. We are registered with the Ghana Football Association as part of the third division. In the moment there are 29 registered football players.

The players neither pay to join the team nor pay any monthly club fee. We provide transportation. As at now we do not pay winning bonuses but we intend to do these in the near future. The club is a chance for people who are living on the street to play football, have fun, develop their talents in football and get their minds off problems and boredom for some time. Added to these, we offer them prayer and good teachings to help them get to know more about God.

The club provides football boots, jerseys, shorts, socks, footballs, training vests and gloves for the goal keeper for the team members. The club pays transport for the team from the meeting point to and from the football field of the opponent team when a match is played. The club provides a first aid kit. These things stay property of VFC. The VFC pays the referee fees and a sack of water every day and takes care of the washing of the playing outfit. The football players meet four times a week. Saturdays are mostly match playing days against other clubs.

Human development

Shepherd’s Home gives children from different areas the opportunity to attend school and young people the opportunity to learn a trade.

For example was there a disabled young woman from the street at Okaishie, able to finish her hair dressing apprenticeship. Before, she was begging on the streets between vehicles for two years.

Through different contacts we got to know a mechanic who is well known. He has about thirty people around him and is also educating young people. We were able to put three boys from the street into an apprenticeship with him. He is prepared to get more apprentices from time to time.

We would like to get more young people from the street into vocational training. There are more possibilities now because of known places where the masters do not care about the background of the young people and are willing to educate them. There are others too who have learnt and benefited from the organisation and are prepared to help and train others as they themselves were helped one day.