Help Gofred Overcome Life's Challenges

John first met Gofred about a year ago when he found him living by himself on the beach in Accra, Ghana. Gofred was five years old at the time. His father had abandoned him to look for work in a neighboring country. Gofred's mother had died some time earlier so the little boy was entirely on his own.

The beach in Accra is not safe. Even John is afraid to be outdoors there by himself at night. And a five year old is in no position to take care of himself under the best of circumstances.

So John took the child in to live with him, giving him food, shelter, and even medical treatment for a health issue. Fortunately the father returned shortly afterward. He then took Gofred with him to stay at a village near Koforidua, a city in Ghana that lies some distance from Accra.

Almost exactly a year later John received a message that Gofred was seriously ill. John took the day-long trip by public transit to check on the child and to bring some money for his medical care. He found that Gofred is being cared for by a woman hired by Gofred's father. Gofred's father is still travelling and visits him only perhaps once a month.

John arranged for Gofred's care and then returned to Accra. John himself is not in good health and the trip triggered another health crisis but he was determined to do what he could for the little boy. Once back in Accra, John raised some money to pay the remaining medical bills and to pay for Gofred's schooling but the caretaker doesn't have a mobile money account, which is the primary means most Ghanaians use to pay money back and forth among themselves. So John made another trip to pay the caretaker in person but once again his health couldn't take the stresses of the trip and he was forced to spend some time in hospital as a result.

Gofred is not, perhaps, in the kind of desperate straits some of the other children are in. He does have a father who is providing at least some care for him. But he does need help if he is to receive any kind of education and without education he will have no future. Also, of course, when emergencies such as illness arise, as they always do, he needs help.

But what concerns me the most about Gofred is that he always seems so sad. I have never seen a photo where he is not looking down as if he is about to break into tears. I have never seen him smile. He never looks at the camera or looks anyone in the eye. Sadness just radiates from him, as if he is bearing the weight of the world on his small shoulders.

Gofred is not having an easy life. His mother is dead and his father is constantly leaving him behind as if he doesn't care about him at all. Also when he was five years old and just getting established with a circle of friends in big city of Accra his father took him away from his familiar surroundings and dumped him down in a small village of strangers and then went off and left him there. I know from personal experience how soul-wrenching that can be.

I know other children have worse problems, but there are more kinds of suffering than illness or hunger. There are also needs of the heart and soul, and I fear Gofred is starving in his own way from lack of happiness or reason to be happy.

Of course we cannot bring his mother back to life or make his father give him more attention and affection but we can at least provide him with some of the basic necessities of life and help him to get his schooling. We can give him some sense that there are people who care about him and who are trying to help him.

So we are determined to do what we can for him.