Volunteer & Missionary Information

Introduction

 

Welcome and thank you for your interest in volunteering with City of Refuge Ministries (CORM). The intent of the CORM Volunteer Handbook and Policy Manual is to inform and prepare you for your volunteer service at the CORM Children’s Village in Ghana. We want to help make your volunteer experience is fulfilling and productive. Your cooperation with our policies and your flexibility will be essential to making your time with us a success.

 

 

About CORM

 

City of Refuge Ministries (CORM) is a grassroots organization working in Ghana’s Lake Volta and Greater Accra regions to prevent the trafficking and exploitation of children in the fishing industry.

 

CORM participates in the negotiation and transition of the release of enslaved children. CORM also works with children that are vulnerable to being sold into child slavery as well as single mothers who are susceptible to selling their children. Partnering with and equipping indigenous volunteers, CORM works on the ground in the Volta Region to evaluate the situation of the enslaved children prior to their rescue, and through informative workshops, strives to educate fishing communities to abolish child slavery. CORM provides the rescued children with a nurturing home, which focuses on their spiritual, social, emotional, physical and educational development.  With the care and guidance of house parents, family homes are developed for these children. 

 

In March 2009, CORM was given 20 acres of land by the chiefs of Doryumu, Greater Accra Region. This land is being developed into the Children’s Village. The Children’s Village currently consists of two children’s homes, a volunteer house, a guest house, administration office, Save A Child Water Company (a single mother empowerment initiative), Faith Roots International Academy, a basketball court and football field.

 

Mission Statement

 

            The mission of the City of Refuge Ministries is to liberate children from modern-day slavery and give them a home and education, educate others about human trafficking, and motivate individuals and groups to get involved in stopping this injustice towards the vulnerable.

 

Goals and Objectives

 

1)  Every person we encounter will know the love of Jesus Christ.

2)  Liberate children from the fishing communities along Lake Volta and Oceanside villages in Ghana.

3)  Provide a home, education and a future for children liberated from child slavery and children that are vulnerable to being sold into slavery.

4)  Educate people about human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

5)  Educate the fishermen about other means of gaining income without buying and selling young children.

6)  Motivate individuals and groups to get involved in ending the injustices of Modern-Day slavery in this lifetime.

7)  Motivate full villages to abolish slavery in their communities and influence others to do the same.

8)  Empower single mothers through community development and income generating projects in the villages most vulnerable to selling their children into child labor.

 

 

 

Our Philosophy

 Our philosophy of care is holistic. We believe that every child is an individual and has spiritual, emotional, social, physical and educational needs. We seek to meet these needs through ongoing services that embrace them from every angle. Vulnerable children are provided safety in the form of safe-homes, which can house up to 18 children and provides caring house parents and staff, daily nutrition, education, recreation, spiritual enrichment opportunities, and a nurturing family environment. City of Refuge offers children the opportunity to develop into caring, successful adults through vocational training, life skills and relational guidance. Community outreach is used to influence leaders who can promote understanding and long-term vision to see children as the future and invest in their upbringing in productive ways.

 

 

 

Our Methodology

 

The way we meet these needs is in the details of everyday operations. Our CORM Children’s Village Safe Homes program allows the children to gain an understanding of their innate value as a child of God. This happens through spiritual enrichment, school attendance, meeting the medical needs of the child, opportunities for play and learning healthy habits. The children’s physical needs are attended to while their emotional and spiritual development are cared for. Daily devotions, outdoors activities, medical check-ups, and a healthy diet all contribute to a child’s growth.

 

City of Refuge Ministries works to eliminate child trafficking in Ghana by working in three areas:

 

Prevention                                                                   

City of Refuge Ministries is working to not only rescue children out of child slavery but also to prevent children from being sold. We are doing this by empowering single mothers who are vulnerable to selling their children. In 2010, we began to take steps to try to eliminate one very specific component from the cycle of child trafficking, vulnerable single moms living in both lake and coastal communities. Our belief is that if we can empower single mothers economically and educationally they will no longer be vulnerable to selling their children to Lake Volta’s fishermen. We are also working in several communities to provide education to the people about the issue of slavery and what is happening to the children once they are sent to work at the lake.                                                    

 

Intervention                                                     

It is our goal to eliminate the issue of child trafficking in the communities where we work by educating the people of the community about the dangers of selling and buying children. We are also working to rescue as many children from child slavery as we possibly can.                                       

 

Restoration                                                   

The CORM Children’s Village is located on 20 acres of landed donated to CORM by the Chiefs of Doryumu. The children who call the CORM Children’s Village their home live in family houses. It is our goal to allow these children to have a childhood since so many of them come out of situations where they were working long hours on fishing boats or doing domestic chores. The children attend school during the day and in the evenings they are free to play. It is our vision that the CORM Children’s Village will be a place of refuge for hundreds of children who are in need of a safe place to call home.