The Founders of Blessed Home are Mr. Michael Arhin, a Ghanaian resident in Germany and his Dutch Wife, Mrs. Marina Schuurman Arhin. Mr Arhin indicated that the Guest House, would serve as a sustainable means of income to manage the facility at Okyereko, instead of relying entirely on foreign sources of income.

The Founders of Blessed Home, together with twenty-eight volunteers from Holland and America, are in Ghana on a two-week trip to support the local people at Okyereko to work on the project so that it can be completed by December this year.

Mr Arhin said the street kids and orphans would be accommodated between six-months and one year, where their feeding, clothing, medical needs as well as education would be catered for in addition to religious and moral upbringing reflecting Christian family values.

He asked individuals with the desire to extend a helping hand to the project, to visit; www.blessedhomeghana.org. “A strong foundation for kids like good moral values, education, healthcare and opportunities for jobs after school, is critical to advance national development.   So, let us ensure that Ghana’s rich natural and human resources are harnessed for the benefit of all citizens especially, the poor kids on the streets, orphans and other handicapped people, because, they need total national support for their survival”, he added.

Menpon Company Limited, the Contractors on the project, expressed the hope that the project would be completed on schedule for it to be inaugurated in January 2019 to ensure a smooth process to accommodate the first beneficiary kids.

The Volunteers expressed joy about the warm reception of the local people and the opinion leaders in Okyereko “who are eager to support us to get the project completed.”  Apart from the accommodation project, the volunteers have also been organising motivational sessions with some select group of children at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Winneba, to inspire the children to be focused and not to allow their immediate environment to prevent them from aiming for the best in life.

Mrs. Marina Schuurman Arhin, the Co-founder of Blessed Home, who is a Nurse by profession, said her visit to Ghana a couple of times and having the opportunity to volunteer her service to some handicapped people in a village near Offinso in the Ashanti Region encouraged her to be associated with the project at Okereko to create the congenial environment to help the growth of kids.Mr Kwarko Mensah Gyakari, the Country Director for Blessed Home Ghana, said they were motivated to start the Blessed Centre for Children project at Okyereko because of the challenges facing children looking at the deprivation in the coastal towns, especially in the Central Region.

Mr Gyakari who is a trade unionist, urged the philanthropists to support the disadvantaged in society with education and employable skills, adding that, “at the end of the day when people are gainfully employed, they will have something to do and it makes the country safe and secure.

He also called on government agencies responsible for giving license to benevolent organisations to speed the process, so that at least those who are ready to help would do it within the shortest time possible. “Sometimes, too much bureaucracy tend to frustrate people with genuine commitment to get into our deprived communities to undertake programmes and projects that will enhance the living standards of our people”. 

Mr Gyakari commended officers of the Department of Social Welfare at Winneba for the tremendous support for the realisation of the vision of the Blessed Home- Holland and its Ghana branch, Blessed Centre for Children. He described as very refreshing to see 28 volunteers from Europe and US coming down to help the project. “I think as a country, we have to encourage our youth to go into volunteerism to support projects aimed at giving hope to the needy in our communities”.