By Reginald Ofori-Kyere
Creating New Beginnings (CNB) is a UK and Ghanaian registered charity that aim to raise awareness about the immeasurable potentials of special needs children. Under the supervision of CEO – Cornella Boateng, CNB’s work has been centered on raising awareness of autism, and keeping the Ghanaian public informed that the behaviours are as a result of different medical conditions and not a curse or bewitchment.
One of the many key achievements to date by the charity is the acquisition of a building for an autism and special needs school at Frafraha, outskirts of Accra. CNB has also been responsible for the creation of jobs for locals and frequently sending autism specialists from the UK to develop the Ghana school staff in partnership with British Council. The work of Creating New Beginnings has not gone unnoticed and GUBA interviews to find out more.
Congratulations on your nomination for the Charity of the Year Award! How do you feel about it?
We feel honoured and excited at the nomination.
Tell us a little about yourself and what you do
Creating New Beginning (CNB), is a UK registered charity dedicated to reducing the needless suffering of disadvantaged children with autism and special educational needs in Ghana, by giving them access to education. We have been in Ghana since 2013.
The Charity’s main objective has been creating awareness of autism and its coping mechanisms to the general public. We provide facilities for education in a school environment, specialist therapy and the provision of recreational and leisure time activities.
Support from individuals and organisations including British Council has enabled the Charity to undertake a building expansion project to create a larger school for more of our special children to access education.
Why would you say you deserve to win?
We continue to raise public awareness and destigmatise autism and learning difficulties for the disadvantaged in the community and for that I will say that we deserve to win.
What motivates you and your work?
The successful education of children with autism and other special needs as this requires an in-depth understanding of the disability and its unique characteristics. Without this requisite knowledge teachers in a typical Ghanaian classroom will struggle to achieve meaningful inclusion for these children. The current tendency towards didactic and oral teaching in Ghana is not conducive to the learning needs of most students with autism who require concrete, repetitive and visual teaching. These factors constantly motivate us to do our best.
What are your thoughts on the GUBA Awards?
I believe the GUBA Awards is an Inspirational showcase of Ghanaian talent.
Is your organisation involved in any other projects?
Presently, we are trying to complete an expansion building project to enable 70 more children to be able to access the school we have established in Ghana, for disadvantaged children with autism.
Creating New Beginnings has been nominated for the Charity of the Year Award. To cast your vote, visit https://gubaawards.com/voting/charity/
