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OTAL Services > Corporate Information> Press Releases OTAL
assists survivors of infanticide (10/03/03) OT Africa Line (OTAL), the specialist West African liner operator, has recently shipped free of charge a charity consignment of cargo from the UK to Tema, Ghana for AfriKids. AfriKids is a children’s charity, which works with communities in the upper eastern region of Ghana to improve the quality of life for rejected and abandoned children. These include some of the 30,000 children living on the streets. In this region 22 percent of children die before the age of five – one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. Furthermore an estimated four percent of children born here are victims of infanticide, better known as the spirit children or 'Kinkirgo'. A child can be diagnosed as Kinkirgo for many reasons, from being born with a deformity, to their mother dying during delivery. The child is thought to be sent by the devil to inflict harm on the villagers who will seek to terminate their lives as quickly as possible. Sadly their deaths are by no means instant. The lucky ones are rescued and cared for by AfriKids* The organisation has the support of the President of Ghana, John Kufuor, the Ghana High Commissioner in the UK, Isaac Osei and the former British Minister for Overseas Development, Baroness Chalker. The container, loaded on board the Julie at Felixstowe, contained large quantities of books, toys, clothes and blankets. The charity will distribute the contents to the children in their care. OTAL’s Marketing Manager Rachel Bennett explained: "OTAL supports a number of West African charities in this way. The company is delighted to be able to help the Afrikids project, which has created transitional homes for the children in Ghana in order to fulfill their immediate needs for shelter and food plus provide care, encouragement and support". |
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