END OF YEAR 2005 REPORT:

During the year 2005, St. Joseph Orphanage in Ogoja, Nigeria, received a total of $130,000 in funds from GOSPA Missions with a commitment to putting final touches to our building projects and commencing the boarding exercise.

Boarding in general

Boarding of orphans started in earnest in September 2005. About 150 Children are now settled into dormitories in the orphanage. Orphaned children were drawn from far away localities like Sankwala, Obudu, Ukelle and some parts of Boki in Cross River State of Nigeria. On account of this development, more care-givers and cooks were employed to enhance better care. We are happy these care-givers can afford kids some form of comfort different from the usual village lifestyle they were used to. More boarding facilities were purchased like mattresses and double decker-beds. We also re-invented the design in the dormitories to accommodate the children with their gender differences.

Kitchen annex/feeding

With the boarding system in place, we began to experiment on feeding the children while they are in the dormitories. Rural African children now eat in a clean dining hall or refectory, using cutleries in their daily meals. Cooks ensure that the children are afforded balanced diets on a daily bases. One of the areas we spent our resources to equip in the last year was the Kitchen and refectory. Our hope is to create conducive atmosphere for poorer kids; ages 6-14 to have a routine time-table of eating standard meals. As the boarding expands, it may be necessary to separate the older kids from younger ones with time. We are hoping that the building of a secondary section will enable this to take place. Already, bathrooms have been provided near the kitchenette for their convenience, as the internal bathrooms originally in the building plan were found to be inadequate for the many children.

Healthcare

There is a mini health care unit for First Aid in case of minor injuries and other minor cases. More serious medical eventualities are referred to the nearest government hospital. In future we hope to expand the medical unit to include a standard clinic where children will be treated within the school compound and also awareness will be raised in terms of health needs in the wake of HIV/AIDS.

Electricity and Water

To provide electricity for the children, a medium size generator was purchased as power supply in Nigeria is sometimes very unstable. The generator is a 90kv, Vertical Nulux diesel engine, commonly known here as ‘Water coolant’. For the meantime, two water tanks have also been provided to arrest the water problem.  We attempted to develop spring water by digging a well but were not very successful. At the same time, we installed water tanks to gather rainwater during the rainy season, while we were developing the spring. We hope to finish work on the water project soon for a more permanent water supply system.

Transportation

With regard to transportation, we have two ailing buses at the moment which we spend a lot to maintain, considering the high price of fuel in Nigeria and the cost of maintenance. We are hoping that this year, we can purchase a new and bigger bus for the children, or  alternatively purchase a smaller car or truck that can be used for administrative errands, and thus spare the life of our ailing buses.

Vocational centers

Two major projects were embarked upon this year to boast the development capacity of the children: a vocational training center with sewing machines and a library equipped with 2 computers for education with tables and shelves to match. The vocational center will create a forum of interaction for children and wider community members. Here children can learn hands on trades like sewing, computer skills as well as imbibe the culture of reading after school hours. The vocational center which is housed in the upstairs section of the complex has already been equipped with computers, sewing machines and a library with reading tables. This center will be open to the public to enable children grow up within a community atmosphere. With a promise to provide absolutely free education to rural children who are mostly orphaned, St. Joseph is not only committed to the intellectual prowess of these children, but also to their spiritual uplifting as well. The Acting principal is already putting together a choral group that promises to excel in traditional songs and dance.

Staff

The St Joseph Orphanage and School presently have staff strength of 42 people. Of this number, 17 are teachers, 4 are involved in administration, 6 are care –givers, 4 cleaners, 2 security men 3 kitchen staff and 6 youth corpers. The youth corpers program in Nigeria involves young graduates from Nigerian universities to help out in key programs around the country within a year of primary assignment to selected institutions in States other than their states of origin.  It is our hope that we can step up our salary scales for our hardworking staff sometime in the future, especially as we have finished our major building project. With the increase of staff, the orphanage needs a corresponding update in the living space for staff as well their office spaces. Furniture was procured for the principal’s office and the Convent quarters that now accommodates the Principal and youth corpers. We took time to equip the Principal’s quarters, landscaping the quarters and other school areas this year

Teaching and Curriculum

With the boarding scheme off the ground, one of our targets this year is to recruit more teaching staff too. We also hope to procure books and teaching aids on an ongoing basis. This year we hope to work resolutely on the curriculum and purchase more modern teaching aids for the staff. We purchased a new marching band for the school which allows the children practice marching for competition with their peers during national holidays and other festive celebrations. 

PROPOSALS FOR THE YEAR 2006

This year 2006, shall be a year for moving ahead. We are aware that the orphanage is expanding and the children are growing and graduating into new classes, hence there is a dire need for a secondary section, while the present complex remains purely an orphanage with kids of the primary or elementary level. We make this proposal to Gospa Mission and we appeal for their usual cooperation to fulfill our dreams. We continue to give thanks to God for his gift of Gospa Mission to the children of Ogoja. We resolve to work harder this year since this is the only means of attracting more financial support from our Donors.  The objective of this report is to highlight priority programs oriented towards providing the basic needs that will eventually build sustainability for the St Joseph Orphanage.

Signed this day January 1st 2006

Joe A. Abue.                                                                          

Director of St Joseph Orphanage