How it begun
The concept of forming an ecumenical Christian community with the aim of providing a home and shelter for abandoned children with intellectual disabilities dates from 1990. The founders were aware of how gruesome the fate is of some of the so-called water children. At some places in Ghana people still traditionally believe that mentally handicapped children are the result of sexual intercourse of water spirits with the mothers of the children. Therefore it may not come as a surprise that the life of such a child is difficult to accept at home, the family is scared to death and unjustly the mothers feel guilty. This is the reason why so many of these children do not survive or are abandoned, often far away from home, sometimes near a holy river where the water spirits are living or in other occasions just somewhere, for instance at a market place at the end of the day.
Encountering a few of these children under the most pitiable circumstances in a state-orphanage and a mental hospital, the founders felt obliged to act. In 1992, they decided officially to establish the community as a Ghanaian NGO, a non governmental organization. The community was founded by three Ghanaians, amongst them Mr. Andrew Osei Takyi and by Dr. Ineke Bosman, a Ghanaian-Dutch tropical doctor. Mr. Osei Takyi has served the community for fourteen years as coordinator.
Ineke Bosman
http://inekebosman.blogspot.com +
Ineke’s old columns on the website (2005 – 2010)
Without any doubt Ineke Bosman has been the driving force behind the foundation at the time and without her Hand in Hand would not have emerged and developed to what it is nowadays, a community with a unique and appealing atmosphere.
Ineke has been working as a tropical doctor (through the Dutch organisation Memisa) from 1973 until 2010, she was active in Ghana (1973 – 1978, 1983 – 2010), Sierra Leone (1978 – 1980) and Ethiopia (1981).
She has been honoured several times for all her work, by the RC Church as well as by the President of Ghana. The latter distinction was mainly for pioneering successfully with a health insurance system in Nkoranza (1991), which was later used as a model for the Ghanaian National Health Insurance. The diocese of Techiman has also rewarded Ineke for her great contribution to the care for children with intellectual disabilities.
After the foundation of Hand in Hand in 1992, Ineke went to Chicago for two years (1994 – 1996) for a Masters in Counselling. There she met her husband Bob Maram and they married in 1997. So since 1997, when the workload was increasing, she was supported by her American husband Bob, who became PCC’s financial director.
After some time, in 2002, also Mr. Samuel Baffo joined the Board, as the director for projects and building. Later on Mr. Emmanuel Daasebre became the care coordinator and in 2006 he was appointed as a member of the Board.
In 2011 more than 60 permanent residents are living in our Community and besides that there are 15 young adults, who do have a family home elsewhere, but who are living with us for about 9 months per year and who working in the sheltered workshop to the best of their capabilities.
