SAMARITAN VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATION (SVO)

There are no real statistics on the number of NGOs in the country. The estimates vary widely, one will assume that  the number will be over 10,000. And less than half of these are legally registered.

Samaritan Voluntary Organzation focus on this biblical principles which is in Mathew 25:35-36  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Samaritan Voluntary Organization is an NGO that care for the remote areas in Ghana especial in the Ashanti Region where there are no basic facilities for us but we have a deep love and affection for our country.

In this areas most of the villages are scattered over the vast area with distance between two intervention areas being 10-20 kms. Some of the villages are densely populated while others are sparsely populated comprising mainly the poor and most vulnerable children and women. These villages are relatively peaceful and co-exist together with little evidence of violence based either on religion or on caste. Most of the households are very poor and lead simple life.

Most of the villages do not have good roads, as they are located in the interior part of the district. They become inaccessible during monsoons and floods cutting them from the rest of the district. The villages do not have primary health services as most of the PHCs are conspicuously absent or dysfunctional. Incase of an emergency people go either to nearby communities or have to travel 40-50 kms to Kumasi which is the regional capital. The literacy rate is very low in most areas. There are primary schools lacking even basic facilities. The girl dropout level is also high here as girl child education is not of much importance to them.

Agriculture is the main occupation and main source of livelihood in the villages. There are hardly any industries that can provide employment to the people. This area has witnessed large scale migration to cities.

One of our objectives is to reduce poverty and unemployment among the rural folk through self-help job creation and income generation programs. This is achievable through:

Providing the poor and unemployed rural youths, women, the needy and deprived with information and micro-credit facilities that will enable them creates jobs by themselves for their own benefit by using sustainable agricultural and renewable natural resources available within their immediate environment.

a) Our effort towards youth development is to generally bridge the   
    information and knowledge gap among grassroots youth
    organizations. We achieve this through:

i. Collecting information on best agricultural practices and
   experiences in sustainable agriculture, appropriate communication
   methods and participatory approaches to rural development from
   individual Professionals and professional- farmer organizations,
   NGOs, Internet, libraries, local farmers.

ii. Organizing and disseminating same information by post and
    hand-to-hand to effectively reach out to our target groups ie: youth
    development organizations, CBOs and such organizations that focus
    on improving the quality of life of rural dwellers).

iii. Promoting exchange of formal and informal agricultural knowledge
    and co-operation among stakeholders such as Agricultural Extension
    Officers, Community Development Workers (CDWs), peasant farmers
    and rural development experts.

iv. Supporting, building capacities and working in participatory
    relationship with Community Based Organizations(CBOs) in the improved management of community
    renewable natural resources, for the benefit of the rural folk.

v. Promoting micro-enterprise development in rural communities.

vi. Providing micro credit facilities, technical or financial assistance
    directly to grassroots youth development associations, young
    women development associations and young individuals to enhance
    economic and developmental activities they themselves have
    conceived and nurtured.

b) On the educational front:

    We facilitate the establishment of vocational and skills training   
    programmes in the rural communities to address the needs of
    school dropouts and other persons with the potential for training.