Welcome to
HardtHaven Children's Home
of Kpando Ghana

HardtHaven Children's Home first opened its doors on May 28th 2007. Our current projects are:

HardtHaven Childrenís Home, our central project, is currently housing and caring for 19 children between the ages of 1 and 15. There are 8 girls and 11 boys, all AIDS orphans. An AIDS orphan is defined as a child who has lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. Seven of our children are HIV positive.
Meet the children of HardtHaven

Our Sponsorship Program is currently sponsoring 30 AIDS orphans who live out in the local communities. Each child receives different support depending on his/her needs. Children receive funds for schooling, food, and/or medical care. Many come and spend holidays or weekends at the Childrenís Home.
Meet the sponsored children

We provide short-term rehab to severely ill children referred to us by the medical staff at Margaret Marquart Hospital. We provide emergency medical funds for in-hospital care and on release take the children into the Home until their medical problem is resolved or improved enough to be returned to their families. The children are then cared for under our Sponsorship program.

HIV/AIDS and hygiene education is provided to local communities and schools. We pair our volunteers with some of the older children in the Childrenís Home so the message can be spread both in English and in their local languages.

HardtHaven has recently begun providing palliative care for HIV+ women. Depending on their needs food, personal care, or companionship are provided. Volunteers spend time with these women along with some the older children in the Home who volunteer to help.
The palliative care women

HardtHaven provides the opportunity for volunteers from around the world to make a difference in Ghana. Opportunities are provided for volunteers to spend time tutoring and playing with the children in the Home, visiting sponsored children, providing palliative care for dying AIDS victims, teaching in local schools, working at the local hospital or clinic, and/or working in community education. Other volunteer opportunities are also available upon request. Volunteer information

Larger Photo | Filmed Interview Elvis Kusukpame is 24 and is in desperate need of your help. Elivs lives in Kpando and helps out at HardtHaven Childrenís Home when he can. He was born with a hole in his heart called ventricular septal defect (VSD). This is affecting Elvis' health and causing him unexpected blackouts. Elvis has a cut on his head in the photo from a recent blackout that had occurred the day before. He urgently needs open-heart surgery to correct this birth defect. Ghana's Heart Foundation has volunteered to put up half the cost of the operation, and we are raising the rest. The operation will cost €8000, which will cover the surgery, anesthesia, intensive care, and time in the hospital. Please send help and let us raise the €4000 ($6,181) Elvis will need to see he can live a wonderful full lived life. Read the letter from the National Cardiothoracic Center

Our Purpose:

HardtHaven's purpose can best be described through the story of one of our children: Susan* is a 10*-year-old girl who lost both of her parents to HIV when she was a baby. After their death her grandmother cared her for until she too passed away. Susan was then brought to live with her only living relative, her uncle Moses who cared for her for 3 years until stigmatization from his community forced him to give her up.

Since the fall of 2006, Susan has had many, many different homes. In addition to temporarily living with different individuals she was also rejected by an orphanage because she had a "bad scent" and had terrible hygiene. After a while Susan was returned to her village, where the only person who would to care for her was an elderly woman who could barely care for herself. More days then not, Susan went without food. She was eventually diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive" due to her loss of over 9lbs and lack of growth in height over a year.

At last a woman from New Seed International, (an AIDS support organization in Ho) who had heard about us from nurses in a neighboring village, brought Susan to HardtHaven and we gladly took her in. She has been with us for a year now and Susan is like a completely different child. She started immediately gaining weight once her intestinal worms were treated. Initially, Edem, the Ghanian Director, had to spoon feed her as she was too weak to even feed herself but now she eats 3 huge meals a day and runs around playing with all her friends in the Home. She is on proper medication and she has learned proper hygiene and how to care for. She is still very sick but she is living in a caring environment that offers her good food, education, and more toys than she has ever seen in one place before. She is being given the chance that all children deserve: a chance to have a happy life.

*Name and age has been changed for the protection of the rights of the child

Did you know... Every day 14,000 people contract HIV 40.3 million people now live with HIV/AIDS AIDS kills 1 child every minute AIDS has orphaned 15 million children YOU CAN HELP!!!