57 February 2022 The Birthday Journal in the children who slept in shady places by night and ran around the streets by day; in the children who becausetheyhadnoprotection,were subject to abuse and manipulation by sick adults; in the children who for want of survival had joined criminal gangs, prostitution rings, and fraud racketeers. He thought of his own children, and those of his friends; safe, sound, protected. Children who had it all; good families, material wealth, love, everything a child should have. It gave Opoku his light bulb moment. Why not make a donation to an orphanage for his fiftieth birthday? Not just any donation, something different. He discussed with Cee as he called his wife, gave her the names of fifty people who had impacted his life and asked her to invite them to come along to spend the day with him at the orphanage. If he had his way he would make donations to all the orphanages in Ghana but for now, he needed to start from somewhere. And where else to start from but his birth region, the Eastern Region? He settled on the St. Elisabeth orphanage nestled somewhere in between the hills of Aburi; a big orphanage with a big heart, and asked Cee to visit the orphanage and see how they could help. Cee took it in her stride. Sat right in front of the orphanage administrator the next day, she weighed the options available for a donation. Did they want to donate cash? Or food? Or did they want to furnish one of the orphanage’s apartments in order to make room for the intake of more children? The administrator herself was overjoyed, she told Cee something which touched her heart. The mattress she slept on had been donated by someone during their seventieth birthday. She wished more peoplewouldmake donations. TheArthurs chose themost exciting option of all, which Cee, dubbed the ‘Elisabeth Project.’ It became their mission and it all came to a head on the 17th of January, 2023. THE GIRL. Priscilla A precocious nine-year-old with a zest for life, and a penchant for mischief. A creative girl fromAburi, who always thought she would rule the world. Until her parents died. Itwashergrandmotherwhotookher to the Social Welfare people when she was nine. The agony of living with her aunt was unbearable. The officers at the Social Welfare were apologetic, they would have sent her to the St, Elisabeth Orphanage at Aburi, so she could be nearer home, but there were no rooms available at the moment. Yes, the orphanage had several apartments but they were not furnished so they could not afford to take any more orphans. She returned back to her aunt, disappointed, gloomy, destined for hardship. So when one day, her grandmother got a call from the Social Welfare people to say that there was room at the St. Elisabeth orphanage, that they would take seven more girls of which she was one, she was beyond elated. Now she was here, and although she had been here for several days, the novelty had not worn off. She walked around the apartment for the hundredth time, with big round eyes, the whole thing beyond her imagination. She patted her bed; her bedsheet, the loveliest she had ever seen, the curtains, heavenly.
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