Otiko Afisa Djaba is the CEO of Miidan Educational Trust, a small Ghanaian NGO working in partnership with Plan International to promote the rights and wellbeing of children in some of the poorest areas of northern Ghana.

Miidan is run by Otiko Djaba, who accompanied the three children from Ghana that visited Australia as part of Plan's 2006 Commonwealth Games program.

The seeds of Miidan were first sown when Otiko grew frustrated with the lack of adequate television programming in Ghana for her young children. Not one to sit back and complain, she decided to do something about it, and started producing her own children's programs.

It was while she was doing this work that she learned more about the state of many children in her country and how little was being done to respond to their needs.

Otiko increasingly found her work focusing on children in need, and particularly on helping them to learn about and realize their rights - to become active players in their own development rather than waiting for adults to give them handouts.

Now Miidan works in about 100 communities in the Wa and Tumu areas of northern Ghana. Miidan's main role is to help children in poor communities start and run child rights clubs, in which the children learn about their rights using the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child as a framework.

Based on the convention, the children learn how to claim their rights and teach their communities about what needs to change, and how they can do it together.

Part of this work involves some of the skills that started Otiko on her journey. Many of the children have now learned a range of skills in print, radio and television media, and continue to produce work based on the rights of children as tools to teaching their friends, families, communities and different levels of government about children's rights, needs, and what needs to be done about them.

For instance, while we were visiting in the Tumu area, the children were filming a documentary about the rights of children, the poverty in northern Ghana, and what Miidan and Plan are doing to help children alleviate poverty.

Miidan is a small organization that does so much more than its size would suggest possible. Otiko and the Miidan staff work tirelessly for the children they support, but do so on limited budget and resources - and often limited sleep.

Currently, Miidan needs more audio-visual equipment, particularly for filming and making more television documentaries and programs, and is very much looking for media or technical partners who could donate such equipment. Used equipment is very much welcomed.

If you are interested in donating equipment or money, or would like to know more about the work of Miidan Educational Trust, please contact miidan@yahoo.com

Story by: Prince Osei Bonsu