dankwah

Our Heritage is an event designed to help non-profit organizations connect, inspire each other and exchange experiences on running a non-profit. The goal of the event was to motivate and inform people of African background, who have a no-profit or want to start a non-profit organization.

Esther was invited as one of the panellists and shared her insights from her work in the non-profit sector. During the panel discussion, several questions were asked and discussed in order to gather information on building a successful NGO.

Date: Saturday 22 June 2019, The Student Hotel – The Hague

Are you ready to unleash your inner strength? Do you want to know what it takes to discover your potential and maximize it to the fullest despite your previous mental and abusive challenges? Esther Dankwah Foundation presents: ‘Recover your Strength!’ on Saturday the 12^th of October in The Hague, the Netherlands. Take part in an empowering seminar alongside Esther Dankwah where likeminded influential people share insights, experiences and lessons dealing with sex abuse, especially of young teenagers.

Recover your Strength! is initiated by Esther Dankwah, Ghanaian Olympic champion and founder of Esther Dankwah Foundation. The foundation is committed to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Through our programs, we strive to create a world where people (respectively children) are loved, happy and thriving.

The seminar

How do you recover your strength after abuse? Esther Dankwah knows better than anyone what it is like to ultimately have to fight and “run” from poverty for her life to survive. Having survived sexual abuse in her childhood, she knows what it means to experience pain, shame, suffering and ultimately survival.  That is why she is committed to underprivileged children especially children who have experienced domestic violence, rape and neglect.

• Interact with Esther Dankwah on her motivation for people who have gone through any form of abuse.
• Discover the signs and how to deal with a loved one who has gone through painful experiences.

Workshop

• Find out how exercise can help you face heal mental challenges.
• Discover how to deal with the signs of danger to make the right decisions for healing.
• Discover your potential and how to effectively use it where your strengths are maximized.

Be a part of our conversations!

The program ends with a fundraising reception for the Esther Dankwah Foundation.

Time:                    13.00hrs
Location:             Dryve Market (Waldorpstraat 17) Find out more via: www.dankwahfoundation.org

Meet Esther Dankwah, founder of Dankwah foundation this Sunday on Africa on Focus with MS.ABA.
Africa on Focus aims to share the success stories of Africans around the world. Tune in for a chat with Esther, as she talks to the African community on addressing issues relating sexual abuse for change.

Esther dankwah shares how sharing her recovery story after abuse helped her heal and make a positive change in her life. The founder of Dankwah Foundation was a special guest on Africa on Focus, (on Hiradio) to invite all who seek empowerment and healing to be a part of Recover your Strength!, a seminar to address abuse, Taking place on the Saturday the 12^th of October.

“It’s going to be about changing things and finding your turning point”

• Esther Dankwah (founder of Esther Dankwah Foundation)

Did you miss Esther’s talk on the show? Watch the recap on Facebook and learn more on what Esther intends to do to bring change through her event.

The Hague, 12 October 2019

Almost 35 people made up of supporters, sponsors and experts in the field of social work, psychiatry and more joined Esther Dankwah, director of Dankwah Foundation for Recover your Strength! On Saturday the 12^th of October; an interactive seminar on how to solve the issue of silence surrounding abuse girls and boys.

Turning pain into power

Esther shared her personal and painful experiences with abuse and her motivation for this specific theme. She emphasized how important it is that people who are seeking help feel like they are considered as ‘real’ people rather than a number within a social project provided by the governments.

“I always draw my power from running and I always get myself back on track”

Esther Dankwah, Founder of Esther Dankwah Foundation

The athlete shed light on how discussing her experiences with her parents helped her to heal on the long run. “Each and every one of you has the power to heal from this”, she shared. Esther revealed that her parents didn’t have a clue about what she went through and they were shocked to hear about her story years after.

When healing started

“Sports helped me take on the challenge to move on. What others don’t do; I do. We need to take on the courage for our next healing stage, such as finding supportive friends who will help you to look at life beyond your problems so that you can move on.” She also shared how she dealt with side effects such as anger. Track running was her way of escape.

“Deal with it and smell the fresh air”

Esther Dankwah, Founder of Esther Dankwah Foundation

Having talked with the audience and professionals in health, social work and psychiatry, the audience gained a good perspective on where some of the solutions to breaking the silence within multicultural communities as well as the wider Dutch society lie. The majority agreed that one of the starting points is understanding cultural differences.

The event

Recover your Strength! is initiated by Dankwah Foundation, sponsored by Elgon Collection (a flower handling and distribution company that provides flowers from Kenya).

Esther Dankwah Foundation is the collective name of Stichting Dankwah Street & Sports Academy (based in the Netherlands) & Dankwah Street Academy Foundation (based in Ghana).

How do you recover from the dark experience of sex abuse? This event provides a forum to share insights, experiences and lessons dealing with sex abuse, especially of young teenagers.  Our daily news seems replete with stories of young women and even boys abused by their care-givers, colleagues or acquaintances. Esther Dankwah, Director of Esther Dankwah Foundation, knows better than anyone what it is like to ultimately have to fight and “run” for her life to survive. Having survived sexual abuse in her childhood, she knows what it means to experience pain, shame, suffering and ultimately survival.

Our organization is committed to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Part of our mission is to mobilize a network of supporters and partners to address this issue, especially in the Ghanaian context as well as in the Netherlands. Even more crucial are questions on dealing with intra-familial abuse; peer to peer sexual abuse and young people’s harmful sexual behavior that could lead to abuse.

The format of the seminar series is based on a conversational / testimonial style in which the panellists share their experiences of either recovery or working with victims of childhood and child sexual abuse. In addition, the seminar will generate ways for effective & imaginative means of protecting children and young people from sexual abuse. The seminar is opened to practitioners, policymakers, community leaders and everyone with the desire to see the evil of sex abuse eradicated.

Besides the personal testimonials, we will explore the following key topics:

• Understanding barriers to disclosure of sexual abuse cases.
• Measures for prevention of child sexual abuse within institutions (sports schools, churches, company, etc).
• Creating child-centred approaches to dealing with abusers and recovery for abused.

The seminar will close with a fundraising reception & volunteer outreach to support the Dankwah Advocacy Network, our programme for support to sex abuse victims and care-givers.

Dankwah Foundation organizes its annual event to bring awareness to effects of abuse.

On Saturday 14th November 2020, Esther Dankwah held a facebook Live event due to the measures implemented by the Dutch government in relation to Covid-19. Alongside, joined Ms. ABA and guests. This event provided a forum which helped survivors to talk about how they’ve overcome abuse, privacy and trust issues, forgiveness and healing, a good support system, but more importantly, the strength and courage she wants to give to victims who are currently experiencing some form of abuse.

The trauma of sexual assault is very real and can pierce to the deepest core of a survivor. Esther highlights the importance of recovery from a dark experience, the pain of abuse eating at one for years, and the fatal outcomes related if one doesn’t seek help.

Abuse affects many young boys and girls, especially at a young age. Aside paving a way for victims to get the support they need, Ms. Dankwah also sheds light on processing emotions in a healthy way as blaming oneself only takes your recovery backwards.

Did you miss Esther Dankwah’s virtual event? Catch up with last week’s conversation. >>> Facebook and YouTube below

On Saturday the 6th of February, Esther Dankwah, founder of Dankwah Foundation shared insights, experiences and lessons on dealing with relationships after sexual abuse. Topics of conversation included post trauma insecurities, self-love, transparency and privacy in a relationship, education, support groups, gender, race, cultural backgrounds and healthy open communication.

Alongside, joined Saba Akeem (human rights worker) and Rukya A. Abdulai to share their thoughts and experiences in regards to the topic.

Did you miss Esther Dankwah’s virtual event? Catch up with last week’s conversation on the following platforms: Read More on

Facebook >> and YouTube below