Ghana Orphanage
Donation protected
I have adopted a small orphanage in Ghana, Africa where I volunteered this last winter. It cares for about 30 orphaned children and also runs a village school for about 130 kids. The orphanage feeds the school kids lunch every day as otherwise the children would go without.
The village is very poor, with mostly mud-stick houses and some concrete ones. A few residents own goats and chickens that freely roam the village. Most villagers cook outside on wood fires. There are communal toilets and a couple of communal village wells for water from which the women and children carry heavy loads on their heads to their homes.
The orphanage has fallen on hard times as its original administrator is now in mature years and struggling with ill health. Her son, a social worker for twenty years with the Ghana police force, has taken the helm. This gentleman is an absolute gem, but he can only do so much as he has a full time job with the police. His wife is the administrator and headmistress of the village school, so she is also working full time, but together they have committed to keeping the orphanage going and have moved from a nice apartment in Accra to the countryside where the orphanage is located and now live in one tiny room in order to care for the kids.
Their meager kitchen recently blew down in a storm. Meals for the orphans and school are now cooked outside on a wood fire, among goats and chickens, each competing for nibbling away at the huge cast iron pot for the crumbs. Bread, cheap ramen noodles and toilet paper are luxuries. Each Sunday the children get a cup of hot chocolate as a treat. Their daily meals consist of cassava, rice and plantains with little protein, vegetables or fruit. They occasionally have a scrawny chicken or tiny goat thrown into the pot. It is all that is affordable to them.
The children however, are well loved and happy. They sleep in simple dorms and wear second hand shoes and clothing that is donated by churches, but they are lacking in even such simple things as tooth brush holders and towels for bathing and sheets for their beds. They have one outdoor pit toilet with two stalls and their bathing is done under open skies behind a concrete wall with a bucket of cool water. There is no running water per say, however they have an underground well and are able to pump water into a cistern.
Their three primary needs are food, clothing and school supplies, all of which are available with money. The orphanage children do not have a television or any computers. The village school does not have any computers yet these kids are going to have to enter a real world job market and be able to compete for the available jobs. The orphanage has 3 very old bicycles and one young orphan is clever enough to keep taking them apart and fixing them, giving the kids a very nominal and limited means of transportation.
Their entertainment is a large, open field for playing soccer. I watched one young fellow play in a pair of women's red fluffy slippers, as they were all that he had. The girls do the laundry by hand in wash tubs and grind spices for their food with a big mortar and pestle. They wash the dishes on the hard packed ground. The boys clear out brush and undergrowth on the property and collect firewood ... and play soccer!
They are all really good kids and never complain about the chores they are given to do. If asked to do anything, they immediately jump to it.
I have been working on a plan along with the administrator, for them to become much more self sufficient so that they do not have to rely on ever diminishing charitable donations. Right now, they have nothing coming in and oft times the administrator uses his own salary from his police job to see them through a tough month. He loves each and every one of the kids and their welfare and future are paramount to him. He also feeds and cares for an 80 year old village grandmother who has active leprosy and has lost her fingers and toes. She herself has been left with 3 young boys to raise from her grand daughter yet she has absolutely no means of support for these children. The day I visited her, she had a single plantain roasting on the fire to feed all of them. Life can be hard in Africa.
It will take about a year for this plan to mature and get to the point where they can begin feeding themselves along with creating some very necessary cash flow for their other necessities.
To that end, I am trying to raise $10,000 that will get them some help to get them through what they need to do and to build in this first year of self-sustenance. Thereafter, they should be able to (mostly) manage for themselves. Reliance on foreign donations is dicey and limiting as they never know whether there will be money coming in, and these days it isn't. Their future is much brighter if they can just get on their feet and move towards self sustenance.
Here is what the money will be for:
Buy a good flock of chickens (and roosters) to raise for both eggs and meat. A recent volunteer has already built them a great chicken coop.
Funds for supplementary food for the chickens for the year while the flock grows.
Extra chickens and eggs can be sold to the village for orphanage income.
Increase the existing goat herd for an additional protein food source.
Funds for supplementary food for the goats for the year as the size of the herd is increased.
Extra goats can be sold at market for orphanage income.
Funds to hire 3 local staff for a year:
One local woman for cooking the orphanage meals and the school lunch for the 130 children.
One local man to plant and manage a vegetable garden and fruit trees. There is ample land to cultivate to do this. Fencing to be built to keep the goats out of the garden. Extra fruits and vegetables can be sold to the village and taken to market for orphanage income.
One local man to manage the chickens and goats, building the necessary pens, fencing etc. and increase the livestock, eventually adding pigs as another food and income source.
Buy concrete blocks and build a new kitchen.
Buy a used 3 wheeler motorcycle with a large cargo box that can be used for hauling food and supplies to and from the local market, hauling distant village children to and from school, hauling the necessary construction supplies and hauling the livestock.
Purchase 3 treadle sewing machines. Electricity is expensive, so treadle machines make sense. In the plan we want to teach the girls simple sewing, so they can mend and make simple clothing for themselves. Being a seamstress is one of the most viable options for young women to have as a business and a couple at the orphanage would like to do this, but they lack the funds for taking the sewing courses and buying the machines.
Any extra funds can go towards purchasing solar panels for electricity, used computers and used bicycles.
The funds put to use now, as outlined above, will allow the orphanage to become much more self sufficient within the year. It just takes a little time to grow livestock herds, build corrals and fences, and harvest gardens and fruit trees. Not having to depend on very diminishing donations will allow them to keep moving ahead. The orphanage administrator is embracing this plan wholeheartedly.
We additionally have a plan, once there is a simple kitchen again, to teach the girls bread making, as bread can also be made and sold to the local villagers, for more income as well as being one more food source (and welcomed treat) for the kids. Right now, the nearest bread source is a 45 minute drive away and bread is relatively expensive thus making it only available as a treat, yet actually making it costs pennies.
These are all simple things, simple plans ... all very do-able with some seed capital.
I have already personally established a small micro-lending fund that the older children can borrow from for taking courses, or further education so they can launch themselves into a small business or a career. They borrow and pay back as they get going, interest-free, but at this point, there's only enough for one to use and borrow at a time. I hope to increase this to a more robust amount allowing a few more to be moving ahead. Any extra funds could also go here.
The orphanage and school need so much, but right now they need the funds to get the program started so that in a year's time they can be feeding and clothing themselves and earning cash for their other needs. They have the willpower to do it and see it through and the administrator is excited about their future and potential incomes.
Eventually they will need a computer lab and library, a television for world affairs and entertainment, playground equipment and some bicycles. They will be able to begin managing these on their own, once they can start producing a little income.
I hope you will join me in giving them the hand up that they need. Any amount will be sincerely appreciated by this wonderful group of children. They are the future of Ghana and Africa!
Whatever donation you are able to give, please know that it will be used wisely and any amount, however big or small, is so very much appreciated.
**Should you wish to offer an on-going monthly donation, please contact me. This would be a wonderful way to help support, feed and educate these kids.
** If you are upgrading your laptop and no longer need the old one, please consider donating it.
** If you would like to volunteer at the orphanage and the school, let me know.
** Please share this page with those whom you feel might like to contribute.
On behalf of the orphanage and the children ... THANK YOU!
Peggy Wright
The village is very poor, with mostly mud-stick houses and some concrete ones. A few residents own goats and chickens that freely roam the village. Most villagers cook outside on wood fires. There are communal toilets and a couple of communal village wells for water from which the women and children carry heavy loads on their heads to their homes.
The orphanage has fallen on hard times as its original administrator is now in mature years and struggling with ill health. Her son, a social worker for twenty years with the Ghana police force, has taken the helm. This gentleman is an absolute gem, but he can only do so much as he has a full time job with the police. His wife is the administrator and headmistress of the village school, so she is also working full time, but together they have committed to keeping the orphanage going and have moved from a nice apartment in Accra to the countryside where the orphanage is located and now live in one tiny room in order to care for the kids.
Their meager kitchen recently blew down in a storm. Meals for the orphans and school are now cooked outside on a wood fire, among goats and chickens, each competing for nibbling away at the huge cast iron pot for the crumbs. Bread, cheap ramen noodles and toilet paper are luxuries. Each Sunday the children get a cup of hot chocolate as a treat. Their daily meals consist of cassava, rice and plantains with little protein, vegetables or fruit. They occasionally have a scrawny chicken or tiny goat thrown into the pot. It is all that is affordable to them.
The children however, are well loved and happy. They sleep in simple dorms and wear second hand shoes and clothing that is donated by churches, but they are lacking in even such simple things as tooth brush holders and towels for bathing and sheets for their beds. They have one outdoor pit toilet with two stalls and their bathing is done under open skies behind a concrete wall with a bucket of cool water. There is no running water per say, however they have an underground well and are able to pump water into a cistern.
Their three primary needs are food, clothing and school supplies, all of which are available with money. The orphanage children do not have a television or any computers. The village school does not have any computers yet these kids are going to have to enter a real world job market and be able to compete for the available jobs. The orphanage has 3 very old bicycles and one young orphan is clever enough to keep taking them apart and fixing them, giving the kids a very nominal and limited means of transportation.
Their entertainment is a large, open field for playing soccer. I watched one young fellow play in a pair of women's red fluffy slippers, as they were all that he had. The girls do the laundry by hand in wash tubs and grind spices for their food with a big mortar and pestle. They wash the dishes on the hard packed ground. The boys clear out brush and undergrowth on the property and collect firewood ... and play soccer!
They are all really good kids and never complain about the chores they are given to do. If asked to do anything, they immediately jump to it.
I have been working on a plan along with the administrator, for them to become much more self sufficient so that they do not have to rely on ever diminishing charitable donations. Right now, they have nothing coming in and oft times the administrator uses his own salary from his police job to see them through a tough month. He loves each and every one of the kids and their welfare and future are paramount to him. He also feeds and cares for an 80 year old village grandmother who has active leprosy and has lost her fingers and toes. She herself has been left with 3 young boys to raise from her grand daughter yet she has absolutely no means of support for these children. The day I visited her, she had a single plantain roasting on the fire to feed all of them. Life can be hard in Africa.
It will take about a year for this plan to mature and get to the point where they can begin feeding themselves along with creating some very necessary cash flow for their other necessities.
To that end, I am trying to raise $10,000 that will get them some help to get them through what they need to do and to build in this first year of self-sustenance. Thereafter, they should be able to (mostly) manage for themselves. Reliance on foreign donations is dicey and limiting as they never know whether there will be money coming in, and these days it isn't. Their future is much brighter if they can just get on their feet and move towards self sustenance.
Here is what the money will be for:
Buy a good flock of chickens (and roosters) to raise for both eggs and meat. A recent volunteer has already built them a great chicken coop.
Funds for supplementary food for the chickens for the year while the flock grows.
Extra chickens and eggs can be sold to the village for orphanage income.
Increase the existing goat herd for an additional protein food source.
Funds for supplementary food for the goats for the year as the size of the herd is increased.
Extra goats can be sold at market for orphanage income.
Funds to hire 3 local staff for a year:
One local woman for cooking the orphanage meals and the school lunch for the 130 children.
One local man to plant and manage a vegetable garden and fruit trees. There is ample land to cultivate to do this. Fencing to be built to keep the goats out of the garden. Extra fruits and vegetables can be sold to the village and taken to market for orphanage income.
One local man to manage the chickens and goats, building the necessary pens, fencing etc. and increase the livestock, eventually adding pigs as another food and income source.
Buy concrete blocks and build a new kitchen.
Buy a used 3 wheeler motorcycle with a large cargo box that can be used for hauling food and supplies to and from the local market, hauling distant village children to and from school, hauling the necessary construction supplies and hauling the livestock.
Purchase 3 treadle sewing machines. Electricity is expensive, so treadle machines make sense. In the plan we want to teach the girls simple sewing, so they can mend and make simple clothing for themselves. Being a seamstress is one of the most viable options for young women to have as a business and a couple at the orphanage would like to do this, but they lack the funds for taking the sewing courses and buying the machines.
Any extra funds can go towards purchasing solar panels for electricity, used computers and used bicycles.
The funds put to use now, as outlined above, will allow the orphanage to become much more self sufficient within the year. It just takes a little time to grow livestock herds, build corrals and fences, and harvest gardens and fruit trees. Not having to depend on very diminishing donations will allow them to keep moving ahead. The orphanage administrator is embracing this plan wholeheartedly.
We additionally have a plan, once there is a simple kitchen again, to teach the girls bread making, as bread can also be made and sold to the local villagers, for more income as well as being one more food source (and welcomed treat) for the kids. Right now, the nearest bread source is a 45 minute drive away and bread is relatively expensive thus making it only available as a treat, yet actually making it costs pennies.
These are all simple things, simple plans ... all very do-able with some seed capital.
I have already personally established a small micro-lending fund that the older children can borrow from for taking courses, or further education so they can launch themselves into a small business or a career. They borrow and pay back as they get going, interest-free, but at this point, there's only enough for one to use and borrow at a time. I hope to increase this to a more robust amount allowing a few more to be moving ahead. Any extra funds could also go here.
The orphanage and school need so much, but right now they need the funds to get the program started so that in a year's time they can be feeding and clothing themselves and earning cash for their other needs. They have the willpower to do it and see it through and the administrator is excited about their future and potential incomes.
Eventually they will need a computer lab and library, a television for world affairs and entertainment, playground equipment and some bicycles. They will be able to begin managing these on their own, once they can start producing a little income.
I hope you will join me in giving them the hand up that they need. Any amount will be sincerely appreciated by this wonderful group of children. They are the future of Ghana and Africa!
Whatever donation you are able to give, please know that it will be used wisely and any amount, however big or small, is so very much appreciated.
**Should you wish to offer an on-going monthly donation, please contact me. This would be a wonderful way to help support, feed and educate these kids.
** If you are upgrading your laptop and no longer need the old one, please consider donating it.
** If you would like to volunteer at the orphanage and the school, let me know.
** Please share this page with those whom you feel might like to contribute.
On behalf of the orphanage and the children ... THANK YOU!
Peggy Wright
Organizer
Peggy Wright
Organizer
Sechelt, BC