Blogs from Greater Accra, Ghana, Africa - page 2

(Note, 19 Mar 2015, Kumasi, Ashanti Region) We are travelling to the north now. We have some time and, finally, some internet access today, so I am posting some blogs from the past week. This one is about the beach pcnic for the orphanage kids last Saturday. (by guest blogger Kit Rawson) On Saturday (14-Mar) , the day before we left for our travels around Ghana, Kathy and I had the privilege of attending a beach picnic that the volunteers put on for the orphanage kids a few times a year. The logistics of getting 50+ kids, plus Grandma and the Aunties who run the orphanage, plus 5 volunteers, and two parents of volunteers to the beach, plus beach toys, birthday presents for the kids with February birthdays, water, snacks, and a meal for all are ... read more

December 30, 2014 The year is coming to a close and my time in Ghana is more than half over, so it’s time for a little reflection. Yesterday some of the volunteers were talking about how the year was for us. Some of us said that it had been a hard year, while others said it was one of the best. I was s part of the latter. When I thought about it I realized that 2014 has truly been one of the best years of my life. I have made some amazing changes to my life. So here it goes my year if 2014: I started the year knowing I was going to somewhere in Africa by summer. I had applied to several organizations and got accepted by my top two choices. I ended up ... read more

December 8, 2014 Six months in Ghana and I haven’t experienced a week as crazy as last week till last week. First of all, we’ve been trying to fix glitches in our “Save our orphanage” campaign. Then we had an event at the orphanage that resulted in Dream Africa firing a teacher. Then we had some scary, yet what ended up being false, news. Some of the volunteers were taking children to the hospital, and the doctors told them that one of the girls tested HIV positive. She also has a younger brother, so we had to get him tested too. Finally on Friday we found out that neither of them is HIV positive. On top of all of that there are only 10 volunteers in the house, so we’re all stretched thin and taking on ... read more

November 19, 2014 To everyone who has been reading this blog for the past 6 months: You have heard my stories and seen my pictures. I love each and every child at the Lord Arm’s Christian Foster Home. The orphanage needs your help. The lease on the property is running out and the owner wants to sell rather than sign another lease. Dream Africa Care Foundation is trying to raise $65,000 to buy this property. This property is important because it provides the space for many things, including a school, the chance for expansion to the house, areas to help the orphanage become self-sufficient, and most importantly a chance to keep this family together. It may not be the kind of family we’re all used to, but they are brothers and sisters nonetheless. A child like ... read more

September 29, 2014 A typical day with me leaving for the orphanage around 8:00 A.M. I go to the orphanage to teach pretty much every day now. Before school went on vacation I was the only one going to Faith Academy, but now a lot of people are going there in the mornings. The orphanage is where I’m needed and I prefer to be. I don’t always teach the same class. In fact tomorrow I want to teach the oldest class science, which might surprise some people. A volunteer who just left gave a good science book to one of the girls, and while I was reading the first part of it with her I realized that the scientific method was something that would be good to teach to her whole class. However, I do prefer ... read more