Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Life in Sandema

I love Sandema. We have been here for almost a week now. The town is wonderful; the people are wonderful; everything is wonderful! Our whole group of 12 is living in one house. We have a pet goat named Wally :) We have a cooking schedule so we all cook breakfast and dinner for each other. We are usually out and about for lunch so we just get street food or bread and groundnut paste.
This is me on the road in Sandema. The trees line the red dirt road on either side and make a beautiful canopy.

I have fallen in love with HCC, a boys home in Sandema that OG has a strong partnership with. The boys are all incredible; I cannot even describe it. The HCC coordinator, Joe, and HCC founder, Heather, are two of the most amazing and kind people I have met.  Joe has become a father to the boys, and has done an incredible job creating a true family. Heather's story of how HCC came to be was incredible. It really illustrates how the generosity and desire to help others in what may have started out in a small way, can grow and develop to a point where the lives of so many boys are changed forever. There is a strong emphasis on the social and emotional development of all the boys, which I think is wonderful because those are two areas of development that I think are often neglected at home. The way the boys take care of one another is so inspiring to watch.  They all look out for one another and are all such great sharers. I got to spend some time with Jacob, a 15 year old boy from HCC. We went to the resource and worked on Microsoft word. Jacob has learned how to use word at school, and has been trying to teach the other boys back at the center. However, they have not had very much experience with computers, so it was apparently very difficult for him to teach them how you take the mouse and click and it opens a window etc. I taught Jacob some skills and he took incredible notes. Heather had asked me to do this so that Jacob can bring some of the younger  tboys back to the resource center and teach them his new skills. I gave Jacob a quiz at the end to see if he could do everything I had taught him, and he didn't even have to check his notes once. He is extremely intelligent and a very quick learner. He wants to go to medical school and become a doctor. Listening to the boys talk about their likes, goals and dreams for the future is so amazing.

I am so glad that OG gets us to do the fundraising. The partnerships we have developed in Ghana are amazing and the funds that we all raised will really assist them in reaching their goals. As a group, our money will go a long way, but I can't help but want to do more. I would really love to come back here next summer. I am not sure if that will happen but I know this I want Sandema to continue to be part of my life. I am trying to come up with some ideas to continue to fundraise once I am home because seeing the projects and meeting the people who we will be assisting has been a very inspiring experience for me.

1 comment:

  1. That's a nice posting and a beautiful picture, Sky.

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