Moree Volunteer Project

      Here in Ghana primary education is not free and many children don't go to school.  Walking through town I always notice kids from ages 4-16 playing, selling things, begging and carrying around goods on their heads.  All these kids should be in school, but it is not financially possible for many Ghanians.  

     I have decided to spend the second half of my 10-month long student exchange here volunteering. I knew I wanted to work with kids, so my liaison took me to a small school in the middle of Moree, a poor fishing village near where I live. 

      The first time I walked through Moree, it was quit the experience.  I think I can safely assume that most people had never seen a white person in their village, and barley anyone speaks English - they speak the local dialect, Fante.  Because when walking through town I saw so many kids on the street, I knew immediately this was where I wanted to work.

      The school in Moree is just some cement poles with a tin roof, I wouldn't have known it was a school had it not been for I chalk board with the alphabet on it.  I later spoke to the headmistress Ruby and learned more about the school.  She had started the school back in October after she'd had the same experience I'd had when walking through town and seeing all of the kids in the streets. 

      The name of the school is Unique Child and its goal is to give kids a free education.  Ruby and some friends scraped together some money to rent the piece of land and get a area with a roof so kids could learn.  Now there is one "class room" with about 50 students ages 3-7.  On an average day about 25 students actually come. We have one chalkboard,seven tables and chairs for all the kids but that's about it.

      Everyday each student gives two cedis ($00.40) to Ruby which, pays for the lunch that one of the teachers makes.  About $00.10 from each kid goes to lunch and the other $00.30 is all the school has to run on, and that includes monthly rent, the teachers pay and keeping the area from flooding.  Unique Child has two teachers.  They are great people but don't have any training in teaching; there is no money to pay for a professional teacher.

      

As part of my volunteerism, I'm raising money for the school.

      

      The piece of land that the school is currently I won't work the way it is. It is the living space for many locals, there are tons of goats and chickens everywhere, and it floods very badly during the rainy season.  The schools location is otherwise perfect, as it is walking distance for all the children.  So we need to make a drainage system, build an office so as to keep the animals out (the goats eat everything!), and build more class rooms.              

      Additionally, the teachers need books to teach from, we need more chalk boards so that we can separate the kids by age, and the students need paper and pencils, workbooks, and uniforms.  I know that it doesn't seem like uniforms are a necessity, but in Ghana many parents would rather have their kids stay at home than send them to school without a uniform - appearance means a great deal here.

The exchange rate at the moment is 4.3 GH cedis to 1 dollar.  I did round the following prices so they might not exactly reflect the exchange rate, but it is close.

The rent per month on the land- 30 cedis ($7.00) x 24 for 2 years which would be $170.00

Teachers pay per month each- 100 cedis ($23.00) x 2 which is $46.00 per month and $1,100 for two years

Building an office and more class rooms- 3000 cedis ($700.00)

Drainage system- 2000 cedis ($465.00)

Boys uniform-18 cedis ($4.00) each x 25 which would be $100.00

Girls uniform-12 cedis ($3.00) each x 25 which would be $75.00

1 chalk board- 25 cedis ($6.00) x 3 which would be $18.00

1 work book- 9 cedis ($2.00) x 50 which would be $100.00

1 blank book- 8 cedis ($2.00) x 50 which would be $100.00

1 pen- 1 cedi ($0.20) x 100 which would be $20.00

1 teachers book for one subject- 20 cedis ($5.00) x 6 which would be $30.00

All that I stated above would total at $2878, this seems like a lot of money to raise but really it is amazing that, that much money can provide 50 children at least two years of education.  Things like the classrooms, and the drainage system, the chalkboards, and office would last so much longer than 2 years.  My goal is to raise $3000.00, most will go to what is stated above and anything more can go to things like maybe a small library, some toys for the younger kids, bringing running water to the school, etc.

I work with these kids and every time I see them running, laughing, playing, and learning I want to give them an education they deserve I want to help make Ghana a place where education is a right and not just a privilege. So I'm asking for donations to this school, even $5.00 could make the world of difference. I really appreciate your help, you don't know how much it means to me, Ruby, the teachers, the families of the children I work with, but most importantly what it means for those kids.

For the moment if you want to help, my mom is coming to visit me on the 3rd of April so if your quick you can give donations to her and she will bring them to me.  I know that's really soon so if you can't get them to my mom in the next couple of days you can contact my dad.  Thanks a ton, appreciate any help!!