Hello family, friends and global citizens. I am requesting your help in financing a learning/humanitarian mission to the town of Kasoa, Ghana in West Africa. I will work directly with a team of interns, the Cheerful Hearts Foundation and the Kasoa community to stop child trafficking practices.
The Cheerful Heart Foundations mission is to combat the endemic problem of child labor and trafficking in the fishing communities of Fetteh, Nyanyano and Senya Beraku within the Central Region of Ghana through education, rehabilitation, and community empowerment. In these communities, many children have been forced to forgo an education in order to work in the fishing industry for low or no wages. Sometimes these children are trafficked to distant fishing villages for years at a time and exploited with no compensation. Research has shown that most children have been injured on the boats, numerous have reported instances of bullying and abuse at the hands of the fishermen and others describe cases of other trafficked children dying as a result of the dangerous work they are forced to perform. The children are often paid in fish, which they attempt to sell in the market for money to feed themselves. Some are trafficked because of their family’s financial circumstances; in desperation, the family is forced to sell their child into service for a small sum of money. Other children are encouraged by their parents to labor instead of learn. Even though school enrollment has increased in recent years, there remains a significant amount of the child population still involved in child labor. Most of the children wish to go to school if they had the opportunity.
As a certified coach, I will work with Elementary school children to emphasize the importance of education as a means to improve their lives,family and community as a whole. Additionally, with my 30 plus years as a home builder, I will avail myself for construction projects in and around Kasoa.
The program/mission, organized through Star Service and Studies Abroad (SSSA) is to increase cultural competence among U.S. college students and give them the skills to learn & work in an international setting.
Star Service & Study Abroad is committed to creating global stewards who are adequately prepared to address the many humanitarian challenges that our multicultural world faces. We do this through a unique study & service model that allows students to apply what they learn in the classroom to service projects in the community. Through our partnership with the Ghanaian-based non-profit, the Cheerful Hearts Foundation, we give students the opportunity to intern in the local area.
With your support, I will contribute my time and wealth of experiences to enrich the students and Ghanaian community. Your generosity will not only help in Africa, the benefits of this program develop agents for change globally.
History of Ghana
Numerous kingdoms & empires emerged over the centuries in Ghana, the most famous being the Ashanti Empire which boasted an advanced society, sophisticated economy, powerful military & elaborate architecture. European contact began with the gold trade in the 15th century & expanded to the trading of human beings which would continue for the next 300 years. With former president, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana became the first African nation to gain independence in 1957. Ghana was an integral part of the Pan-African movement of the 60's and 70's & has been a place of cultural & political refuge for many African-Americans including W.E.B. Du Bois, Maya Angelou, MLK, Malcolm X, Nina Simone & more. Since colonialism, slavery & the Civil Rights Movement, Ghana has had a unique relationship with the United States making it a fascinating place for academic study.
Over 250 languages are spoken in Ghana. English is the nation's official language used in classroom instruction & governmental affairs. While other major languages include Twi, Fante, Ga, Hausa, Dagbani, Ewe and Nzema. I, along with SSSA students will take classes in Twi which is a tonal language, rich in proverbs.
About the Cheerful Hearts Foundation
Cheerful Hearts Foundation (CHF) is a registered, grassroots, non-profit organization focused on providing support to rural community development needs in the Awutu Senya District of Ghana.
Mission: Cheerful Hearts Foundation works to educate and empower rural citizens through human rights, public health and education initiatives so they can sustain an improved standard of living.
CHF focuses on three interconnected projects to achieve our vision of a more educated, healthy and prosperous citizenry: Stop Child Labour & Trafficking project, Public Health: Education, Empowerment and Assessment project and Education Standards project. In addition, we organize custom ventures such as poultry and clean water projects when we locate an individual, family, or community in dire need of assistance.
Vision: By inspiring people to take small actions every day to improve the wellbeing of their community, we envision Ghana as a whole, without a separation between the rural poor and urban rich.
We predominantly research and manage projects as a hands-on team, with international interns and volunteers adding incredible value to the impact that we make in our communities. Our foreign interns and volunteers gain a wide range of experiences and skills through their exposure to CHFs work in rural communities and schools.
Click here to learn more about Cheerful Hearts Foundation
Thank you so much!
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Together we can end child trafficking in Ghana.
