07/08/07

 http://www.africasfuture.org.uk/projects.html 

As most of you know I've just come back from an amazing visit to Ghana, where Amy and I were working in a tiny school in a poor and remote village near Cape Coast. The school was set up by our lovely lovely host mother, Molly Yankey, after she became concerned about the welfare of the villagers in Akatektya - many of the women and young girls had been forced into prostitution, such is the poverty and lack of education in the area. Molly, a friend of the village chief, turned her house into a volunteer residence and began working with volunteers to build a small school in an attempt to improve the quality of life of the children and give them a means to improve the future of Akatektya.

Seven years later the school is still running, though totally reliant on Molly and the few volunteers that visit the school every year. Although we managed to make quite a few small changes in the 5 weeks we were there (which we hope to maintain and improve upon by working with the charity) the day-to-day running of the nursery is entirely dependant on donations from abroad and the continuing efforts of the few volunteers that have worked at the school.

Basically this a plea for help - we had loads of ideas to improve things for the children, but having contacted the school's charity (entirely run by two ex-volunteers in their spare time) we have realised that we will need to do a lot of fundraising to even keep it going, as much of the initial building was reliant on a few large one-off donations. The children love school SO much, it gives them an opportunity to escape the mundanity and sadness of their everyday lives, and learn the valued skills which might offer them and their families a chance to escape it. They have huge potential and are really willing to learn, but without money to feed them and pay the teachers, the school will close and the best that the children can hope for is to sell maize on the side of a hazardous main road for the rest of their lives.

I know most of you are poor students but every little helps! Have a look at the website for more information about what we were doing and how Molly went from selling rice to building a nursery (the woman is a living LEGEND) and please click to donate if you can spare anything at all to help us. (Also please pass this on to anyone who you think would be interested in donating!)

Thank you,

Rachel xxx

P.S. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Africa's Future will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.