Pictures!

Below are the current pictures I just received in the mail.  They are of the construction site and the new wall that has gone up.  It is finally completed and now we can possibly move forward on the building…again…

That is a big plot of land!  It makes it look so much bigger now that the wall is up.  What were we thinking that we needed this much land?  This view is from the porch.

They have had to deal with high winds which blew down part of the wall that was not yet attached to the post.  They also were dealing with heavy rains. The rains and winds were very unexpected at this time of year, but it is finally completed.  We now need to purchase a large gate.  There are more bricks in the wall than in the entire school so far.

Here’s hoping the project an now go on.

Another Great Day

As we reflect on the past 17 years to where we were when we heard about the events of the day, I am thankful for the country we live in and the people who are here to protect us, as well as the country I love so much, Ghana!  I am so happy that I am able to help people.  Even though it is small steps and takes so long to accomplish some things, I am so glad I can help.

Tonight I was invited to speak at a childhood friend’s (Lori Oram) LDS church in Roy.  I LOVE the Roy community.  They are so supportive and lovely to be around.  I worked at Roy High School for 17 years of my career and really enjoyed it there.

I was able to speak to them about the children and the projects that mean so much to me in Ghana.  They were so welcoming and wanted to know more about what  I am doing there.  I enjoy talking about Adi, the children, the building of the school, as well as all of the other projects we have done there.  I was asked to earlier today if I ever get sick of fundraising and going to Ghana.  NO, not EVER. Sometimes I get in a mood not to do it but then I go to something like this tonight and I can see my energy and passion come out again.  Hoping they could see that in my talk.  I also believe I will see many of these women at the 10th Annual Spaghetti Dinner!!  Yay!

I still can’t believe it is the 10th Annual!!  I can remember back when we used to make the spaghetti dinner,  all of it.  Traci used to bring tomatoes from her garden and we would make the sauce and cook all of the noodles.  It was crazy.  Steph and her mom and relatives would all pitch in.  Nuts!! Now we have The Olive Garden preparing it for us and that is so much easier. I have wonderful people donating fabulous gift cards and items for the baskets.  I have many people helping at the venue.  Wow, I am blessed to have all of these great friends and family.

I am busy preparing the baskets and getting donations now.  It is a lot of work but still fun too. Hope we get a great turn out and can make the money we need to keep progressing on the projects.  Thanks to everyone for all of your support and hard work.

See you on the 13!

 

 

Annual Update

We are back into fundraising season.  I can’t believe it has been a whole year.  I was able to travel to Ghana last November and see what is happening with the school and the construction site.

The construction of the building was put on hold for a bit because we needed to build a wall around the project site.  It was a huge undertaking.  First a trench about 4 feet deep had to be dug and then a foundation poured.  I couldn’t believe the work that has gone into this wall.  There is a few feet of cinder block wall and then a post to hold it all together.  There are 78 posts in all!!  It is an enormous piece of land the school is placed on. The farmers and other people were walking through land and some of our things were being taken…including some of the trees we had planted and the fruit that was finally growing.  The wall is about 10 feet tall and goes all the way around enclosing the building.  We will now need to purchase a gate and then begin the work on the building again.  I wanted to put the bars on the windows first but Adi says that the electricity needs to be finished first.  Apparently, they use a grinder to grind out some of the cinder blocks in the walls to place the electricity in so that the walls will be smooth.

It is still taking so much time.  I don’t think there is any way to speed it up.  Adi and the men helping will continue to do it there way and according to Adi, “It will be there forever. So why rush to get it completed?”  I would just like it completed before I am 80 years old. He laughs when I say that but I think it is mostly the truth.  I’ll keep raising money and he’ll keep building.

We had a great yard sale on Saturday and raised enough money to get more Ghanaian Market Baskets and Adi’s crafts sent here for the next three fundraisers that are in the planning.

I have several fundraisers scheduled.  I will be speaking to a church group in September. We will have the 10th Annual Spaghetti Dinner on October 13 at the Hope Center in Roy.  I will be at the St. James Boutique and Food Fest on November 2nd and 3rd.  Then the final sale will be at the Church of the Good Shepherd on November 8th, 9th and 10th.  it’s going to be a busy fall and I hope everyone will attend, get their gifts for Christmas and we will earn a lot of money!

It’s fundraising season!!

Fall is here and with it comes fundraising.  The two annual fundraisers are being planned now.  First, we will be holding the Annual Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction.  It will be held at the Hope Center in Roy on November 4 from 6-8 PM.  The Olive Garden will be supplying the spaghetti and breadsticks once again this year.  They are awesome for helping out every year…for totally FREE.  We will also have salad and the dessert will be available for purchase as well. This is a great fundraiser.  The entire event is profit.  I only put in a small amount of money for table cloths or supplies but the baskets are donated along with all of the food.  It is amazing. Tickets will be $8.00.  I will also have Ghanaian merchandise to sell as well as the wonderful silent auction baskets.

Print out the flyer and invite all of your friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family. spaghetti dinner-2017

The second fundraiser is the Annual Church of the Good Shepherd Bazaar.  This is a fun bazaar being held on November 10-12 at the Church of the Good Shepherd on 24th Street in Ogden. I love these people. It is a fun time for me to meet and greet people each year. The church people are so kind and they have a great following.  I will have several new things to sell this year that I have personally made.  I will also have the baskets, aprons, wooden crafts, etc… from Adi.  He has been busy making products and is going to mail them soon even though he had come down with another case of Malaria.

I believe Adi continues to get ill because of the room he is living in.  It leaks during rainy season and therefore there is mold growing in the high corners of the room.  We need to get this school completed so he can have a safe and clean place to live!

The building now has the plumbing installed and just about all of the electricity lines are completed.  The frames for the doors and windows are complete as well as Adi has been working on the bars for the windows.  Our generator was stolen so we had to use some of the money to purchase another one.  😦  Hopefully we can begin working on the plastering of the inside walls soon.  I think we will need to install the windows first, but am not sure how that goes. I let the men there decide those types of things since I am unsure of how their building works. For a one man operation, I think it is going well. Well, and one woman (with many good friends and family) raising money.

We have 5 of the 10 children from Pram Pram finished with school and working!!  Yay!  There are five more of them to go.  They are beginning school this month and we are still paying for their schooling. Another sponsor stepped in last year to pay for their uniforms.  That was nice.  Adi continues to check on them and make sure all is well.  I’m not sure the sponsor will continue to pay for uniforms so he is checking on that.  I will take care of it if no one comes forward.  Sometimes people want to sponsor students but don’t know that it is a long term commitment and only do it once.  Evans and Maxwell are still attending the tech school and doing well.  Adi also checks on their 90 year old grandmother.  She is doing much better than when I was there last year.

Please come to the fall fundraisers or, if you can’t make it, consider a donation.  Thank you for all of your support.

Finally an update from January

I was able to travel to Ghana between Christmas and the new year this past December/January.  I was able to take some time off and be able to go see what was going on with the children as well as the school project. I am supposed to be retired but decided to go back to teaching at a charter school and it is taking over my life. Ha… what was I thinking?

The building is finally enclosed!  It looks great! Adi has had the plumber and electrician come to give bids on what the next steps will be.  Of course, being on Ghanaian time, there are always a few small small things that need to be done before we get to the electricity and plumbing.  Haha…  It is a very sturdy building and will last forever. The bedroom are quite a bit bigger than I had thought they would be as well as the other rooms. It is going to be so nice once it is done…in who knows now many years from now.

One thing I found out was that Adi is sending some others to school.  He sends quite a few boys to the technical school.  Those are the people being trained so that we can hire them to complete things we need for the building. For example, Prosper goes to school to learn to install windows.  We will have him put in our windows as soon as Adi has all of the “burglar bars” put on the windows. I am having them put them on the inside so that it will look nice from the outside and you won’t be able to see them. Those are some of the “small small” that need to be done before going forward with electricity and plumbing. After all these years, I am still getting used to working on Ghanaian time.

While in Ada I was able to visit Susan’s children, Evans and Maxwell.  I cannot believe how they have grown! Grandma was not feeling well when we arrived the first day so we went back a couple of days later to check on them and she was doing even worse. Adi and I decided she needed to go to the hospital to see what was going on.  Adi’s belief was confirmed by the nice nurse who helped us out. (Adi even tipped her.  “She didn’t have to be that nice.”)  Grandma had malaria!! At 90 years old.  They were able to give her an injection of medication as well as a prescription for some medication that Evans was to pick up the next day. Luckily they have medical insurance and I was able to pay for the co-pay as well as the medication.  I am sure they would have never gone if we had not insisted because they did not want to use Susan’s money that was given for their education for Grandma’s mediation.  She is a wonderful woman and is getting back her strength.  She needs to be there for the boys.  It will be sad when she is no longer there for them. That family unit is pretty much all they know.  Their house was washed away by a storm and they no longer have a permanent home to call their own.  There was a relative that has let them stay in his home for the time being.  It is in the same location of the home they once had. Even through all of these trials,  Evans has decided to go to the technical school for automotive engineering when he graduates in June from the 9th grade. Maxwell is already attending the tech school in electrical engineering. They are doing well and will be able to make a good living once they are able to get their education from the technical school.

Grandma and Evans

Evans is on the left and Maxwell on the right

I did not go to Pram Pram to visit the Mensah family.  We usually have a few problems with the father when I show up there. I was able to get their schooling paid for though.  It is best to just go through the school for them.  We are having a maternity uniform fitted for Mercy as she is now pregnant, but willing to stay in school and finish the 9th grade.  I don’t know what her life will turn out like once she gives birth.  I was not able to see Frances in Ada either. I feel badly that I was not able to see any of them.  This is not the best time of year to visit as they are not in school and are difficult to find.

We went to Esther’s home and they had moved.  The woman who now lives there knows them and said she is doing well.  We were also unable to find Felicia.  She had moved and no one knew where we could find her.  She possibly lives somewhere near Kassae and is no longer attending school.

I was able to see Beauty this time!  She is now married with a child of her own.  She is so happy and seemed very content.  She is still working in Tema and her daughter is 2 years old.  Her husband is a very nice man.  He gave Adi and I a ride (in a nice air conditioned car! He actually turned on the air!) all the way back to Kassae from Tema because he didn’t want to see us riding the tro tro late at night.  I thought it was really nice of him especially since it is about 45 or so minutes each way. We take the tro tro often when I am there.  It is usually quite an adventure.

We were also able to be tourists this year. I really wanted to go to a national park.  We were able to make arrangements to go to Mole National Park. It is in the northern region of Ghana.  I’m not so lucky with nature and seeing animals in their natural habitat but we were able to see quite a few cool animals and even saw an elephant come up to our hotel to eat the lovely yellow flowers off the bushes right by the hotel!  We stayed in the Mole Motel which was not the nicest place but not horrible until we went to the Zaina Lodge and saw how the other half live.  Adi talked to the manager there and is hoping to be able to get his things chosen to sell in their gift shop.  At this point they have contacted him.  The only bad thing is that it is a 14 hour drive from Ada!  Hopefully they could meet in Accra or somewhere. I love the look on Adi and my driver Jack’s faces when they are experiencing something they have never seen before.  It is priceless. When they saw the animals and the scenery they were so amazed and happy.

My former colleague from Roy High, Ellen McDougal and her husband Bob, is on an LDS Mission in Accra so we were able to see her and Bob. Adi was impressed that they were so nice and “cool”. The church people really take care of them.  I have never been in a nicer apartment.  None of the people I know live like they are living there. It is nice and they are really liking it there. I hope they are still there when I go back next year. They are promoting a program called Pathways. It is getting people into college courses. It seems like it is quite successful so far. They are also getting used to the Ghanaian way…. “I’ll be there on Monday. Oh, is it already Wednesday? Well, I am here now. ”  Haha..

It was a great trip and I am back now to have more fundraisers and get this done! On Monday, I spoke to the retired Weber School District employees.  They were a great group of people and I think they enjoyed the presentation. I was able to sell a few items and garner some donations.  I then was part of the Highmarket Expo on Wednesday at the charter school I work.  The 8th grade students create their own businesses and have an open house for everyone to come purchase their products.  The principal said that I should also have a table there since our school is all about entrepreneurship.  It was a very successful two hours. Yay!

These are some of the items I have for sale from Adi’s shop. They are all handmade and very nice.  Let me know if you would like to buy something.

Bags and Backpacks

Aprons in both child and adult sizes

Ebony Nativity sets

Biscuit bowls

Baskets

 

I need to think of a way to get more money so we can  move along more quickly.  Is there some type of a challenge I could do to get some more money?  If everyone I know would give up one Starbucks or McDonald’s Happy Meal once a month and give me the $5-$6 they save, that would be cool! As of today, the US dollar is worth 4.55 Ghana Cedis! For every $5 a person donates it is almost $25 Ghanaian Cedis.  That is an excellent exchange.  I am going to think of what can be done to get 100 people to donate $5 each and then they can challenge each of their friends and so on and so on.. If you can think of anything, let me know.

 

 

 

New Construction Pictures!!

I received a package from Adi with the disk from the camera with new pictures of the project.  It is coming along. I know it seems like it is taking forever.  We are going on the third year of construction.  It is all dependent upon me raising money with your generous donations and when he can get help and take time off from his business to build.  It is finally an actual building and I am getting excited to go in December and see it in person.

We will be having our 8th Annual Spaghetti Dinner at the Hope Center in Roy on November 12 from 6-8 PM.  As usual, the dinner will be provided by the Olive Garden in Riverdale and Roy City is allowing us to use the building for no cost.  The ENTIRE dinner is profit.  I am looking for donations now and getting ready to put together the baskets for the silent auction. If you want to donate, please give me a call.

 

The front looking on from the roadside.

Standing atop the building you can see how big it really is!!

 

The building is fully enclosed!! Of course, there are no windows or doors yet.

The front porch is looking good. Can’t wait until I can have a place I can call my own to lounge and relax.

All of the cement has to be carried by hand from the truck to the site. Wow! They have much stronger necks than I do. Ho carrying on the head for me!

They are adding the cement to the roof top/second floor. They work early in the morning so it is not too hot.

Whoo Hoo!! It is enclosed.

We will use all of the bamboo that was saved from the construction to build a fence.

 

Successful Fundraiser and update on the project

We had the annual Hands for HOPE Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction on Saturday, November 7.  It was a great fundraiser and I want to thank everyone for coming.  It was good to see the many people who have supported this charity from the beginning.  It was also good to see several new faces.  I appreciate your support and hope to see you next year.  If everyone brought one new friend each year imagine the number of people who would find out about the great things happening in Ada Foah and the building would get the much needed funds!  Everyone is so amazing and the support you have shown is truly a blessing to me and the people of Ada Foah.

I just received a photo card from Adi today.  The building is really coming along.  It is so huge!  I am sure we will be happy that it is this large when it is completed, but who knew??  They are beginning to put on the second floor and the craftsmanship and work that has gone into this project is amazing.  They have to build the forms for the steel (rebar) to go in all of wood then pour the cement in them.  They are holding up all of the beams with bamboo.  I was always a little confused when Adi said he needed to buy bamboo. I get it now!  What an interesting sight and how amazing they are doing all of this without any machinery of any kind.  It is all done by hand.  The goal is to have this portion of the building completed by February before the rainy season comes along.  We will then be able to start working on the inside.

Looking at these pictures makes me so happy.  All of the fundraising and hard work is paying off.

Building Update

The school building is coming along. These are the most recent pictures I have from March 2015.  People ask why it is taking so long.  Well… we can only build as we earn money.  I am working on fundraisers all of the time and hope to get the second floor on soon.  I have received several packages from Adi and have been selling his handicrafts.  Thank you to all of my teacher and school friends who helped by buying the beautiful items. I will be having a garage sale in June and then the annual Spaghetti Dinner in October/November.  It is a long time coming, but will be nice to have and not have any debt when it is completed. It is quite a large building.  They are working on the pillars for the front porch. It is interesting to see that they are filling up the pillars with bowls of cement!

Enjoy the pictures….

A long overdue update on the state of affairs in Ada, Ghana

Adi sews on the “digital” machine I was able to bring him this year. Below the children get measured for their new school uniforms. Adi stands in the door opening of the school.  Below you can see how big the building is as I stand out front!                  Below is Frances at school in Ada.  He has really done a great job!!

We had my “last supper” at a restaurant near the airport in Accra.  This is me, Adi, his niece Irene and my wonderful driver Jack. This cute baby is Adi’s neighbor.It’s been too long since I last posted.  I was able to travel to Ghana in October 2014 and see how all things are coming along.  The children in Pram Pram were doing well.  Francis is now attending high school in Ada. It was great to see him. He will be graduating soon and heading to college or the tech school to become a computer programmer.

The spaghetti dinner was a hit even though there was some weather that night and the electricity went out all over town. It did not go out at the Hope Center and we had a great time eating spaghetti and renewing old friendships and making new.

The school is coming along nicely.  People keep asking when it will be completed. Well… it takes money and so we continue to fundraise and build, then fundraise some more and build.  It all depends on the money we raise. We plan to have another garage sale this summer and then we will have the annual Spaghetti Dinner in the Fall. I continue to receive items from Adi to sale.  I will have a Mother’s Day sale in the next month with some great items for your mothers: Baskets, aprons, wallets, jewelry, wooden items, etc…

I would love to have other fundraisers, however, I haven’t the time to create something.  If any of you would like to hold a fundraiser, let me know.  I would love for you to help out and I will be willing to help in anything needed.  I think having a 5K, yogathon, zumbathon, or something would really bring in some much needed funds.

Fundraising Update

It has been a successful summer of garage sales. We held the sale in June and surpassed our goal by 100%. We then held our annual family garage sale in August and were able to sell some more of the donations people had given as well as the Ghanaian handicrafts from Adi.
The American dollar has gone up in Ghana so now our dollar is worth 3 Ghana Cedis. That is good for us but bad for the economy of Ghana.
Adi and his crew are working on making the pillars to hold the ceiling/floor of the second floor. I couldn’t understand why it was taking so long other than they are on Ghanaian time, but then he told me there are 27 pillars!! All have to be built from wood first and then be reinforced with rebar and poured with cement. It is another large undertaking that I had no idea about. Even though it seems like it is taking forever, we are still on schedule. It is so time consuming to have to make all the bricks and pillars by hand. We have the same men coming to work on the building, however, they are volunteers and can only come when they are not working their “real” jobs. I am learning patience.
I have scheduled the 6th Annual Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction for November 1 at the Hope Center in Roy, Utah. If you are interested in donating baskets for the silent auction, let me know. I would like to get a jump start.
I am planning to take a trip to Ghana sometime this year and will be able to bring back some more handicrafts to sell. They are beautiful and make unique gifts.
Thank you to all of you who donated the the garage sales: The Material Girls, Cindy, Ralynne, Cheri,Kathy, Linda R., Pat, and Mom. Thanks also for your help at the sales: Jenny, Ralynne, Mom and Cheri. I couldn’t have done it without you. I really appreciate your support!! Thanks for helping me live my dream.

Garage Sale for Ghana

Back in the swing of summer fundraising.  We are having a Garage Sale for Ghana on Saturday, June 7 from 8 am-12 noon. If you have any items you would like to donate for the sale I would be happy to come get them or you can deliver them. I am asking for no TVs, computers or older clothing. They just don’t sell.  Thanks so much for all of your support this year and before you know it we will have a roof on that school house! All proceeds from the sale will go toward the building.

SUCCESS!!

We held the 5th annual Hands for HOPE Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday night. It was a huge success. The local paper had an article in on Friday as well as Saturday so for the first year ever I didn’t know some of the people there. It was fantastic. We earned more money than ever before!!  The baskets were very nice and the spaghetti was delicious. Enjoy some of the pictures. Plan on coming next year, same time and place.

5th Annual Spaghetti Dinner

Project update

Our project, the Community Learning Center, is coming along. We are once again hosting a spaghetti dinner donated by the Olive Garden on November 2 at the Hope Center in Roy. This is one of our largest fundraisers. I hope you are able to attend. Contact me for tickets. They are $5 pre-sale and $8 at the door.  Take a look at the flyer for the dinner: spaghetti dinner-2013   Below are pictures of the ongoing construction.

Take a look at what is happening

We’ve been busy this summer getting ready for the annual golf tournament. I hope you enjoy our newsletter. Let me know what you think.

Hands for HOPE newsletter summer 2013