Thanks to a significant amount of donations I have been able to start a project that I am very excited about. There is a room in the school that has been locked and has not been used by the school. I have asked that we turn the room into a library and I was given permission to use it. In Cape Coast on Wednesday I had the carpenter start building 3 book shelves. We attempted to find books in Cape Coast, but we had no luck. I bought 2 mats for the floors and a light yellow paint for the walls. While 2 volunteers were cleaning out an office they came across a trunk with many books. The director explained that the books are not his and that the woman that they belong to intends to come back and get them. I am determined not to let these books leave Eguafo. It is so hard to get books here that I cannot let these books go unused. We have been trying to contact the woman to get permission to keep the books. The main challenge for this project is getting enough books to Eguafo, but I am confident that it will be possible. My goal for the library is that it will be a place where volunteers can take the students who are struggling out of the classrooms and work with them one on one.
Another project that I have been working on is a website for Sankofa Mbofra Fie. David, the director, had started to build it but he needs a lot of help finishing and putting it all together. He has so many ideas and so many projects that he is working on, but he needs a lot of financial support. One of the projects for example is building a permanent cement school and orphanage on some land down the road from the village that he has purchased. The orphanage and school are now in buildings that are being rented. He has started the foundation for the new school and he took me and a few volunteers to the property to show us his plans. He has cost and blueprints for a 3-story, 21 room building that will hopefully eventually be a very nice school and orphanage. Other projects that he has planned and had professionals lay out costs for include a farm, fish farm, sustainable food production, and a restaurant that would double as an internet café.
We are hoping to have the website established by the 1
st of June in order to aid in his fundraising for these projects. He has given me the details including business plans and costs that I will use to write about these projects on the website.
Thanks to a significant amount of donations I have been able to start a project that I am very excited about. There is a room in the school that has been locked and has not been used by the school. I have asked that we turn the room into a library and I was given permission to use it. In Cape Coast on Wednesday I had the carpenter start building 3 book shelves. We attempted to find books in Cape Coast, but we had no luck. I bought 2 mats for the floors and a light yellow paint for the walls. While 2 volunteers were cleaning out an office they came across a trunk with many books. The director explained that the books are not his and that the woman that they belong to intends to come back and get them. I am determined not to let these books leave Eguafo. It is so hard to get books here that I cannot let these books go unused. We have been trying to contact the woman to get permission to keep the books. The main challenge for this project is getting enough books to Eguafo, but I am confident that it will be possible. My goal for the library is that it will be a place where volunteers can take the students who are struggling out of the classrooms and work with them one on one. 
Brittney, books are coming with Jay. Can you set up Jay with a permanent contact so that we can ferry more stuff through him when you get back? It's likely more reliable/less expensive than FedEx etc. Also, just curious what you're eating out there?
ReplyDeleteBrittney, we should also talk about how to set up the infrastructure as a non-profit entity (501 3 c), so that donors can receive tax deductions. This can help with fundraising.
ReplyDeleteBrittney, one final thought. You should consider a governance structure to handle the donations, so that someone can make sure the funds are allocated appropriately. You noted in your earlier post that there is potential that funds could be misused (by directors). Some infrastructure to provide oversight seems appropriate if this is the case.
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