Getting ready for school

EXCITING NEWS: Humphrey has received notice that he has been accepted into teachers college!!! This is so exciting as it has been a dream of his that has taken a long time to be answered. I wish him well. He will be going to school in the Volta area, which is 3-4 hours from Accra. If you want to be a part of this dream coming true let me know.


WOW what a month this has been. It could not already be the second week of September, but that is what my calendar says.

When I was home I wrote the teacher’s curriculum for The Reading Lesson. We used this at SCEF with the Reading is Fun program. What progress we are seeing the children we have invested in for almost a year now. They are reading books, but even more important, the students understand what they read. So exciting!!! SCEF will continue this program at Adedenpko 1 and 2 this fall as a free, after school program for Primary 1, 2, and 3. Most after school classes people charge for.


With all that said we need more books. Kelly and I have a friend who is shipping to Ghana the middle of October and we have space on the container for books. Kristen and Ginny so graciously donated books their school was no longer using. This will be a great benefit. But we need more. SCEF needs:
1. Series of beginning reader books using phonics
2. Teacher manuals for JHS and SHS Math, English, and Science. Need the books to know how to teach the subject and has the answers.

In this morning’s news Ghana Education announced that they will be implementing a mandatory “one hour reading” in every government school in Ghana, including all grades. The theory is great but when schools have no library and no text books for students, what are they going to read? We are so thankful for our library we recently opened. But many of our shelves are empty.


During August Raphael and Bernard were both home on school break. He has been so much fun to have them both here. Raphael left Thursday for boarding school, where he will start JHS 2. He is growing up too fast. Actually is taller than me. Bernard’s school will start in about 2 weeks. He is beginning to read and is so excited.


This month we went through our first drive-through fast food restraint here in Ghana. KFC. It really is quite amazing. Trying to explain to the taxi driver how to press the order button and tell them everything we wanted was a major challenge. (They actually got it right)


This month’s Bandon Heath’s song “Give me Your Eyes” keeps coming to mind. As we educate our students and parents about Ebola and Cholera, It is so different looking through the eyes of children and parents who are directly affected. They are so scared, yet have few resources to counter these two. We are teaching about simple hand washing and how sanitation can help. We pray Ebola does not cross the border to Ghana.


This morning the government destroyed part of the housing behind the Art Center (which is in walking distance of our office). The government’s reason is that it is responsible for the Cholera outbreak we are having. So sad!!! These are truly “the least of these” that Jesus talks about. We know that at least one school was destroyed and not sure how many businesses and homes.


Thanks for each of your prayers and financial support. Thanking God for your part in sharing Jesus in Ghana.

Elaine

Back in Ghana

Almost 3 weeks since I returned to Ghana. My how the time has flown by. On Monday, July 14, 2014 I went to my doctor in the USA and was given the green light to go back to Ghana. Thanks, everyone for your prayers. That afternoon I began searching for a flight back to Ghana and found one of those “24 hour specials”. It was significantly cheaper, but I had to leave Tuesday morning. So Kelly and I made a mad dash to Wal-Mart and began packing. Because of some very generous people I was able to bring back two bags of story books and readers for 1st and 2nd grade. Believe it or not I arrived in Ghana with all 6 suitcases. That is close to a miracle here in Ghana.

It is so good to be back at SCEF and with the children. A BIG thanks to all of you who helped me get back in time for the grand opening of The Learning Hub. It was such a thrill to see the kids and the adults faces as they explored all that SCEF will be doing within the community. Since our grand opening we have had students, children, and adults pouring in to read, learn computers, and to have a safe place to congregate. For those who do not know SCEF (Street Children Empowerment Foundation) it is a Ghanaian grass roots organization whose purpose is to empower street and vulnerable children through education. We work to put street children in to government schools, and then monitor them so they will be successful. Just like in the U.S. public schools in Ghana are free tuition, but there are so many other fees, charges, books, etc. that street and vulnerable children cannot attend regularly. Most of our students are first generation literate, so they do not have much support from family, friends, and others in the community. Currently we are assisting over 200 kids and monitoring 125 students, You can follow SCEF on Facebook. What do I do? I work directly with Paul Semeh who is a Ghanaian that founded SCEF. I serve on the board of directors, and am the Project Coordinator for all the Social Work (kids in school), volunteers, and operations (including working with parents/guardians/family of our students). I have a great team under me.

Humphrey: is in charge of our students. His team goes to the schools each month, talking with the kids and their teachers to make sure they stay in school. Often he has to go to where the child lives and explain to adults why this child should be attending school regularly and how they can support this child’s education. He is assisted by volunteers.

Isaac: is in charge of our parents and the operations of SCEF. We have a village finance group where parents can save small amounts and then make loans to grow their business. With this we are teaching our adults how to be able to support their child’s education after 5 years.

Volunteers: We have volunteers from all over the world. Currently we have them from Germany, Finland, Spain, U.S., and England. We also have Ghanaian volunteers. Currently we have 4 from the University in Ghana who are doing 2 month practical. Many others come for 1-12 months.

And the in the USA I have a great support headed by my daughter Kelly and her family. Kelly handles all the collection of money each month that supports me and several of the students at SCEF through their godparent program. I could not do it without Kelly and her family’s support. A big thanks to each of you. Elaine