Projects

Whoa! What a BIG job this was!

Upkeep is important. We are most grateful that we can keep the school campus and town toilet facilities maintained, thanks to a generous donation from Susan and Tony Anderson. The conditions in Dekpor truly make it difficult to keep the walls looking fresh. From the constant dust to the numbers of people utilizing all of the buildings, there is no wonder why they get dirty and dingy.

Before the painting could begin, there were many masonry repairs that had to be completed. Some of the photos show the patches.

In Dekpor, growing essential crops is a way of life. Pretty much every single family has a plot of land that either they own or lease because they need to produce their own food.  Crops of maize, rice, and cassava are the most popular--all staples in the Dekpor diet.

Yes, you've seen these in the past because multipurpose bowls are considered essentials for all families in Dekpor!  We went a full two years without running a targeted campaign, so it was high time in December 2022 to do it again.  Linda and Abraham were being asked by villagers if there would be a distribution any time soon.

From collecting crops and firewood, to being used for cooking, laundry, bathing and fetching water, the uses are many!

Torrential rains and heavy winds have caused a whole lot of damage to Dekpor buildings over the years.  Despite our best efforts to keep things maintained, during every rainy season, we end up with emergency repairs needing to be done.  With a huge sigh of relief, we were thrilled to finally find roofing nails in Ghana!  Yes, the reason that the roofing sheets pulled up so easily is that straight nails were the only thing available to us.

Often called slides in Ontario, but referred to as easy wear in Dekpor, these are the economical local footwear of choice by our youth. Why? Easy to put on, last well, cheap, protect the feet.  Considering so many people simply have nothing at all, we chose to buy 200 pairs and outfit our apprentices and junior high students. As much as they are not what is "supposed to be worn" as part of a school uniform, they are certainly acceptable and far better than bare feet.

We all know that using technology in our ever-changing world is a necessity. We have been proactive in working hard to set Dekpor Basic School up to meet the needs. We have a wonderful computer lab--in fact, one would be hard-pressed to find anything comparable in the entire region.  We have encouraged students to take the ICT path beyond elementary school and we are proud of our graduates.  

Another incredible year, despite the continuing challenges through the pandemic. 

Please do watch our 2022 Accomplishment video! https://youtu.be/nQ4QqQ8rOgA 

We thank you for your generous support as we make a difference in rural Ghana!

We're giving this a whirl!

Girls and women are met with challenges with their monthly cycle. The cost of manufactured feminine hygiene products is prohibitive and the garbage generated can not go into the tanks of our town toilets. Usually most resort to using rags.

We have been considering piloting the use of reusable sanitary pads for some time now and we are grateful that the perfect opportunity presented itself.

We are so lucky that there are many people who like to donate goods for us to ship! 

Yes, it is a lot of work, but goodness, just look in any distribution album to see the happy faces of the recipients!   

Actually, you may notice that some seem rather straight-faced, right?  Well, that is due to being entirely overwhelmed and also, culturally-speaking, it is considered rude to smile for such a serious event.  It takes some prompting to get most to smile!   

It was time for a whole revamp of the water situation at school and we are so very pleased that we were able to do this!

We can't run a water distribution pipe to the school from one of our boreholes, because the school would never be able to generate enough money to pay for the meters and upkeep of the system, so, we have done our best to work within the constraints. 

We started, years ago, by building water reservoirs to collect the rain that landed on the roofs of the school buildings--the cleanest water the students had ever had.