Main fundraiser photo

A Home for Joe, Simon and Eman

Donation protected
4 Years ago I spent 6 weeks in the jungle and bush in rural Ghana. I lived in a small village called GBloo Kofi. There I met a village full of wonderful sharing people.  At the time our group worked on schools, bathroom, wells and “clean hands saves lives” campaigns through a great organization called VillagebyVillage.


As some of you know I adopted a son, Joe Larweh Martey, at the end of my stay. As a boy in the village one of Joe’s jobs was to be a bush electrician. There was no electricity or water for 30 miles so Joe had the dangerous job of finding electricity by whatever means necessary. He was failing out of school as he had to work every day. His prospects were bleak so I gave him the same deal my parents gave me. Get As and we’ll pay for college, get Cs and you are out! Joe went from a failing student to graduating “Best Boy” at his electrical trade school.

Joe is trying very hard to build a home. He is working on it block by block but does not have the resources to finish it and take care of his brothers and sisters, Eman and Simon. Finally Simon will have a home and a place where all the kids are welcome.


Simon was a homeless boy in the village who was always in trouble. Nothing bad really he was just alone with no guidance and nowhere to live. He tagged around with me the whole time I was there and his smile was infectious. I asked Joe to do me a favor and take care of Simon. To take him under his wing and make sure he had food, shoes, books, and that he did his homework and stayed in school.


Eman was a cool little guy that never said a word. He and the members of his family have severe Polio which never allowed them the use of their legs. Eman’s father walks over a mile on his hands to work the fields.  While I was there Eman would get pulled to school in a wooden wagon that eventually broke down and Eman was thrown and broke his arm. Luckily Tom the doctor in our group set his arm and spearheaded an effort to get him an old used wheelchair so he could return to school. Unfortunately his wheelchair has disintegrated beyond repair.  He needs to get back to school. I have also put this boy in Joe’s care.

I have been asking a lot of Joe and he always comes through with a weekly update on the kids of the village.


Manuela is also a special person to us all.  She worked harder, moved faster and lifted more as a nine year old than I have seen grown men do on a construction site. She needs a future that does not involve becoming a child bride, babysitter and being stuck in the village forever.

Some of the other kids in need are the two Abrahams.

Abraham once worked at the mill. At 10 years old had his arm torn off by the large grinding wheel. It was a miracle that he lived but there are not a lot of opportunities for a one-armed teenager in the bush. I am asking for your help to help keep him and all the other kids in school with books, uniforms and supplies.

 
The other Abraham has real artistic talent yet too poor to have paper, pencils or crayons to pursue his gift that could some day get him a job. There is no real art or creative studies instruction in the schools and no resources.


I wanted to reach out to all of you as it is the time of year that we should be thinking about others. If you are a friend, family member, client or co-worker of mine that was going to get me a gift this holiday (wink),.. well this is all I want.

This is a current pic of the house under construction.

If you a person that would like to donate to something that every penny, and I mean every penny,  will go directly to a person then you can feel good about this. I can promise this as I will be overseeing it personally.

 I will be returning to Ghana on February 8th to help the children of the village and will post some stories, pics and updates on all the kids.

Thank you for your consideration and Happy Holidays,

Mike Kerwin

 
Manuela touched my heart


The kids say goodbye


Eman making me dinner
Donate

Donations 

  • Dave Dickman
    • $200 
    • 6 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Mike Kerwin
Organizer
Penfield, NY

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.