Building a safe place to live for friends in Ghana
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Please help me raise money to build a safe place to live for my friends in Ghana!
Ten years ago, my family and I spent some months in Cape Coast, Ghana, while I was on a university sabbatical. Our neighbours – a family with nine children – were living in an abandoned half-built house, with no electricity, water or sanitation. The parents were doing their best to make ends meet by selling fish and taking odd jobs but, with nine children to feed and send to school, there was no chance of finding better accommodation. We got to know the family well: our children used to play together a lot and the oldest ones used to come round to our house when they needed light to study in the evenings. We’ve continued to stay in touch and we catch up whenever I’m in Ghana. Life has not been easy for this family, but they were managing.
However, last month when I went to visit, I was shocked. The house was falling down around them. The oldest three children are now grown up, but there are still six boys and their parents living in what looks like a bomb site. One of the family recently suffered a broken arm when a large chunk of concrete fell off and George – the youngest (aged 4) – narrowly avoided being crushed when another piece of concrete came down.
Understandably, the parents are desperately worried, but their options are limited. Someone has offered them a small piece of land on which to construct their own house but there is no way they could even begin such a project. With no social security and no relatives in a position to help, they have no choice but to stay where they are and hope for the best. In the meantime, every day more and more pieces fall off the house.
Please help! I’m sure it is only a matter of time (and maybe not much time) before one of them is killed. While in Cape Coast, I checked out how much it would cost to construct a simple but safe house. With about £8,000, they could build a small house with two bedrooms and a small kitchen. This wouldn’t cover plastering, paint, or electricity installation, but it would be enough to get them out of danger. I’ve put £10,000 as a target in case prices go up and because it would be nice to get some basic things like water, electricity and a cooker if possible.
I’ve never tried crowdfunding before. But I’m hoping that if people who know me read this story and are generous enough to donate and share with others, we can get this family into a safe place to live before it’s too late.
Ten years ago, my family and I spent some months in Cape Coast, Ghana, while I was on a university sabbatical. Our neighbours – a family with nine children – were living in an abandoned half-built house, with no electricity, water or sanitation. The parents were doing their best to make ends meet by selling fish and taking odd jobs but, with nine children to feed and send to school, there was no chance of finding better accommodation. We got to know the family well: our children used to play together a lot and the oldest ones used to come round to our house when they needed light to study in the evenings. We’ve continued to stay in touch and we catch up whenever I’m in Ghana. Life has not been easy for this family, but they were managing.
However, last month when I went to visit, I was shocked. The house was falling down around them. The oldest three children are now grown up, but there are still six boys and their parents living in what looks like a bomb site. One of the family recently suffered a broken arm when a large chunk of concrete fell off and George – the youngest (aged 4) – narrowly avoided being crushed when another piece of concrete came down.
Understandably, the parents are desperately worried, but their options are limited. Someone has offered them a small piece of land on which to construct their own house but there is no way they could even begin such a project. With no social security and no relatives in a position to help, they have no choice but to stay where they are and hope for the best. In the meantime, every day more and more pieces fall off the house.
Please help! I’m sure it is only a matter of time (and maybe not much time) before one of them is killed. While in Cape Coast, I checked out how much it would cost to construct a simple but safe house. With about £8,000, they could build a small house with two bedrooms and a small kitchen. This wouldn’t cover plastering, paint, or electricity installation, but it would be enough to get them out of danger. I’ve put £10,000 as a target in case prices go up and because it would be nice to get some basic things like water, electricity and a cooker if possible.
I’ve never tried crowdfunding before. But I’m hoping that if people who know me read this story and are generous enough to donate and share with others, we can get this family into a safe place to live before it’s too late.
Organizer
Kate Hampshire
Organizer