Hi, I’m Izzie. I just got back from a 7 week university placement in a hospital in Ghana, where I also spent a lot of time helping with wounds in the village. After my placement ended, I stayed for an extra week, and in my free time, I continued helping people with their wounds—sometimes spending hours a day attending to them—simply because they asked and I felt there was no one else to do it at the time.

I’m planning to go back and set up and run wound care workshops entirely by myself, mainly for the kids (although anyone is welcome). I’ll teach them how to safely dress wounds, control infection, handle equipment properly, and recognise when a wound needs professional care. The sessions will be super relaxed and fun, not intense—just a friendly environment where the kids can learn at their own pace. While at the hospital, I saw how easily injuries can become badly infected, and it was upsetting to witness preventable problems becoming so serious. I’ve taught in multiple countries before, so I can create structured but relaxed lessons, and I’m excited to combine my medical and teaching skills. I have built connections with many of the kids, so participation will be entirely optional—if they want to join, great; if not, that’s fine too.

My plan is for each child to have their own “wound clinic” box, filled with items like gloves, Savlon, gauze, plasters, and other basic supplies. I’ll focus on teaching them how to care for small wounds, recognise signs of infection and sepsis, and understand basic first aid. Importantly, the aim is for the kids to use what they learn to help not just themselves, but also others in their community. Most of the kids speak really good English, but I’m lucky to have friends among the locals who are happy to help with communication if needed.

Although there are sometimes medical volunteers in the village who are amazing and help when they’re not at the hospital, they are not there all the time, and many wounds, especially the children’s, go untreated additionally living by the ocean means they swim and surf a lot, so dressings need to be changed frequently. Teaching them to care for themselves—and then help others—keeps the community healthier, builds independence, and gives them a real sense of pride.

The kids in this village are absolutely incredible—so smart, resilient, and enthusiastic. I hope these workshops will give them something fun and worthwhile to do, while also learning skills that make a real difference. Any extra donations beyond the cost of kits and materials will go toward things the kids need, like food if they haven’t eaten at home, as well as clothes and sports equipment to bring some extra joy and opportunities for play.

I also believe it’s incredibly important that this project helps the children take steps toward self-reliance, rather than depending on outside help, particularly from foreign volunteers. I want the children to see that they are capable of taking care of themselves and others, and that they don’t need to wait for someone else to step in. This project is about empowerment, confidence, and trusting in their own skills.

I had originally planned to fund this entirely myself, but after speaking with people, I realised that starting a GoFundMe could help me scale the project, provide more kits, run more workshops, and reach more kids and therefore help them treat more wounds.

Where Your Money Will Go:

-Wound care kits for each child – including gloves, gauze, plasters, and other basic supplies.

-Booklets – I aim to create my own educational guides with animated, twi and English instructions on wound care, hygiene, and recognising infection ect.

-Workshop materials – everything needed to run relaxed and fun lessons.

-Containers and storage – boxes or bags to hold each child’s personal kit.

-Training older kids – potentially teaching them how to continue the wound care lessons and help others in the community after I leave.

-Extra support for the kids – any additional funds will go toward things the children need, like food if they haven’t eaten at home, as well as clothes, sports equipment, and games to bring them some extra joy.

This is entirely my own initiative, and I’ll be running it personally, so any donation, big or small, I will be immensely grateful for and will go directly toward helping these children learn to care for themselves safely and confidently, and then pass those skills on to help others in their community.