School and Hospital In Ghana

Over the years, my husband, Siba, and I have donated money and items to help others in Ghana, West Africa. Siba grew up in a poor village, pictured below, where there is no running water and no access to any type of government programs. As he has found a way to make a decent living for himself and his family here in the US, there are still individuals there that have no support that they still desperately need. For the past ten-plus years we have been shipping containers that include household items such as food, water, and other essentials to help provide some relief for the families in Siba's old village.

Eventually, we began asking ourselves what more we could do. Siba and a group of individuals in Africa started brainstorming and eventually decided to build a school that could help those in the village and surrounding area that doesn’t have access to a local school. We got in touch with Sun Prairie School District through a friend who was willing to donate all of the desks pictured below for the school in Ghana which is still in the process of being completed. The first floor of the school is complete and being utilized but until more funds can be provided, they are at a standstill.

Another project that was started is a hospital. There are no government programs like the ones we have here in the US. In Africa, if you go to get care at a hospital you must pay in advance or they will not help you. They are trying to come together to provide a hospital that will not turn individuals away. In the US we have systems that work. We are blessed to be able to get the care we need and worry about the bills later. That is not always the case in other countries.

Over the years we have not asked for donations from others. We have always taken profits from projects here that our company has earned. Recently, and after many talks with others, we have thought to ourselves, "what if others wanted to help?,”. "What if we could help more and build quicker if we didn’t only rely upon on ourselves and the other individuals in Africa to complete these projects?” After Christina Lorey, from UpNorthNews, contacted us to hear our story, we finally decided it was time to branch out and ask the community for help in finishing these projects.

We are incredibly fortunate for all that we have here in the US and are so thankful to be able to give back to those in need. If any of you would like to join in helping us finish these projects and continue to send over essentials to help those in need, we would greatly appreciate it, as would the thousands of people you would be helping. Please feel free to reach out with questions.