Help the Hope for Life Association recover from flash flood

Goal: To raise $14,000 for completion of recovery efforts

Who we are

Hope for Life (HFL) was founded 40 years ago for people with disabilities living in Accra, Ghana, who want to be valuable and contributing members of their families and communities. HFL assists its members with social support, orthopedic surgeries, mobility aids, education expenses, vocational training, establishment of small businesses and boosts for existing small businesses. We work closely with our members and their families to find the best solution for each person. A part of HFL is Bethany House, a home away from home for HFL members to have a break from their daily struggles for 2-week periods, as well as being HFL’s administrative center.

Over the years, HFL has been working towards greater self-sufficiency, rather than a reliance on outside donations. About 25 years ago at the Bethany House compound, we established a bakery and, over two years ago, a mushroom cultivation project. In addition to income-generation, the mushroom project provides direct practical assistance to HFL members for a few months at a time through training and employment in mushroom cultivation.

The flood

This past May and June saw an unusually heavy rainy season. The land and gutters had no time to drain before another storm struck. On the morning of June 29, following a nonstop, heavy overnight rain that continued into the morning, we were hit by a flash flood. The roadside wall of the neighboring school crashed down from the force of the mud, sand and rock-filled water rushing down from surrounding hills with their unpaved roads. The torrent tore through the school’s property, knocking down the wall between us and them. Within minutes of our shared wall coming down, the mushroom house and everything inside washed away. The wall on the other side of our property was knocked down as the water rushed through. The car for supplying mushrooms and doing outreach visits washed off the property…trees fell and washed away, the bakery delivery van washed away but got stopped by a pole on the property.

We are thankful no one at our house was hurt. The usual mushroom person was away for a few days planning his mother’s funeral and the one harvesting the mushrooms that morning had just left the grow house for a breakfast break only 5 minutes before it crashed down and washed away. He had been planning to return to open new substrate and water everything after the break. Fortunately, miraculously, he was spared.

Bethany House’s foundation is raised up from the ground, but very soon the water inside the house rose halfway up to our knees. If we had been at ground level, it would have been at least chest high. Seeing this, we carried the wheelchair users who were in the house that day upstairs for safety, not knowing to what height the water would reach.

Recovery efforts to-date

Since then, we have cleaned the inside of the house and have been clearing away rubble and fallen trees while assessing the exterior damage. Those using wheelchairs and crutches scrubbed the inside while the more able-bodied focused on clearing the exterior. We found the car not far away and until now, almost two months later, it is still not fully repaired from the water damage. The bakery savings have been enough to cover repairs to the machines and the delivery van and the bakery resumed baking 3 weeks after the flood, although the bakery van is also still having ongoing issues from the water damage.

Thanks to Hope for Life savings and donations since the flood:

1) We have covered ongoing car repairs to get it functioning again, totalling so far almost 7,000 cedis ($630).

2) We have started to rebuild the mushroom house, totalling 25,670 cedis to-date ($2,310).

3) The neighboring school is rebuilding the collapsed compound walls.

4) We have placed deposit for supplies needed to replace the main gate (also destroyed) to the compound, 2,000 cedis ($180)

Assistance still needed

Recovery expenses ahead that cannot be covered by savings and current donations include:

(itemized costs are in Ghana cedis; total cost in dollars at the end)

To recover the mushroom project:

To recover from the loss the Hope for Life Association faces:

TOTAL (in Ghana cedis): 150,750 ghc

Total in US dollars (at 1 cedi = 0.090 US dollars, the exchange rate on August 24, 2026): $13,570

We have rounded up the estimated amount needed of $13,570 to $14,000 to account for unforeseen needs that will arise going forward.