Ghana
We first became connected with Ghana in 2011 through our exploration of the e-waste industry for our book Living on a Dollar a Day. In Ghana, poverty limits children from accessing schools in many parts of the country, as they are needed to work to support their families or spend their time collecting water or searching for food. In this country, we have provided medical assistance, vocational training, and educational scholarships through our Children’s Fund.
Notre Dame Clinic
Source: Notre Dame Clinic
Source: Notre Dame Clinic
The Notre Dame Clinic in Ghana has a maternity ward that assists with some 200 births each year. Throughout the world some 400,000 women die each year in child birth, mostly in Africa. Organizations like the Notre Dame Clinic save the lives of mothers and newborns everyday.
Source: Notre Dame Clinic
Orthopedic Training Centre
Source: Orthopedic Training Centre
Source: Orthopedic Training Centre
The Orthopedic Training Centre’s (OTC) mission is empowering the disabled in Ghana, mainly children, to gain independent and productive lives. Started by the Divine Word Missionaries in 1961, its primary purpose is the rehabilitation of the physically disabled in Ghana and West Africa. The Centre consists of an orthopedic clinic, a children’s department, and a prosthetics and orthopedic training college. A mobile orthopedic unit also tours the country on a regular basis, providing support to those unable to visit the Centre. Over 6,000 people a year, mainly children, receive the help they need at the Centre or from the mobile orthopedic unit. TFI learned of their good work and supported their efforts to purchase a medical van and replaced a roof of a dormitory. Also, in 2019, we visited them and found an orphan named Zak living there. We decided to sponsor his education and care through our Medical Assistance Fund.
Source: Level-8
VARAS
Source: VARAS
Source: VARAS
Volunteers for Amelioration of Rural Areas (VARAS) wishes to find sustainable solutions for rural communities to survive and thrive by bridging the developmental gap between rural and urban areas through sustainable community projects and programs in education, healthcare, women empowerment, and rural enterprise. Our president met the director of VARAS at a conference in 2019 and was impressed by their work. TFI largely supports their efforts to provide impoverished women with sewing training so that they can better support their families. Funds have also been provided to help children in these villages to return to school and continue their education after setbacks due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Source: VARAS