Plan a Trip, Make an Impact: Ghana

Do you want your next trip to make a difference in the world? Humanitarian trips allow you to travel the globe and experience new cultures; but more importantly, they give you the opportunity to give back and help improve the welfare, happiness, and lives of the people in the community and future generations. GIVING BACK

About three years ago, one of our clients established a program that would enable them to give back to those less fortunate. Now, this was not an ordinary give-back program. This particular program would take them to six continents over the course of six years in order to help a specific community in need. This past June our own Stoney Winterton and his wife Jennifer escorted our client on the second year of their program – this time to Ghana, Africa.

The humanitarian effort, organized by Stoney and World Joy, a U.S. based charitable organization dedicated to improving the lives of Ghana citizens, would consist of several parts. First, our client established the goal of raising $30,000 in order to build a secondary school in a small village located in the Atiwa District of Ghana. Our client asked their associates and distributors to raise as much money as they could and then they themselves would donate the difference. World Joy took this $30,000 donation and built a Catholic Junior Secondary School in Abomosu, Ghana using all Ghanaian workers and building materials. Instead of learning in exposed, run-down wooden huts, Abomosu students would have a real school to call their own. JOURNEY TO ABOMOSU

In June, after the school was built, Stoney and Jennifer accompanied 33 of our client’s executives, associates, and family members to Abomosu so they could finish the project and see first-hand the impact the new school would have on the children and the community. Unlike the large cities in Ghana, Abomosu does not have restaurants, grocery stores, or commercial buildings of any kind. The majority of citizens make their living by selling items on the sides of roads; such as used clothing, food they have grown, pottery, bowls, and much more. For many, their monthly livelihood is about ₵ 77 Ghanaian Cedi, or $40. Most of the roads in Abomosu are unpaved or were paved at one time and have begun to fall into decay. The majority of families reside in small huts or fragments of small homes.

Despite these obstacles, the citizens of Abomosu are loving, family-oriented, and constantly striving to improve their quality of life. For these reasons, education is important and respected by the community. The local schools are government-run and children are taught, in English, a wide range of subjects. Parents make sure their children regularly attend, knowing their children have an opportunity that was not available to them when they were growing up. For many children their school uniform is the nicest outfit they own; whereas much of their clothing and footwear is ragged, worn out, or inappropriately sized. A little bit can go a long ways

During their visit, Stoney, Jennifer, and the company’s participants painted the newly built secondary school, leveled the ground surrounding the school, landscaped, and cleaned up the town. They painted the alphabet on the walls in the classrooms, hung up posters with words of encouragement for the children, and set up each classroom with brand new desks. Though this was all extremely gratifying, the best part of the trip was spending time with the children. They brought fifteen suitcases filled with brand new school supplies and soccer balls, taught the kids ‘duck, duck, goose’ and ‘London bridge,’ and spent as much time with the children as they possibly could. When visiting the Abomosu Zion Kindergarten School, they repainted the building and had all of the children line up to create a border around the school with their own hand prints. This way, the children would feel an even greater tie to the school and be able to see themselves learn and grow. Stoney and Jennifer, not having known what to expect before the trip, enthusiastically spoke on how friendly, outgoing, and open everyone was in Abomosu. The children were so grateful for the new school and to spend time with the trip participants; they only see ‘outsiders’ about twice a year. Overall, it is difficult to say which group benefited more from this trip; however, it is safe to say this experience, this brief moment in time, will always be cherished by everyone. HARD WORK - BUT WORTH IT

One thing to be aware of before embarking on an incentive trip of this kind, is that it will be very different from a normal vacation. The environment is hot and humid; the days are filled with hard work. You will eat foods you are not used to, you will not have access to basic luxuries such as hot running water, and you will probably want to go home once or twice. But you will not regret it. You will feel so fortunate to take part in something few Americans get to experience and you will feel so rewarded for providing opportunities to so many amazing individuals – opportunities that may not have been possible without your help. You will cherish your memories and bond with your coworkers in a way no other group bonding experience can achieve. But most importantly, as a direct result of your hard work and generosity, you will change people’s lives for the better. INTERESTING FACTS

Women in Abomosu carry almost everything in large round containers – on top of their head! From food and bottles of water all the way up to large piles of lumber, these women know the meaning of hard work. Many women do all of this with a baby strapped safely to their back, which enables them to use their hands for other tasks.
At the Abomosu Zion Kindergarten School, they have a merry-go-round that can power up to 40 lanterns for the children to take home and read with at nighttime, since many of their homes do not have electricity.
Many of the participants on the trip left half or more of their clothing behind in Abomosu. These clothes were washed and then distributed among the community to those in need.
Many people in Abomosu collect buckets of rain water. They’ll take one of the buckets out to the yard, along with a sponge and some soap, in order to bathe.
In order to have water for students while they’re in school, large plastic containers are set out to collect rain water. When thirsty, students will walk to the container and use the community cup to get a drink.
For health and safety reasons, the participant’s meals had to be catered. The nearest catering company was one and a half hours away. The caterers drove nine hours each day in order to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner to the participants.
A Teacher’s salary in Abomosu is about $600 a year, and includes living quarters. In the cities, such as Accra, a Teacher can earn anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 a year.