Some time ago our friend John in Ghana bought a lot in a poor neighborhood in Accra
to use as a base for his work with the poor. Over time, with great sacrifice and
through many different donations from others, he managed to build a small structure
on the lot. The building was later destroyed when the entire neighborhood burned to
the ground. It took many months but John managed to rebuild, step by step and stage
by stage. It is now basically finished except for a few details. It has two stories
with three rooms on the second floor. It is John's intention to use the upper rooms
as a refuge and a shelter for the homeless and those in need.
His plan is to use one of the rooms as a place where small children can stay while
their parents are working or otherwise unable to care for them during the day, a
sort of free daycare center for the poor in Accra and the surrounding area. This is
badly needed as many of the parents are unable to care for their small children and
the neighborhood where John lives is not safe even for adults.
This is something we have been wanting to do for a long time. There are many orphan
children in Ghana wandering the streets, either because their parents have both
died or because they have been abandoned. It is one of the sad, horrible things
about Africa and it has no easy solution. We cannot save them all but we are trying
to help at least a few of them. And finally John is in a position to start to do
it.
We still have a few things to finish. The upstairs rooms have no electricity so
that has to be taken care of first. John needs to buy mattresses for the children
and for the middle-aged lady he has hired to care for them. They will need basic
necessities such as furniture and food and if at all possible a few toys to give
them something to do while they are there.
Right now John's plan is to begin with two of the little children we have been
helping and then expand on from there. So in a way this is a way to continue the
help we have been giving to little Vicky and baby Donald in a setting where they
can both be taken care of and kept safe and their parents can try to better
themselves. The goal is to begin with this small base and expand as we can.
We still have a few things to do to make this dream a reality and so we are asking
for help. With the small amount we can do a bare-bones setup we can make certain that John's child care center will be a safe, comfortable, and happy place for the small children of
Accra to stay.
Any help with this worthy project would be much appreciated.
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