GOING, GOING, GHANA
Student service project blossoms
Aria Walfrand
Issue date: 5/28/09 Section: News
Books and other supplies were sent over last week as part of Building Up Ghana, the project to build a library for children in Ghana started by Mike Clarke '11. Union students collected books, eyeglasses, and money for the children of Ghana.
"So, in the end, this project has been more than a success," says Clarke. "Through the campus community, we easily collected over 5,000 books, and as these last couple fundraisers come to an end this term, I will estimate that we raised around 1,500 to 1,600 dollars. We also received a lot of eyeglasses as donations, which is a really great thing as well. I am working on getting an eye doctor from Accra, Ghana to come to the school and help those with sight issues and try to fit them with the glasses that have been donated."
Clarke also thanked Dean Trish Williams and Dean Stephen Leavitt for contributing the cost of shipping everything over to Ghana. This project came into being when Clarke and his mother went on a church-sponsored trip to Ghana. He was so inspired by the first trip, that he decided to go back, and then to start Building Up Ghana. The project, according to Clarke, soon became much more.
"All of the books are now on a boat that departed from Newark, NJ and will arrive in Ghana in 6 weeks. All the money that has been donated will be put towards a number of things," he explained.
"First and foremost, a bulk of it will be put towards the building of the shelves and the whole interior of the space at the school that has been designated as the library. I will be using around another two to four hundred dollars to buy those new 'third world' computers that will be perfect for the kids at the school. Then, if there is still money left over, I will use it to pay for shoes for the kids."
This huge project was born from the idea of one student, and now it may become even larger. Clarke notes that "service is becoming more of a desire from the student body."
He and two other students, Patrick Petty '11 and Kameron Simpson '09, are headed to Ghana this July to help out with the project.
Clarke says that "there has been so much interest on campus that I am now working with the administration in taking the steps necessary to turn this trip into a mini-term next year."
"So, in the end, this project has been more than a success," says Clarke. "Through the campus community, we easily collected over 5,000 books, and as these last couple fundraisers come to an end this term, I will estimate that we raised around 1,500 to 1,600 dollars. We also received a lot of eyeglasses as donations, which is a really great thing as well. I am working on getting an eye doctor from Accra, Ghana to come to the school and help those with sight issues and try to fit them with the glasses that have been donated."
Clarke also thanked Dean Trish Williams and Dean Stephen Leavitt for contributing the cost of shipping everything over to Ghana. This project came into being when Clarke and his mother went on a church-sponsored trip to Ghana. He was so inspired by the first trip, that he decided to go back, and then to start Building Up Ghana. The project, according to Clarke, soon became much more.
"All of the books are now on a boat that departed from Newark, NJ and will arrive in Ghana in 6 weeks. All the money that has been donated will be put towards a number of things," he explained.
"First and foremost, a bulk of it will be put towards the building of the shelves and the whole interior of the space at the school that has been designated as the library. I will be using around another two to four hundred dollars to buy those new 'third world' computers that will be perfect for the kids at the school. Then, if there is still money left over, I will use it to pay for shoes for the kids."
This huge project was born from the idea of one student, and now it may become even larger. Clarke notes that "service is becoming more of a desire from the student body."
He and two other students, Patrick Petty '11 and Kameron Simpson '09, are headed to Ghana this July to help out with the project.
Clarke says that "there has been so much interest on campus that I am now working with the administration in taking the steps necessary to turn this trip into a mini-term next year."
Be the first to comment on this story