In 2006 we volunteered in Ghana, West Africa at two different schools: Abura Literacy School and New Life International Children’s Home and School. We encountered what so many experience while volunteering in West Africa: sorely underfunded, undersupplied, understaffed institutions. Abura Literacy School was operating in a shadeless courtyard with no professional teachers, only volunteers who did their best to educate students with whom they didn’t speak a common language. Desks and even basic supplies like chalk were limited.
New Life International Children’s Home and School operated according to a similar story. Though they did have a school building, due to a lack of staff, teachers taught multiple classes at once. To help fill staffing needs the older children of 10 and 11 years old were often taken from their classes to teach the 1st and 2nd grades. The quality of education was poor and as a result many children were forced to repeat grades, sometimes multiple times.
Even through this we discovered hope. The children captured our hearts. We decided we could change the conditions under which they were being educated. We realized we could help shape their futures and the futures of many more children by making the simple decision that we would do something. So we founded Literacy for Life. We operate on two founding principles, the first being that education is the most sustainable form of development. An education is forever. An educated person will always be an asset to himself, his family, and his country. The second is that when each person decides to help in whatever way they can, big or small, together we can make huge change. All it takes is the simple decision to do it. Read more about how you can decide to help.
View our past projects and current projects.
View our past projects and current projects.
