We have a lot of good news at the end of
2013! The I.R.S. just approved our application
to be a 501(c)(3) public charity. A set
of very dedicated teachers in Ghana and the Pacific Northwest cheerfully and smoothly
manage our letter exchanges. Our brand
new board features people raised in diverse places (Ghana, England, Haiti, the
U.S., and Canada) and possessed of varied skills (community development, project
evaluation, law, accounting, education, Black Studies, economics, computing,
engineering). And we have provided scholarship assistance to students (such
as those shown below) whose families cannot afford to send them to school, funds
to finish a school’s first library, and electronic equipment such as computers
and printers.
Most of all, we bring Ghanaians and Americans together. That’s what the students from Morle Junior
High School are so excited about in the photograph to the right. It’s not an athletic contest they are
celebrating; they just learned that Yo Ghana! paired them with a school in Springfield,
Oregon!
Those schools became
our seventh set of partners, and several more are on the way. Students write about who or what inspires
them, family members they miss, their favorite foods, and what goes on outside
their classroom door. They also
encourage each other. As one Ghanaian recently
wrote her new American friend: “All that I have to say is that life is not easy
at all, but with hard work and dedication things shall be well in the future.”
Please consider a
financial gift at the end of the year to help our own “hard work and
dedication.” We are run completely by
volunteers both in the U.S. and Ghana, and your donation is tax deductible. Our website has a Paypal button: http://www.yoghana.org/ Or contact
David del Mar (delmard@pdx.edu)
No comments:
Post a Comment