Welcome! This site is currently being UPDATED. But please feel free to look around. We are happy to introduce you to an exciting, fairly new organization called the African Initiative Mission, here at Aimmission.org.(Picture taken in Wechiau, Ghana by AIM. Copyright 2007)There are so many exciting things taking place as we seek to empower the lives of our sisters and brothers in Ghana, West Africa. Hopefully what you see and read here will help you understand the scope of the work. If what we are doing resonates with you, then we invite your assistance through financial support, provision of resources, or if your interested… going with us on the journey! Thank you.

AN AFRICAN SUMMER…

It’s September!  Fall is on its way in and summer is just about over. And it was a great summer!  Our team of twenty (from the U.S.) recently returned from our August journey to Ghana, West Africa.  We held our 3rd annual Wechiau Girls Conference in the upper west region of the country. It’s a very remote area – some places just received electricity last year, although very many villages still don’t have any electricity at all. The nearest major city, Kumasi, is about 8 hours away… and the journey is not an easy one to drive. (In 2009, can you believe there are still places in the world without some of the basic things we take for granted here in the U.S.? We have a lot of work to do.)

We are currently preparing for our August 2009 Journey to Ghana.  Our schedule includes our third annual Wechiau Girls Conference as well as checking on the building of our school. 

For the conference, we are expecting 350 girls from over 19 different villages in some of the remotest parts of Ghana, West Africa.  For five days, we will be teaching them about Literacy, Health, Music, Arts & Crafts, Dance and Physical Education.  In this area, the children only get one meal a day.  During our conference, we feed them breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The girls’ excitement is contagious during the entire conference, but especially when they are eating.

This past August 2008, the African Initiative Mission organization returned back to Ghana, West Africa for our Second Annual Wechiau Girls Conference. 

Approximately 312 girls from 19 different surrounding villages turned out for the 5 day event.  Wechiau is one of the most isolated village regions, where the nearest town is over one our away by car and the nearest major city is over eight hours away.  To make things worse, the roads are not in good condition.  In fact, this area is so isolated that electricity just arrived in early this year.

In seven days, we leave for Ghana, West Africa.  The final week until departure is always crucial, intense… and exciting.  Those of us who are going can’t wait to walk the West African soil again.  We miss our sisters and brothers and look forward to the reunion: their smiling faces, warm hugs, exicting stories of their adventures since the last time we were there five months ago.  We will also hear stories of their incredible need…

In case you are wondering, there are places of poverty there that are incomprhensible to our American sensibilities.  Some think we know poverty in America - but it does not compare.

Empowering the Next Generation
by: Allen Paul Weaver III

In 2003, when I went on my first mission trip to Africa, I asked myself: “What am I capable of doing?  I’m only one person.” The task before our group was tremendous: four men carried in eight large bags of clothing, shoes, school supplies and Bibles to give out. Our group leader had traveled to Ghana for the first time six months earlier. It was all new to us and our misconceptions — often facilitated by American media — met with an altogether different reality. This year, I traveled with a group of 20 to Ghana, West Africa, again to give out clothing and school supplies, but also to provide key support for the residents’ education, health and business needs. Through donations of supplies and money, we’ve already spent over $200,000 to empower this global community.

Young boy sleeping in the streets of Weichau. 

Helping to develop boys to men in a poverty stricken district.

This walking bridge was built by our AIM Foundation members in order to get children across to school during the rainy season.   

Coming Together to Make a Difference. 

Two Cecilias from two different worlds.

Planning and preparation for the first Internet cafe in Bonwire, Ghana.

After much hard work, the first internet cafe in Bonwire, Ghana is complete. More computers are needed.  (Your support is needed)

The AIM team is planning its next trip which is scheduled for February 2008. We are already in the process of collecting items to fill a shipping container which will be here next month. Please help us make a difference in the lives of our Ghanaian sisters and brothers. Listed below you will find some of things we are asking for. This is not an exhaustive list, so feel free to donate other items that you think would be beneficial to them:

Clothing (new or gently used)

Undergarments (new)

 Hygiene products (toothpaste, feminine care, etc…)

Shoes

I remember being a kid and watching television late at night. In the wee hours of the morning certain stations would show underprivileged kids in Africa and abused kids in the U.S. It was hard for me to believe that kids lived this way, and whenever I ate dinner my parents would encourage me not to be wasteful. “There are starving children in Africa,” they would say. I used to wish that I could give them my food or my nice parents who really tried their best to provide for me and love me. It wasn’t until years later when I realized that I could do that for them myself.

The Ghana Summer Team traveled to Wechiau, Bonwire, and the Volta as planned from August 5^th to August 20^th and completed many great tasks with excitement, enthusiasm and love.   Many saw the love of God expressed through human compassion.

Education and Health in Wechiau