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.
Basic Needs First
For each trip we carry and distribute clothing, medical and school supplies, books and Bibles. Upon our arrival, we purchase a few hundred school uniforms and pass them out to children. (Students usually have only one uniform and very few outfits — and what they do have is often in poor condition.) We also pay their school fees so parents don’t have to choose between their children going to school or going to work to help support the family.
Offering Tools for Advancement
In 2004, our church started a non-governmental organization in Ghana called African Initiative Mission. We focus on three key areas: education, health and business. The organization seeks to empower villages by conducting Bible studies, helping children with their education and increasing the financial sustenance of business owners so they can become self-sufficient. Our goal is to assist our brothers and sisters in their development so that they may impact their community, country, continent and world.
On this trip we established an Internet café in the village of Bonwire, where kente cloth originated. Many in the village work to create and sell this cloth to people from all over the world. These villagers would have to travel over an hour to an Internet café in the nearest city to get in touch with their international contacts. Now, with their own developing Internet café, they walk a few minutes.
Girls Conference Balances Training and Fun
We also planned and carried out a five-day event, the Wechiau Girls Conference, for village girls in the upper northern part of Ghana; the nearest town is more than an hour away. We planned for 250 girls, but brought extra supplies just in case. By the time we arrived, 287 girls had signed up for the conference. Our team, with expertise that included teaching, health care and the arts, focused on literacy, health and hygiene, arts and crafts, music, physical education and dance. We also worked with a local team that helped orchestrate logistics at the site.
Many girls thanked us for providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day of the conference. (The families in the area often only eat once a day.) Others were especially grateful for the literacy and health classes, as well as the clothing and supplies that were given out. Many girls shared their dreams of being nurses, teachers, engineers and journalists, and they were excited to have us help improve their education. Sadly, the majority of teen girls at the event have educational skills no higher than fourth grade.
As Americans, we go to this foreign land to help a people with limited material goods and opportunity, yet they have no short supply of joy, faith, creativity and imagination. At times, our own joy and faith seems to be in short supply. We take so much for granted (like clean running water, owning more than one change of clothing or access to decent health care). But I find that as we give to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters, they give to us to help meet our spiritual and emotional needs.
Our February 2008 trip is practically here. We shipped a 20-foot container filled with clothing and various needed supplies: underwear and t-shirts, books, pens, pencils, notebooks and more. The task is still tremendous and the enormous needs of the children and families can get overwhelming, but God continues to demonstrate that he is able.
Even as we prepare to a successful February journey, we are already getting ready for our August 2008 return trip.
