Village of Hope - Part 5

I went with a team of 10 people to the Village of Hope near Accra, Ghana, West Africa June 5 - 13, 2006. It is an orphanage, school, and clinic. We painted the alphabet with corresponding pictures in many of the classrooms. We also built shelves for the library. Spending time with the children was the best part and I know it meant a lot to them and to us! The following posts are filled with images from my trip and are not necessarily in order.

Here's me painting "jumprope"

Pat and Barry carrying one shelf to the library.

The shelves look great!

Here's Ken with some of the kids.

We got lots of help painting!

The house parents were VERY encouraging!

I was told there is almost always a line outside the clinic everyday. People come from miles around to the VOH's clinic.

This education center has plans for a second floor. They go ahead and occupy the first floor before the 2nd one is built.

This under construction Prestoncrest house will be the next home to occupy more children. They are hoping the VOH will be able to house 200 kids when this is open.

A beautiful tree near the village of Ojobi.

Monday, we left the VOH and went into Accra. We visited the Heritage Christian College and took a tour of the property and buildings under construction. The first floor is already used for classes!

We were asked to be careful when taking pictures outside of the Village of Hope. So when we went into Accra, we took almost all of our photos from inside our bus.

The roads were lined with things for sale. These are mops and buckets.

This is the outside of the gate at the airport in Accra. Akwaaba means "Welcome".

We went to the market to buy souviners but couldn't take photos. This is the drum Tommy helped me haggle for. The money exchange and the haggling was just too confusing for me! But I love the drum! On it, is the Adinkra West Africa symbol GYE NYAME, which means "except for God".


I had a fantastic and meaningful time while in Ghana. I encourage anyone to contact me if they would like more information about the Village of Hope or Heritage Christian College in Ghana, West Africa. Prestoncrest plans to send more teams over there in the future. Please get involved!

Village of Hope - Part 4

Sunday morning church services.

After church, we all went down to the ocean, which is about a mile away, for Inka's baptism.

Inka, Joan and Fostina.

Our group ate Sunday lunch at this resort on the beach.

Our group. (back l to r)Blair, Tiffany, Rodney, Barry, Bob, Joan, Kent (front l to r) Robin, Anna, Tommy, Pat.

Go to part 5

Village of Hope - Part 3

The Village of Hope is not only an orphanage, but a school and clinic. Some of the children pay to come to school everyday. The school and clinic are how the VOH makes money...which isn't enough.

One of the days I rode the bus home with the kids. The following were taken while I was on the schoolbus. We went through the villages of Senya and Fettah.

Everyone carries their load on their head.

Senya Police Station

The guest house where we stayed at the VOH.

On the left is Latisha. She was our cook while we were there. She made delicious foods that we are used to such as Spaghetti, Fried Chicken, and this wonderful Pizza! We had fresh pineapple with every meal. We ate very well while there. Fostina is the lady on the right. She was great! She is Fred's wife (Director) and pretty much told us what to do!

Go to part 4

Village of Hope - Part 2

We had a birthday party for everyone after the Friday night Bible study. Everyone got cake and minerals (soda pop)!

But not before we lined them up for a picture!

Rodney and Kent are holding twins Prince and Princilla. Unfortunately, twins are not thought of as highly as they are in the US, so they are often discarded. There were many beautiful sets of twins in the Village of Hope.

Some of the interns got a little crazy with the cake and smeared it on Tommy, acting Director of the VOH. These two ladies, Matilda in the purple, are house parents. The Director, Fred Asare, was in the states while we were there, gathering support for the VOH.

This is me with Victoria, a very sweet house parent.

Here's Mawuli sampling some "cooking" from Mavis and another little girl. Those girls were a hoot. I was told it was cake on one side and rice on the other. One thing I notice is that the older kids take care of the younger ones just like they were their own brothers and sisters.

One of the ladies who went with us, Anna, is a school teacher and was full of ideas. She brought these "dalrods" (not sure if that's correct) and she taught them a rhythm game that the kids loved!

Anna also brought this parachute, which went over very well also!

Go to part 3