Last month The Elena Haasen Library, Hope for Ghana’s project built in 2015, was honored with very special guests from Hamburg. On the day following what would have been Elena’s 18th birthday, Elena’s parents, sister and 3 friends departed from Germany to Ghana to see the library and computer lab that symbolizes the values and ideals of Elena that continue to live on in the rural village of Tegbi. FC St. Pauli, Hamburg’s professional football club, and their fan club, the Fanladen, continued their support of Hope for Ghana and their commitment to honoring the memory of Elena Haasen with huge donations of football equipment for Tegbi Agbedrafor Basic School’s girls and youth football teams. The Fanladen’s latest newsletter from August 24, 2016 shared the following story of the Haasen family and friends’ journey:
Delegation from Germany visits The Elena Haasen Library in Tegbi
In July 2016 the Haasen family (Lia, Anke and Chris) and three of Elena´s friends (Carlos, Ana and Marli) visited the school in Tegbi with the library dedicated to Elena. They were able to experience the impact of the library for 800 students in their school routine. Anke and Ana especially spent many hours with children who were hungry to learn, and helped them learn how to read. The library was also expanded to include the first books in the local language, Ewe (so far all books were in the official language, English).
Thanks to donations from the soccer club FC St. Pauli from Hamburg and two of the professional players, Jan-Philipp Kalla and Davidson Eden, the girls soccer team as well as the young boys soccer team were equipped with jerseys, trousers, cleats and balls. The equipment was inaugurated in a soccer match between the girls and the boys teams, with Lia and Ana helping out on the girls team, much to the amusement of the rest of the school watching on the sidelines. Furthermore, students in Hamburg from both Elena´s (Gymnasium Altona) and Lia´s high school (Gymnasium Allee) had collected two suitcases full of school supplies, especially pens and pencils, which were donated to the Tegbi Agbedrafor School. Up until now many children attended school without bringing a pen or pencil, as their families may not have been able to afford them. This shall not be the case any more in the school year coming up! Nonetheless more deficiencies surfaced during the visit to Agbedrafor School. Especially the roof of one of the three school buildings is in such bad shape, with holes three feet in diameter, that the building cannot be used when it rains. Donations from FC St. Pauli will hopefully generate sufficient funds to finance a new roof at the school.
It became very clear to the six visitors, that the library has impacted the school tremendously, with the children showing great improvement in reading and writing. The donations from Hamburg were greatly appreciated and motivated both students and teachers in the school to continue with the long process of learning. As the dedication plaque reads: “Elena´s thoughts and ideals continue to inspire and will live on forever!”
