In just over 2 weeks I will arrive back home to the village of Kpando, Ghana to continue my journey at Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage. It was a year ago that I returned to this orphanage to begin the mission of Hope for Ghana.
This mission began physically with the transformation of an old, unused office building into a beautiful room with tables, chairs, wall to wall bookshelves, electricity, bright lighting and ventilation. As you know this building would later become a library, a study and computer lab, today used by 28 children with learning tools from math to art and from science to Christianity.
And one year ago the mission of Hope for Ghana began symbolically with the presentation of a gift to these beautiful children, a bracelet with 3 simple concepts: Faith, Hope and Love. Today over 600 bracelets, given as gifts of hope, are worn in Kpando by the children of the orphanage, their friends, teachers, pastors and their neighbors. Another 1000 bracelets were purchased by hundreds of pediatric patients and their families in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to generously support this mission. For all those who wear this bracelet you wear on your wrist a unique symbol of hope shared by many grateful Ghanaians.
So I return to Kpando with much emotion. There is always the uncertainty of what will come of these children and what their future holds for them. It is this uncertainty that drives me each day. But I pray that the gift of this library and computer lab, if used to its fullest potential, can change their lives forever. So I return with great hope, and with my own certainty of knowing that what we have built in Ghana can indeed change the course of these orphans’ future.
For all of you who have come with me on this journey I thank you for your immense contribution. I return to Ghana proud of what we have built so far. But this is just a beginning, and I return to Ghana eager to find Hope for Ghana’s next project as well … who knows, maybe at another orphanage or maybe at a school. I firmly believe today more than ever that the key to the future of these children is education … and maybe more importantly faith, hope and love. So please continue to visit Hope for Ghana’s website, www.hopeforghana.com as well as Hope for Ghana on Facebook. I look forward to your comments and suggestions and look forward to sharing the story of these children and their story of hope.
With love and gratitude,
Steve
