SRU Interns (Kara and Ashley) read stories about animals found on the farm. I walked away for a few minutes to see what was happening in another class and suddenly I could hear “oink, oink!…quack, quack”… The kids were having fun, but it looked like the interns were enjoying the moment too!
Intern (Nita) from Slippery Rock University (SRU) read a story to the children at Rebecca’s school. School was out for the summer, but we asked Rebecca to contact 10 students to come to school in their uniforms to participate in a classroom study. Well, the first 10 students told their friends and by 10:30, the count was 130 students showed up in uniform to hear the stories and learn about Sesame Street characters! Yikes! Some students in one class listened to stories as another full classroom watched videos of Sesame Street!
Women clients who attended the Open Forum heard a lecture on preventative health practices. Nurses from Kumasi (a 3 hour drive one-way) arrived to provide free breast exams for women. Thanks to the American Cancer Society, handouts with pictures and diagrams were given to each woman who attended. Ninety women had free private exams and the information “you can LIVE with early detection!”. Women sat on the edge of their seats, listening carefully.
“Thank you Joy2theWorld!” Women clients of the micro loan program were given an opportunity to “win” a Bucket to take home! The word spread like wildfire that those who arrived to the Open Forum early would be included in an early raffle draw. Thanks to generous online donors and matching donations from J2W, 45 buckets were raffled to an audience of over 125 women in attendance. These precious buckets provide a “faucet” (spigot), easy access to wash hands and faces at home.
Raffle drawings provided the fairest approach to distributing the buckets to the crowds. Ten tickets called at 10 am (those early arrivals at the meeting), then again at 11:30 a.m. and noon.
Team at the Beer Token Booth raising funds for J2W
Nick Manuele is a Master at coordinating a team and raising funds for the Joy2theWorld women in Ghana. His first fundraiser, the Oysterfest in San Francisco (May, 2010) raised funds to provide 45 new loans. This week, Nick and his team worked at the CountryFest in San Francisco – at the Ticket Booth. The team earned over $4,000 for Joy2theWorld. Hats off! to Nick for making a difference globally! And thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their Saturday to raise funds for women in Ghana.
Crowds enjoy music at the OysterFest in May, 2010
Interns from Slippery Rock University, Kara Cooke, Nita Shippy, Ashley Ranck, sit with Kathleen and Dr. Cindy Lacom, their professor and discuss what to expect as they arrive in Ghana. Along with the excitement is the practical advice of travel, preventive shot requirements, visa applications, and diet expectations. These students will be interviewing new micro loan clients as well as senior clients. The purpose of the study is to determine the success of the program, what works and what can be improved.
The interns will also have the opportunity to interact with the students at Rebecca’s school. They will introduce Sesame Street to the pre-k children – for the very first time!
The Slippery Rock University (SRU) students will be interns in Ghana. These interns will be interviewing women and observing their businesses as they study the micro loan effects on their businesses, their family and their community.