“Oink, oink!”… “Quack, quack!”

Kathleen — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:02:58 +0000

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!

Interns from SRU make a difference with students in Ghana

Kathleen — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:41:30 +0000

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!

Nurses from Kumasi provided free breast exams to 90 women at Open Forum

Kathleen — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:27:50 +0000

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” Buckets were distributed at Open Forum

Kathleen — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:17:39 +0000

“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.

U.S. Team Raises Funds for Women in Ghana

Kathleen — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:05:35 +0000

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

SRU Interns to arrive in Ghana, research results

Kathleen — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 14:26:12 +0000

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!

Slippery Rock University Team

Kathleen — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:58:27 +0000

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.

Leaving for Ghana soon

Kathleen — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:32:32 +0000

Have you every wondered what it takes to prepare for a trip to Ghana? Well, preparation begins months in advance. Staying in communication with each “team” who is to arrive at approximately the same time, each team with different agendas – yet all sharing a desire to make a difference (plus a little fun too! of course!)

This trip, August 2010, Joy2theWorld has TEAMS from across the USA meeting in Ghana and I think this is the MOST exciting trip ever! (Of course, I say this EVERY time! Over the past 3 years, we have traveled to Ghana with Teams… every Team has made a contribution – as you can tell from the website – our well and the playground, for instance.

This trip, we have very special guests coming. Three interns from Slippery Rock University (Slippery Rock, PA) and Professor Cindy Lacom will be participating in research about our micro loans. You will hear all about it when we return. They will be interviewing our women clients, both new clients and those who have been with us for a while.

In addition, an old friend, John Wade, our engineer from California will be joining us too.

Joy2theWorld is growing. We now have over 275 loans to women. Our Buy a Bucket Campaign has been amazing and thanks to many of you, we will be providing many buckets to women and their children. Pictures to follow.

Remember when you couldn’t get a loan?

Nick — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:30:04 +0000

Nothing irks me more than a generation of women who roll their eyes when I say
“when I was your age…”

Now that we have entered a century where college kids get credit cards in the mail, it seems archaic to say “when I was your age, women couldn’t get loans without a co-signer”.

But the satisfaction is that today, yes today, women can do anything! Open accounts, invest, borrow, go into debt, you name it.

And it happened because women in the 60’s and 70’s and even, 80’s took a stand for their rights.

I am asking you to stand up again. There are women in Ghana who cannot get loans. Joy2theWorld (www.joy2theworld.org) is a micro loan organization providing micro loans to women in poverty. Fifty dollars can make a huge difference. A woman can use $50 to build their inventory, purchase needed equipment, and hire staff.

And here is what we have found. The women repay their loans on time. It builds their self-esteem. And gradually, the women believe they deserve the opportunity to borrow for their businesses. Then they gradually believe they deserve an education and good health care.

Remember when you couldn’t get a loan? Well, now is your chance to provide loans to women. And they don’t roll their eyes.

Kathleen Gibbs
www.joy2theworld.org

8 Scholarship Winners

Kathleen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:14 +0000

We celebrated with the children and the parents of scholarship winners! Small children and young students joined us at the Open Forum in January to hear us call out their name. Proud parents brought their children to pose for pictures. In Ghana, the education is free. The scholarships pay for the uniform, shoes, books and supplies ($125.00). These are not provided by the education system and parents cannot afford them. Our clients live and provide for their families with approximately $1.00-1.50 per day. Providing the simple essentials as a uniform and books is out of reach. Our generous donors made this possible for 8 students to go to school.

Our women know that the way out of poverty is education. When asked what they want or need, their first response is “scholarships” for our children. Joy2theWorld is proud to award our first 8 scholarships.