A Good News/Bad News Week

First, the not-so-good news from Ethiopia. The landlord who had agreed to rent us a new property for Opportunity House rescinded the deal at the very last minute as we were preparing to move in. Needless to say, everyone is quite disappointed but already Gail is on the hunt for other suitable locations in the neighborhood. The silver lining in this cloud is perhaps having a bit more time to raise the money we will need to refurbish and equip any new space for housing and educating special needs children. So keep on selling those quilt raffle tickets because the proceeds are still going to be used for our Opportunity House program. Contact Johanna in the AAI office to get some tickets.

Now for the GOOD NEWS from Ghana! We have just rented a brand new and spacious facility for our program there. Anita's post and photos are below:

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We are happy to share that after two years in a rather small home/compound, Eban House in Ghana is moving! We have rented a very large residential home in Teshie, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. Currently we can care for up to 35 children, but after the move we hope to care for up to 60 children. The home has 7 bedrooms, and a 3 bedroom guest house. The guest house will be used as a school house for our children. All of our children currently go to school in one room, so having three rooms will be a luxury! The new Eban House has large grounds--some paved (great for "football"!) and some grassy area. Our kids will definitely enjoy the mango trees, which not only provide great snacks, but also much needed shade. The new home is surrounded by a wall that includes spikes for extra security.

the nice courtyard

Plans are in the works to have a volunteer/guest room (or two) that can be used by families when they travel. There will be a daily room and board fee. We hope this will be an attractive option for our families, but it also serves in a practical way to help us pay the rent! The daily fee will include room, private bathroom, and three meals a day.

our new schoolhouse

the main building

We plan to bring our playground equipment and the current schoolhouse to the new home. The current school house will also be moved, and likely be used for another purpose (play room, storage, etc.). The next few weeks will be hectic as attention is placed on moving from one home to the other. But all in all we are VERY excited about the change and think it is a move in the right direction for our program. I will be traveling to Ghana in the next few weeks, and so look forward to our children sitting under the mango trees outside our new home, playing the drums and singing traditional songs. What a happy sight that will be!

Anita
AAI Ghana Coordinator

the mango tree