Chapman Project #1: InVision
Location: Accra, Ghana
Project Leader: Taylor Whitfield (on location in Ghana)
Estimated date of completion: Late March/ Early April.

The Case:
30-year-old Rebecca Kuanambe (Becky), lives just outside of Accra, Ghana, with her two kids, Abena (15 months) and Elijah (3 years). Her husband died unexpectedly in 2006 while she was pregnant, and she has had very little support from family and friends, and none from the government. I met her when I began volunteering at Street Girls' Aid, and NGO where she and six other women care for 180 street children under the age of five. She carries Abena on her back as she serves them all lunch, cleans up after them, and presides over class/nap time. At the end of the month she collects just over 500,000 Cedis (about $52). She uses 350,000 to pay for transportation to work, 300,000 for rent, and more for food and her son's school fees. So every month she is forced to ask her supervisor and other friends for loans just to survive. She is constantly weighed down with debt and the threat of homelessness (though she herself works to care for the homeless). After New Years 2008, her landlord decided he needs the next two years' rent upfront or she will have to move. The cost would be about $750, more money than she could ever possibly have at once, so she desperately came to me for help. Knowing that my donation would not help her in the long term, because paying this amount would only last two years, I decided to arrange something more permanent.
 
The Solution:
For a little over $2,000 we can buy a plot of land, and building supplies would only cost around $550 with volunteer labor. Thinking of what this will do to lighten the burdens of Becky and her family, this is a small price to pay.
 
Every Dollar Counts:
I realize there are billions of people worthy of such charitable support, but my belief is that you begin in small ways, by touching a few lives at a time. This is a chance to connect with strangers in need halfway across the world and possibly gain new opportunities. Becky wants all contributors to know that they will always be welcome at her home when they come to Ghana. Whatever you care to donate will be greatly appreciated and put to good use (a bag of cement is only $3, piece of wood is even less). On behalf of this family and everyone here in Ghana involved in this project, we thank you for taking the time and perhaps financial effort to be a part of a really good thing.

    Thanks,
    Taylor Whitfield