SHOUTOUT - Feature Blog, By Rhiannon Smith

We wanted to give a Shoutout to our friend Rhiannon who just returned from Ghana, donating her time and her heart. You did a wonderful thing lady - we are very proud of you and love you dearly!!

Here is her story ~

I decided to go to Africa to work with orphans. I’m still not sure why I decided to go there rather than just donate money. I just know I’m glad I went. The experience was priceless. I spent four weeks living with a local family in a village called Mampong in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, West Africa. Nothing could have prepared me for the culture shock I witnessed on a daily basis, but it was all part of the experience!
I arrived in the capital of Ghana, Accra, where my training took place. I learned about African culture, had traditional drumming and dance lessons, language lessons (Twi), learned how to cook Ghanaian food and how to hand wash clothes, had the concept of a bucket bath explained to me and learned about my project placement - The Mampong Babies Home.
The Mampong Babies Home is an orphanage in the village of Mampong which was established by the Anglican Church in 1967. The Babies Home cares for children who have been orphaned, often when the extended family cannot cope. It is a horrible fact that one in ten children in Ghana die before reaching their fifth birthday. Young lives are fragile and if the primary caregiver is no longer around, the child's chances of survival are slim. The Mampong Babies Home works to keep these children alive, giving them food, medical care, love and a home until they are old enough to be re-united with extended family or placed into a family.
Read More Here

INFO -
The Mampong Babies Home
PO Box 151
Mampong Ashanti
Ghana
Mampongbabieshome@yahoo.com