The Mentor's Waiting Room Goes to Ghana - February 2007
Volta Home Orphange / Volta Region, Ghana
Once again, I had the amazing opportunity to combine my three passions - Art, Travel and Children - into another amazing adventure, this time to Ghana, Africa. I spent the month of February out of the Canadian cold immersed in the overwhelming heat of the Volta Region in Ghana, Africa, where I lived and breathed (and ate... talk about "extreme cuisine") with the children of the Volta Home orphanage in the remote town of Ve Deme, about 30 minutes outside of Hohoe.
This wasn't my first time doing this type of thing, but the conditions these children live in shocked even me. The orphans I worked with in India last year seem like millionaires compared to the these children. Still, they welcomed me into their lives with a voracious desire for learning, stimulus, and just plain attention. And like all children around the world, they were thrilled to receive the approximately 150 pounds of art and school supplies in two bulging suitcases I brought for all the kids to enjoy, generously donated by family, friends and co-workers.
We spent many long days enjoying each other's company, drawing, painting, listening to music on my iPod, and just being human with each other for a brief time in space.
I also made the twin of Alexa's painting, and presented it to the orphanage, as a totem to watch over the children.
For more information, or if you want to make a donation (or even if you want to visit), please visit the Volta Home web site.
