Rotary Team Departs for Ghana with Donated Goods

Rotary Team Departs for Ghana with Mountain of Donated Goods and a Record-Breaking Number of Donation Dollars

On January 15, nineteen intrepid Rotarians and volunteers from Windsor Essex set off on an adventure of a lifetime toting with them 53 hockey bags and $220,000 in donations to invest in projects in Ghana. Team members are travelling to the central region of Ghana, each at their own expense, to implement a myriad of humanitarian projects. Prior to departing Windsor for the Ambassador Bridge, the team assembled at the parking lot at the corner of Huron Church and Tecumseh Rd. West to build a mountain with their hockey bags to showcase the colossal generosity of our community.

“Hundreds of people in Windsor Essex have donated items for us to bring to the impoverished villagers in Ghana who have next to nothing and suffer unspeakable hardships. We are abundantly blessed here in Canada and it is truly gratifying to witness the generosity of people in our community who want to share some of their many blessings with the less fortunate in Ghana. These hockey bags are filled to the brim with medicines and medical supplies, orthopedic braces, canes, crutches, school supplies, soccer balls, uniforms, children’s clothing, baby clothes and accessories, backpacks and toys for the kids.” –  Kim Spirou, Rotary Team leader

While in Ghana the team will implement a number of major infrastructure projects including bore drilling 9 water wells for remote villages without access to clean, potable water. The team will also construct a sanitation facility to provide villagers in a destitute outpost with the dignity and improved health that comes with the installation of toilets, sinks and showers. And the team will renovate an entire elementary school and build a new junior high school. Each of the 500 students enrolled at these schools will also receive a back pack filled with school supplies, toothbrush and toothpaste, new clothes and a toy!

Medical professionals on the team will work in clinics and hospitals providing primary health care, dental services and eye glasses while in Ghana. The team will also distribute mosquito bed nets to pregnant and nursing mothers and their children to prevent the scourge of malaria – Africa’s #1 killer. “Rotarians are people of action. Participating on a humanitarian mission is definitely a transformative experience and the reward for serving others is priceless!”