Out of AfriKids

‘Experience... life with AfriKids Ghana’ - SPECIAL EDITION During October, AfriKids took 48 Deutsche Bank employees to Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. For three days and three nights, they were completely immersed into one of three typical family lifestyles in rural Africa: market trading, farming and teaching. They lived their lives, worked their trades and became part of the community, gaining a real life experience of the significant everyday challenges villagers face. They were also able to visit a number of AfriKids Ghana’s innovative child rights and community development projects in the region, meeting a whole host of incredibly inspiring individuals along the way.

November 2010

AfriKids is a Child Rights Organisation working to improve life for Ghana’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in a holistic, inclusive and sustainable manner

A welcome dance at the Zuarungu Children’s Centre School

This newsletter is going to take you on a journey of Ghanaian stories...

Ann Pepper, Deutsche Bank

I am very proud and grateful to have been part of a group

who through staff sponsorship and support were able to

participate in the AfriKids ‘Experience Ghana Challenge’.

What was the Experience like for you?

A real eye opener. I learnt that I can live for a week without

any real possessions. That if you’re tired enough you can

sleep anywhere and that some of the things we hold most

dear are really not all that important. And yes, the toilets left

a lot to be desired, but you can get used to anything!

What was it like staying with the host family?

Monika and Simone were gracious hosts with two beautiful,

well mannered children. I thought I could pack a lot into a day

until I went to Ghana! I found it a challenge, getting up at

4.30am and finishing late (wuss I know!). Preparing

breakfast, lunch and dinner all before 7.00am when we left

the house to walk for an hour carrying books to school. The

children at the St Peter and Paul’s School were so warm and

welcoming throughout my stay. The class consisted of 48

children, aged between 7 and 15. Not all children had desks

or seats, and text books were scarce. Their enthusiasm to

learn was tangible. By way of a cultural exchange I hand

delivered 83 letters written by children from Northway

Community Primary School in the UK addressed ‘Dear my

Friend in Ghana’, and next week, I will have the pleasure of

returning 90 letters including photographs addressed to ‘Dear

my friend in England’. That was a particularly rewarding

lesson.

What was the food like?

With my host family I learnt how to make ‘Ampesi’ for

breakfast with ingredients of cassava (a root), cocoyam, yam

and plantain boiled with onion and fish, then pounded and

boiled twice more. Okra Stew, consisting mainly of onions

and chilli peppers (the seeds were ground to a paste).

Forowe, which was a fishy tomato stew. There was lots of

millet (grain), yams and rice thrown in at meal times too. I

also enjoyed Fufu round at a friend’s house (this consisted of

boiled plantain pounded with a large mortar and pestle

ground into a round ball). It stays hot in the middle and burns

your fingers when you eat it, much to the amusement of my

hosts!

What impact has this had on you?

It has been an absolute privilege to affiliate myself to

AfriKids. I am very lucky to have been given the chance to see

first hand how the monies raised will be spent in targeted

locations, providing intensive support to families and their

children to ensure access to education and healthcare, as well

as financing and delivering sustainable children’s rights

projects.

Many companies these days can write out large cheques as a

Corporate Donor, giving a budgeted sum to charities each

year. But very few companies operate in the way Deutsche

Bank does by promoting staff participation, where you are

encouraged to devote time, money and effort, backed with a

real sense of ‘mission’, camaraderie and accomplishment. It

demonstrated to me that we can provide real value – that

sponsorship isn’t a diversion of funds from the ultimate

beneficiary, but rather a way to ensure that funds go to the

intended beneficiaries.

And upon reflection...

My trip gave me the chance to experience a completely

different life, if only for a short time. I learnt first hand that

charities like AfriKids provide real opportunities for the future,

not just hand-outs and aid. I wouldn’t have missed it for the

world!

Greg Ship Marylyn McQuaide Herman Fung

Daxesh Patel Monica Infelise Graham Hodgkin

Bushra Akhtar, Deutsche Bank

I didn’t really plan to do this. I had only been with DB for less

than six months when I saw an advert with the opportunity

presented to me. It seemed like a great experience and a very

worthwhile cause to support so I took the plunge and signed

up.

What did you do when you were there?

I stayed with two families (3 days each) to experience their

lifestyle including doing their trade, eating their local food

and spending time with them and their families. I worked as

a market trader selling dried fish amongst other food

products!! The family lived in a compound with no running

water, electricity and toilet.

My second family I stayed with a young girl who sold cloth

from heavy container on her head – I nearly got heat stroke

after 15 minutes. It was such an eye opener on how hard

both ladies from the two locations worked for so little

As I had an extra four days, I spent time with the children at

the orphanage and took two of them out to a local Crocodile

Park. I also spent a day teaching at a local school and over

the weekend went back backing with one of my hosts to Mole

Park.

What was the best part of the trip?

The people! Ghanaian people are very hospital and that

more than made up for the logistics of staying in basic

conditions. People are always happy and in there is this sense

of unity in the communities I have never experienced

anywhere! In one of the compounds I stayed in, there were

Muslims, Christians and local Tribal people all living in one

unit like brothers and sisters helping each other out on the

day to day running of their household!

What was the most difficult?

Leaving the people, I formed some very good friendships.

Also the local food did take getting used to! As I had extra

time, I got the chance to bond with the girls at the

orphanage. It was very difficult to hear the stories on how

they got there. It bought to light what a worthwhile cause

AfriKids is and the great work they are doing in the region.

Adrian Gibbins Keith Theodore Colin Grassie

Bill Cunningham Deeba Hudda Dave Brown

Fundraising

On Sunday 10th October 2010, fourteen dedicated supporters from Deutsche Bank ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon for AfriKids.

Paul Johnson, Glynis Johnson, Sarah Horsley, David Wayne, Ross Wright, Mark Braley, Sarah Dutkowski, Jason Napier, Jennifer Mccaleb, Niall Daly, David Lock, Dawn Loo, Laura Powell and Kate Stephens collectively raised over £10,000 for AfriKids which is a fantastic achievement.

On behalf of AfriKids we would like to say a huge thank you to the runners who participated, their sponsors and supporters.

Deutsche Bank run the Royal Parks Half Marathon

If you would like to find out more about running a marathon in support of AfriKids (we currently have places for the Brighton Marathon) please contact Ama Atteen at amaatteen@afrikids.org

Joe Reid and Marcus Letts go that extra mile (or 14,000) for AfriKids again!

Keep an eye out for the AfriKids Christmas catalogue

The AfriKids Christmas catalogue is nearly

ready and will be on it’s way to you shortly.

Make sure you look out for it as it is our

best range yet and you won’t even have to

do any other Christmas shopping this year!

We’ll have hampers to suit everyone,

Christmas cards, selfless gifts, little gifts, big

gifts... all in a Bolga basket. Rest assured

it’ll all be fair trade with the best quality

around.

Let’s make it a Merry

Christmas for everyone here

and out in Ghana!

You may remember in our July Newsletter we made special mention of AfriKids supporter Joe Reid; he ran a staggering 63 miles in order to raise funds for us. He has now teamed up with Marcus Letts (who also took part in the epic run) to form a charity cycle team called ‘Brake the Cycle’. Together, the duo plan to cycle from Camden to Cape Town – an awe-inspiring 14,000 mile cycle that will see them cross Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Their reason? To challenge inaction, inspire positive change and raise £30,000 for investment in social enterprises through AfriKids and The Otesha Project UK. Setting off on the main challenge in September 2011, the pair have a number of events and smaller challenges coming up in advance; most notably a launch event for Brake the Cycle on November 28th, and a Lands End to John O’Groats cycle in Spring 2011 for which they are currently looking for fellow cyclists. If you’re interested in hearing more about their events and their admirable efforts, all details are on their fantastic new website http://www.brakethecycle.org.uk/ You’ll be hearing a lot more of them here as their challenge approaches!