Many lizards!

Delivering much needed school supplies and soccer balls!

Making new friends!

Cooling off in the river!

Fishing Boat

The king of the Nkoranza district heard we were in the area, and invited us to his palace. Apparently, he still remembers the funny little white boy Michael who made him laugh so much at his comedic routine almost 4 years ago. 

Volta Region

We have been staying beside the Volta river and were excited to hire a local guide to go on a jungle riverboat cruise (even better than the one in Disneyland - this one is authentic) to see the dam to Volta Lake (the largest man-made lake in the world) and to go to an island. We have seen monkeys and crocodiles and huge frogs in this area, and of course, hundreds of huge lizards. We have to constantly keep shaking the lizard poo out of our sheets. It was cool to see all of the fishing villages along the river.

Volta Region, Ghana

^Kara & Mary^

^Grocery shopping^

^Kara with the school children in Grumakrom^

^Melissa, Kara, Katie, Levi, and Michael enjoying the rain in Nkoranza^

^Mary, Kara, Melissa, and Ray cooking dinner^

^the Warnock family in Grumakrom^

Today we are in a small village close to Akosombo in the Volta Region. We are staying in a place along side the Volta River. There are lizards, frogs, and bugs everywhere! The river here is much like our Fraser River, only wider and with a slower current. We have a brief stop here to see the worlds largest man made lake and the Volta Dam. It is very hot here - 35celsius, and very humid.

This morning we visited a junior high school and a primary school just up the road from where we are staying. We introduced ourselves as well as told them a bit about Canada, what we are doing here in Ghana, and gave the teachers books and a soccer ball for the students. Thank you to everyone who donated supplies for these children. They are so grateful!

Nkoranza, Ghana

After three and a half years away, we are finally back in Nkoranza, Ghana, where we stayed on our very first trip to Ghana. It is very hot, but we are entering the rainy season and had our first storm today. It felt like home for about 15 minutes, and then the rain stopped and was boiling hot again. We will be visiting schools tomorrow and passing out letters and school supplies from children in Canada, as well as teaching the importance of clean water and hygiene. The Ghanaian people are very appreciative, and are thankful that people in Canada care about them.

A little boy named Lynnwood, four years old, was very thankful to have Matthew sit down and read with him this morning. The girls have been teaching games to their friends in Nkoranza and we are all having a great time getting acquainted with the town.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We miss everyone like crazy!

We've Arrived!

After four planes, several taxi's, and a lot of walking through airports and train stations, we've FINALLY arrived in Ghana! It's very hot and humid here, but the people are very friendly and we love it. We're in the capital city (Accra) so we still have access to a bathroom and internet (woot woot). We met up with the Wiebe family last night and we are all are leaving for Anamabo this morning. Even though it is super duper hot, we are wearing long pants and long skirts to respect the local culture and customs. The food is a little different, but tasty nonetheless.

More updates coming soon!

We're on our way!

After a few days of traveling, in about a dozen hours we'll be on our way to Ghana!

Thanks to everyone who helped out in Matt & Michael's final fundraiser where they shaved their heads. They raised hundreds more than their goal, so thank you! You guys are awesome.

Update: Become A Member!

This week we have been busy with meetings, presentations, and events, but we are so excited to share it with you!

You can become an official member of Hope 2 Others by going on to our website and clicking "Join Now". By doing this, you will be updated with all of our events, meetings, and presentations so that you can join us whenever you'd like. We are looking for volunteers to help us with public speaking, writing, website/blog, and much more! So please don't hesitate to send us an email with your name, school/age, and anything else you'd like us to know!

Last Thursday, Amy K. joined me at the Surrey school board meeting where I had the opportunity to show the board members and trustees what we have been doing through the Be the Change program in the last few months. I also invited them to support us with the Surrey Sustainable Schools Initiative, in which we hope to see our school district become a leader in sustainability throughout our province.

Last night we attended an iDEAS 36 meeting where student leaders from all over Surrey came together to share ideas and successes. Matthew and I did a presentation there as well, and we were amazed at the positive response! Thanks to everyone who attended. YOU are making a difference in our schools!

Finally, this morning we were invited to present our project at the Langley Rotary club. They were very encouraging and we are hoping they will work with us to help fulfill our goal of providing easy access to safe drinking water throughout Ghana.

One more exciting bit of information: we have booked our flights! Our family will be returning to Ghana in March and April to see all of our fund-raising efforts in action, and we will be helping build and install lots of water filters! You will be able to follow us on our adventures through videos, photos, and blog entries on our website!

Thank you for your ongoing support throughout our journey to bring hope to others through clean water! We couldn't have done any of this without your help!