Category: 2015

  • In Search of Clean Water by Debi Frock

    I love to take photos, especially photos of water falls. Unfortunately, the most beautiful falls are not easily accessible from a car window. This week Scott, my husband, and I are in the UP- Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This part of the state is on Lake Superior and gets 30 feet of snow a year. It…

  • So, What Happens When the Team Shrinks to 3?

    By The Rev. Becki Neumann, Christ Church, South Riding, VA. What difference do 3 people with 9 suitcases filled with 3 spin art machines, 70 water color sets, 330 books, and some home made teaching materials really make in the lives of children who live in incredible poverty? Each year as we’ve run a reading…

  • One Little Mosquito By Debi Frock, Founder

    One Little Mosquito By Debi Frock, Founder

    My favorite time of year is the first week of August when GMHope runs their annual a reading Camp at Akramaman in Ghana,West Africa. Seeing the adorable faces of the excited 65-100 children brings me to tears. Life is not easy in the village. We constructed two fine schools in Akramaman; St. Paul’s nursery/kindergarten and…

  • Art 101 in Akramaman. By Bruce Neumann

    Art 101 in Akramaman. By Bruce Neumann

    Art for reading camp has changed! Last year I did a structured art project each day for the reading camp. This year I am to do some preset items and use my imagination to fill the time. At the 2014 camp, I had some boys who seemed to have a knack for painting, so I…

  • So why did I come to Ghana this year? By Rev. Becki Neumann+, AKA Aunti Becki

    So why did I come to Ghana this year? By Rev. Becki Neumann+, AKA Aunti Becki

    There is no team to speak of… no teens to supervise, no breakfast orders to tabulate, no group of people to hang out with and hear the ooo’s and aaahhh’s of the day… in other words, none of the routine things that make our work here “fun” for me. That’s right, FOR ME. Wow! When…

  • The Village Crier

    A few years ago I watched a skit here in Ghana about the Village Crier. He is the man appointed to go around beating his bell to announce what has happened or what is about to happen the the village. This cute little boy is pretending the be the village crier. Instead of a bell…

  • Hip, Hip, Hooray!

    Hip, Hip, Hooray!

    In 2007 Pastor Becki Neumann, Bruce Neumann, Judy Chaney, Mercia Laryea, The Mother’s Union and I open St. Paul’s preschool to 87 children and 45 parents who were not sure about this idea of putting children into a classroom. Here we are eight years later with more than 180 children in the school, which now…

  • Some Things Never Change

    The year is 1885, no wait the year is 2015 it just looks and feels like 1885. I am sitting in a small fishing village about an hour outside a Accra. All the building are colonial and the people are dressed very traditional. The Queen Mother, Faustina, is sitting in state at the family house. Women arrive to tell…

  • As Gracious As Melman

    One of my favorite movie characters is Melman from the movie “Madagascar.” Melman is a giraffe that constantly trips over things with his legs sprawling everywhere. When I go to the market in Ghana, I become Melman. First you need a clear picture of Makola Market. I am not talking about a mall or even…

  • Imagine going to school in a goat pen!

    Last year I received a request to build a new preschool in a village called Gomoa. This village is in the Centeral Region about one and a half hours away. The Assembly Man, Mr. Akroful, pleaded for me to visit the village. There were 25 children preschool  attending school in the goat pen picture above.…