Our Projects

Hi,

I thought I would give you a run down of the projects we have submitted and are working on.  John Buah, our supervisor, has been encouraging us to spend the budget so between us and Elder and Sister Panter we have done that.  We still have a few projects to be submitted but we have identified them and have costs for them.  We have a budget of $550,000 for Area Initiatives for the West Africa Area.  Because the couples were new in Sierra Leone and Liberia they were working on open projects that were left by the preceding couples and didn't write up new ones.  That gave us a lot of budget to use here.   There is also budget for major initiatives like water, vision, wheelchairs, immunization and Neonatal resuscitation (help babies breathe).  Those projects can be pretty pricey (our current water project (32 wells/boreholes/rehabs) is worth about $250,000.  We are in the process of developing 3 more water projects for 2014 but they will each be approx. 15 wells each. 

Jim has a project that he developed.  Several months ago the Minister of Institutional Care wanted to talk to us.  He told us that they have new ambulances and have trained EMTs that keep the people alive, but when they get the people to the hospitals, they have no proper Emergency care and so too many die.  Jim talked to our people in SLC and they agreed this could be a good project and to go ahead and write up an Area Initiative to have a doctor visit and assess.  So Dr. Archibald, from Idaho, arrived Saturday.  Jim was with him yesterday and today as they visited some key people and hospitals.  Tomorrow he will fly to Kumasi with an assistant to the Director of Institutional Care and visit a big hospital there.  Thursday we will drive them to Winneba to do the same.  Dr. Archibald will decide if there is a project to be developed where the Church could bring doctors and do some training to help improve things.  Dr. Archibald and SLC were quite excited about this so we will see where it goes.

I didn't get this email finished so here it is Sunday already.  Dr. Archibald left last night.  He had a good week here, except for the day he spent in his hotel room sick.  He thinks there will be a good project here.  Dr. Kaba, in Accra, will put together a team and Dr. Archibald will put together a team and they will work together and try to do some training.  The idea will be to train a team here and that they will then train others and carry it forward.   

Some projects were are still writing up (waiting for some final information) are:

1) Drilling a borehole at a school in Kumasi (850 students) so they don't have to miss school when the go searching for water.

2) Furnish supplies to repair some ceilings in a Ward at a hospital in Cape Coast.  Also we want to repair 9 sinks/counters that were poorly made and are falling apart.  Whoever built the hospital used poor materials and due to the humidity here the cabinets have fallen apart.  I wrote this project up this past week and it has been submitted to the Area Presidency for approval.

3) There are some cholera problems here and we were approached about helping with materials (wheelbarrows, shovels, garbage bins, and such) for a cleanup.  John thinks we should do this one.  Since I started this email we have received two more requests for help with cholera and ebola. 

4) E/S Panter are doing a couple of projects in Jamestown (a very poor area by the ocean) to support street children.  There is a group there that have a small library and activities for children there.  They are doing a good work so we will support them with some books and and a strong canopy for some little nursery children.

5) Panters are writing up a project to supply materials to build two structures for schools out in a couple of Villages that desperately need it.  If there is enough money we will also buy some school supplies to help them at 4 schools. 

6) John Buah has also requested that a project be done to supply some Atmit (food supplement full of nutrition and vitamins)  to children in Benin (a country nearby). 

7) Solar Panels are being ordered for a Clinic out in the rural area where electricity is very unreliable and babies are delivered in the dark or by candle light.

 

Open Projects -  (Approved projects that we currently are working on.) 

• Kofi Annan Vocational Training Institute Hygiene/Water - Accra, Ghana, Ghana (WE13GHA015)   THIS IS A WATER SYSTEM FOR A SCHOOL.
  
• Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital - Cape Coast, Ghana (WE13GHA016)  THIS IS OUR 'BIG' PROJECT THAT IS ALMOST COMPLETE.  WE REPAIRED THE HOSPITAL WATER SYSTEM, REPAIRED THE LAUNDRY EQUIPMENT, TORE UP AND REDID SOME CEMENT WORK AT THE WOMEN'S QUARTERS, AND BOUGHT SOME EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.  WE ALSO BOUGHT PAINT AND THE MEMBERS ARE PAINTING THE WOMEN'S QUARTERS IN AND OUT.
  
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• Cote d'Ivoire Literacy-Moroni Actions Humanitaries - Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (WE14CIV001)  THIS IS A REALLY GOOD GROUP, RUN BY MEMBERS (AS THE NAME WOULD INDICATE) WHO ARE TEACHING ADULTS TO READ AND WRITE AND DO SOME SIMPLE MATH.  WE ARE HELPING THEM WITH A BIT OF EQUIPMENT AND SOME BOOKS FOR THE STUDENTS. 
  
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• La Voie de l'esperance Clinic - Medical Equipment - Soubre, Cote d'Ivoire (WE14CIV002)  THIS IS A SMALL CLINIC THAT WILL BE RECEIVING TWO PIECES OF EQUPMENT FOR THEIR LAB.  WE ARE EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO HELP A COUPLE OF PLACES IN IVORY COAST AS WE HAVE NOT DONE PROJECTS THERE BEFORE.
  
• Tree Planting/All Africa Service Day - Abomosu/Asamankse Districts, Ghana (WE14GHA008)  WE BOUGHT 3000 TREE SEEDLINGS AND MEMBERS PLANTED THEM.  DEFORESTATION IS AN ISSUE HERE JUST LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE.
  
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• Mt. Olives Hospital - Medical Equipment - Techiman, Ghana (WE14GHA011)   THIS HOSPITAL WILL RECEIVE ONE PIECE OF LAB EQUIPMENT.  WE WERE REALLY IMPRESSED WITH WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
  
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• Adeiso Presbyterian SHS Mechanized Borehole - Adeiso, Eastern Region, Ghana (WE14GHA012)  THIS IS AN IMPRESSIVE HIGH SCHOOL WHERE THE PTA IS DOING A GREAT JOB.  WE WILL GIVE THEM A BOREHOLE WITH A WATER SYSTEM TO PUMP WATER THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL GROUNDS SO IT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO THE STUDENTS AND STAFF IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLACES.  THEY WILL ALWAYS HAVE WATER NOW. 
  
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• OSU Homowo Festival - Accra, Ghana (WE14GHA015)  THIS WAS A PROJECT WE JUST DID TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE OSU TRADITIONAL COUNCIL WHO OWN THE LAND THAT THE TEMPLE AND AREA OFFICE AND STAKE HOUSE ARE BUILT ON.  THEY HAVE A YEARLY FESTIVAL AND BOUGHT WATER AND JUICE FOR A COUPLE OF THEIR ACTIVITIES.
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• Ghana 2013 Wheelchairs and Training - Accra, Ghana (WE20130578)
• Ghana Vision 2014 - Accra, Ghana (WE20140088)  THE WHEELCHAIRS ARE HERE NOW AND CLEARED THROUGH CUSTOMS.  THE WHEELCHAIR TRAINING WILL TAKE PLACE IN ABOUT 3 WEEKS.  E/S FINDLAY, FROM KELOWNA, ARE THE WHEEL CHAIR SPECIALISTS AND WILL COME AND OVERSEE THE TRAINING OF HOW TO FIT THE CHAIRS TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.  THE GHANA HEALTH SERVICES DISTRIBUTES AND FITS THE CHAIRS AND REPORTS BACK TO US.
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• Family Egg Production - Oda and Abomosu, Ghana - Oda, Ghana (WE20140150)  THIS IS A GREAT PROJECT.  10 FAMILIES ARE BUILDING THEIR COOPS AND ABOUT THE FIRST PART OF OCTOBER WILL RECEIVE 50 LAYING HENS.  THEY ALSO WILL GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL FOR 4 DAYS AND LEARN HOW TO CARE FOR THEIR CHICKENS.   THIS IS A PROJECT FOR MEMBERS AND IS TO BE PRIESTHOOD DRIVEN.  WE THINK WE HAVE SOME GOOD PEOPLE DRIVING IT AND SURE HOPE IT IS A SUCCESS AS OTHERS ARE WATCHING TO SEE IF IT WORKS OR NOT.  THE FAMILIES CHOSEN ARE ONES WHO HAVE RECEIVED FAST OFFERING HELP AND WE HOPE THIS WILL HELP THEM TO BECOME MORE SELF-RELIANT.

That is a bit of a run-down. There are other projects as well.  I am going to write a separate email about our project with Bernice.

More to come.  Love, The Bullocks