Where I'm Going Next

It's all a little mind-numbing, since I just got back to the Western Hemisphere on Thursday night, but yesterday morning at 7 I had a conference call with Masha, the woman in New York coordinating my next placement, and Jeremiah, the director of the NGO with which I will be working in Ghana. Here is an excerpt of the notes from that phone call. I include it almost out of incredulity (is that a word?) that this is where I'm going next....

About SHIFSD- Self Help Initiative for Sustainable Development was started in 2000 and is run by Liberian refugees who fled to Ghana from the civil war in Liberia. There are 18 local volunteers and 2 international volunteers currently working with SHIFSD in Buduburam refugee settlement. There are many social activities in the settlement- many CBOs, NGOs and churches with over 40,000 people living in Buduburam. The settlement had government structures that manage the affairs of the camp including 1 representative from each of the 12 zones in the settlement, police to provide more security, a conflict resolution program and a council of elders.

SHIFSD has two primary focuses- education and economic empowerment. Within the education focus there is an adult literacy program and a fast track 3-year program that has 8 facilitators or teachers and 1 coordinator and includes a lunch and health education program. The economic program includes a micro credit with education project in which women are organized in a solidarity group and receive equal amounts of money that must be paid back with interest. The group meets once a week for educational programming about various issues and topics.