Life as a Woman in Ghana

Women in Ghana generally don't have the advantage when it comes to accessing education and many other basic human rights. This is ironic since women are truly the "back bone of Africa."

Most girls wake before the sun rises to begin fetching water, (a labor that will take up to 1/3 of her life), clean their compound homes, cook for their siblings and elders, and then walk up to ten miles to get to school.

Many of these young women are lucky to eat more than once a day. They wear torn uniforms and shoes, borrowing tattered and out of date books. It is no surprise that many girls simply can’t maintain a balance between grades and studies, with the burden of poverty and vigorous daily labor.

The solution was not simple. Money can't be donated directly to a parent or student. Sadly, a girl's education is not a priority over everything else that is a source of daily suffering and sacrifice.

Money "goes missing" all the time. There is a big black hole that absorbs millions of dollars each year from non-profit organizations. Money that is never accounted for, miss-used, stolen, or simply never reaches it's intended purpose.

As I watched the brand new $100,000 NGO-SUV's drive by, then passed by the "pop-up" NGO offices that consume money for the same cause as the one down the block, I became determined to do it differently.

To buy a uniform, I would purchase the fabric and pay the seamstress. To buy a meal, I would find a street vendor then pay her weekly to distribute the food. To pay for school fees, I would pay the school headmaster.

Every purchase has a receipt. Every receipt is a promise that your donation is meeting its intended purpose: to give the opportunity of a brilliant future.

The impact of the education of girls and young women on their lives and their communities has been documented in many countries:

• Women with seven or more years of schooling marry five years later than women with no education.
• Educated women are much more likely to use contraception and have longer intervals between births.
• Women with seven or more years of schooling have two to three children less than women with three years of schooling.
• Educated mothers will almost always want their children, both girls and boys to acquire a better education than they themselves received.
• Educated women are better informed about their rights and are more likely to exercise their rights. They are more likely to participate in the formal political system and the development of the area in which they live than are uneducated women.