Mersten Foundation: Home from Ghana

Rebecca Myers collaborated with the Mersten Foundation who sponsored her to teach Maths and English and volunteer in the orphanage of a rural Ghanaian village for 8 months. Her aim was to provide a better standard of education, as well as to teach the importance of education, to an underprivileged community.

To feel like I was making a positive contribution to a community has been a touching and deeply moving experience

My time spent in Ghana was a truly incredible experience and words cannot express how much I urge others to go out and seek a similar experience to the one that I had.

I was a teacher in Africa. It was brilliant. I taught Maths and English to around 30 students but my volunteer work extended out of the classroom to the local orphanage. It was my hope to inspire these children to strive for more than what they had, to work hard and to achieve their dreams. Koloenu, like so many other neglected Ghanaian villages, is secluded and has little to no electricity, running water and an under developed education system. I was determined to teach my children with passion, and to help them understand how education is so vital and unbelievably worthwhile.

I was determined to teach my children with passion, and to help them understand how education is so vital

The children at Peggy Good School are all so gorgeous and hilarious with a wicked sense of humour. At the start of my eight months I would not have been able to imagine how much I would bond and love these cheeky boys and girls. I only have fond memories of the school and I treasure the time I spent at the Eugemot Orphanage.

My favourite memories of the orphanage were our movie evenings. The sheer delight in the children’s faces when I would take out my laptop to watch their favourite movies. We would sit outside under the corrugated iron roofed play area squeezed on benches all craning our necks to see the screen, and once or twice a tiny child would fall asleep, sat on my lap. There are so many little moments like this that I will remember, appreciate and value forever and that I earnestly hope the children will remember too.

There are so many little moments like this that I will remember, appreciate and value forever

I have learnt an uncountable amount from my time in Ghana. It has been life changing. Living and working in Koloenu village, being able to travel around Ghana, witness some breath-taking scenery, meet wonderful people, to be able to feel like I was making a positive contribution to a community has been a touching and deeply moving experience.

I feel unbelievably proud of my students for how diligently they worked and I truly hope that I have helped the lives of some of the children I taught, cared for and loved and made a positive difference in the community that I lived in.

I would like to thank the Mersten Foundation for their remarkable support and encouragement throughout the eight months that I volunteered in Ghana. Without their aid I would not have been able to help and educate children from an underprivileged community as well as being able to experience such an incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity.

Lots of love,
Becks x

You can follow Rebecca's journey on her blog

For more information on the Mersten Foundation, please email us

Written by:

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Rebecca Myers

Mersten Foundation Beneficiary