The Oprhanage and Godwin

The building is made of concrete as are all the other buildings in Ghana, due to the termites and price of wood. The Orphanage is able to care for about 10 kids. At the moment there are 8 orphans staying there. Delali is Godwin’s sister who takes care of cooking and cleaning. More or less she is the house mom. Although she takes care of the things at the orphanage, it just isn’t enough for some of the kids. Maybe the kids need a more personal role model or maybe she isn’t educated enough to take care of the physical ailments of the kids. Nonetheless she is a hard worker and shares the burden to care for the poor orphans.

Godwin (Galley is the last name) started the school in 2004 with only 15 students and 2 teachers. His vision he told me;

"to establish free education for the needy street children and orphans"

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As a cultural norm, Godwin (pictured below, on the right) has a close family. Sadly his mother passed away last year (2008) which “pains” him. However his father, John, still lives in Kpetoe and is active in supporting Godwin. He has 2 sisters, and other half siblings. 1 of his sisters lives in Gabon and is able to aid him when necessary. As noted above Delali is his other sister who contributes her daily life to the orphanage. She has 2 daughters (Innocent and Seraphine) that live at the orphanage as well. The 2 girls are able to go to a regular school and therefore are able to speak English well.

Common occurrences in Ghana that we do not see in the U.S. include an extreme recklessness when driving (which yields a large amount of deaths), deaths from simple illnesses (treatable diseases), and deaths from snake bites. Altogether this makes it more common to be orphaned. Maybe they eat 2 meals in a day, some days maybe not. Hopefully this gives a little more perspective into the routines and lifestyle over there.



I would like to share only 2 snippets of the kid’s lives on the blog (I asked if I could use this information) …


Delight Dzreke






This is Delight; she is 10 years old now. No one knows who her father is. When she was 2 years old her mother was about to deliver another sibling. At the young age of 2, her mother died due to pregnancy complications along with the newborn. She only has some distant relatives like her grandma whom she stayed with until she was 6. Because she needed more support the orphanage took her in.

She is now 10 years old and only in grade 1. She hadn’t been in school before, but now she has a chance to learn. Delight likes to smile (if you look at her).



Komla Gbotso (Kente weaving)



This is Komla, he is 11 years old. While driving at night from Togo to the city (Ho) a vehicle struck the vehicle his father was traveling in. He became fatherless at the age of 3. Shortly afterwards the mother, unable to support his 2 sisters and 2 brothers, fled. It is believed she sought out work in the area of Lagos, Nigeria. However no one has known of her whereabouts for the last 5-6 years.

He has been in the orphanage for 2 years since his distant relatives are unable to provide the necessities anymore. Yet they are still caring for some of his siblings. At 11 years old he is in grade 4. Komla is extremely good at math given his situation.

The School

Below: About 90 of the students and a few teachers.

Created in 2004, the school began small in size, by Godwin in the village of Kpetoe. As noted on the main page, the school presently contains a roster of about 140 students. These students cannot afford a regular education therefore they have to resort to a free school. Many reasons lead to their enrollment; being orphaned (about half that attend are orphans), lack of funds for school, and not having anywhere else to go or anything else to do while their caretakers farm or earn money. These kids are picked up in the van by Godwin (shown in the back of the photo) around 7 in the morning and taken to "school".

The school is run by about 6 teachers which have a high turnover rate. Madam Francisca, located in the top left corner, has taught at the school since it opened. Other than her, 3 teachers have been there for about a month, and the other 2 for about 1 year. Godwin and the others that help administrate (Mr. Scott and the Secretary) are able to pay a very minimal wage of about 40 cedis a month. This converts to roughly 28 U.S. Dollars. Recently (Spring of 2009) they have been seeking a raise. Although this may seem problematic, the teachers have heart, but need more motivation and structure. They are good people aiding the disadvantaged.

Grades K-6 are taught here, and the largest class is the Kindergarten class of approximately 55 kids. Subjects taught in school include English, Math, RME (Religion, Morals and Ethics), Science, ICT (Computer Technology), CE (Citizenship Education), French, and Ewe (the local language).

The "school" is made up of 3 huts and a mango tree. This is hardly something that is conducive to a good learning experience as many distractions inhibit the learning experience. Since it is located out in the country (they call it the bush), they have to constantly clear the grass in area by way of a cutlass on Fridays. This clearing yields the dirt floor you see in the pictures above and below.

The reason why they do this is mainly to discourage snakes from disturbing them. Additional obvious problems are; having to fetch water daily on the way to school, hiding from the rain (which cancels school), playing in the dirt makes their uniforms dirty, and the heat.

Finally, since the government does not aid this institution they have very few resources. Just one example of this is the 1 Math book class 5 has to learn from. Therefore they lack books and even workbooks to write in. The last and possibly most important form of aid that they do not receive are meals. They struggle to eat something before or during school. The kids arrive around 7:00 and return to their homes around 3:00. Concentration becomes more difficult since they rarely eat 3 meals a day, or even a lunch.