Dear Friends of ATE,
On Saturday morning at 5.30am, tired from a 40 hour journey to Heathrow, I returned from Lawra. It was freezing cold (it had been 38C in Ghana and was snowing in London), my feet were rather dirty, I was dying for my bed, and I was feeling very overwhelmed by the experiences of the previous 2 weeks. The trip was an extremely motivating, inspiring and emotional time that I was lucky enough to share three trustees and our new employee, Luke. Every single day that we were there, I felt extremely proud of everything that we have achieved. Several times, I was moved to tears by the sheer joy of seeing the impact our work is having on so many people.
Walking around Lawra, I can visibly see the changes that ATE has made in the community. Disabled people wave at me from their ATE wheelchairs, our supported small business owners shout “Good Morning, Sister Sarah!’ to me from their market stalls, smartly dressed school children whizz through town on shiny bicycles on their way to Karbo Primary School. Every single time I see any of these people, people who have had their lives fundamentally changed by our work, I am blown away by ATE’s immense success. I can’t believe that our hard work has paid off so dramatically, that we have made such a staggering difference to SO many people.
As we motorbike up to Karbo Primary School, which ATE has now been feeding for over 2 years, hundreds of smiling, healthy children run to greet us. These children look completely different to the scruffy, unhappy, malnourished children that shied away from us in January 2013. They are healthy and confident. It’s a completely different atmosphere now, the school is transformed.
The greatest joy of the trip was seeing our newly supported feeding program at Karbo Junior High School in action. We are now feeding 654 children every school day. Watching these gorgeous, humble, vulnerable children eat their lunch is very moving. They are so grateful, and so deserving. I’m so happy we have been able to expand in this way.
Overall, it was an amazing trip with lots to be incredibly proud and happy about, but there is more work to do. Thousands of children in Lawra still spend their days without a school lunch, with too many children still not accessing any kind of education. I want to begin feeding our next school in January of next year (2016), hopefully in a very rural setting where our impact will be even greater.
As of January 2015, our feeding programs alone cost over £3000 per month. This is significantly more money than our current monthly income. To continue feeding these children, we must increase our monthly income to cover these costs, to feed more children we will have to increase it dramatically. I urge you, if you’re not already, please consider donating a small amount each month to ATE. Just a small, regular contribution makes a huge difference to our work. You can download our donation form here: CLICK HERE
Thank you so much to those of you who already support us. The children of Lawra are extremely grateful for the opportunity you are giving them, and so am I.
Many thanks as always,
Sarah Gardner
Chief Executive
I couldn’t be prouder of ATE’s work in Lawra
