— The Caroline Wagner Memorial School, Winneba, Ghana
After the death of his wife, Caroline Wagner, in February 2006 (who was a member of the Cosmopolitan Club Board of Directors for over 10 years; see the tribute to Caroline in the Cosmo Connections, Spring 2006), UI Professor emeritus Melvin Wagner has maintained contact with the many friends and acquaintances he and Caroline made throughout their 48 years of marriage, traveled to visit friends around the world, and in a fitting tribute to a supporter of education around the globe, opened a school in Ghana in her honor. We have received permission to publish excerpts from some of his e-mail updates on the Caroline Wagner Memorial School.
February 28, 2008
I just got back from Ghana where the highlight of my two weeks there was Saturday, January 26, when Pastor Robert Barns, myself, the village Chief, several village elders and about 150 villagers from three local villages dedicated the Caroline Wagner Memorial School in Winneba, Ghana (about 40-50 miles west of Accra, the capital, along the coast)! Needless to say that was a very emotional experience for me, but I was very pleased.
I also saw the Castle, which has what is known as the “gate of no return,” where slaves were loaded onto ships near Cape Coast in a smaller town where Robert was born. My last Sunday there, we got the pastors of the 10 churches in Dago—a village/town of about 6000 people—together to try to unite and improve the level of living in this small town about 20 miles further west from Winneba. We have now bought a 2000 gallon tanker truck and are hauling clean water to the town.
Robert calls me at least twice a week and reported Feb. 28 that the people of Dago are very happy to have plenty of safe/clean water and that the Caroline Wagner Memorial School, which had 48 students when I was there last month, now has 75, and they have moved into the new eight-room school building which they started building in early January. The trip was a wonderful experience and Ghanaian food is marvelous. The weather was much better there in January than it was in July when I went with Caroline’s brother—it was also a bit better than here.
Feb 29, 2008
By the way, Pastor Robert Barns and I are involved in a number of things to help support the two schools (he established one in Dago last May which has nearly 200 students and we may establish more). We have 12 acres of pineapple planted and will have 25 acres next year; we have three autos being used to carry Robert and myself around when I'm there, to haul workers to the fields, children to school, fish to market and as taxis when not being used for the other things.
We now have the water tanker mentioned in my previous e-mail; we have a fishing boat and net; and, he has started what he calls the “Helping Hand Foundation” through which he loans money to people who have good business ideas such as smoking fish, hair styling (his wife is doing that), sewing, planting pineapple or other crops, etc. He has bought 20 used computers to use in the schools and wants to get at least some more, not only for the students, but to be able to hold classes for adults after school and on weekends.
April 7, 2008
Pastor Barns called me at 2:00am this morning so the village Chief could talk to me about the Caroline Wagner School and some of the things we’re planning there. The Village Chief is a Pentecostal Pastor and has a full-time job with a government organization (it was 7:00am there). The Village Chief did most of the speaking and praying when the Caroline Wagner School was dedicated when I was there. The School now has about 100 students, we now have electricity and the computers are in process of being hooked up.
This was the latest word when Cosmo Connections went to press. Cosmo Club looks forward to future updates on the Caroline Wagner Memorial School and further developments in Winneba and Dago, Ghana.
— Tanzania Update
Cosmo Club just received the e-mail below from Sarah McCourt, updating us on the girls in Arusha, Tanzania, who benefited from the Thanksgiving 2007 Fundraiser. For more information, see http://www.mojadunia.org/
April 22, 2008
Dear Cosmopolitan Club,
Thank you for your decision to donate the funds generated from your Thanksgiving Dinner to orphans in Tanzania. I am glad to inform you that Mariam and Eliza, who are both aged 15, are currently attending Form 2, which is the equivalent of 8th grade in the United States of America. They are diligently doing their homework and are happy to have this opportunity to attend the next year of secondary school, thanks to your support.
Veronica Ernesti has commenced a more advanced secretarial education this month, which will build on the education she received last year due to another donor’s support. Veronica is also hoping to gain a higher proficiency in the English language this year in order to help her secure a job in December 2008. The unemployment rate in Arusha is 70% and thus it is extremely competitive to acquire any type of job there.
Your support has helped the lives of three orphans thus far in Tanzania! Your hard work in hosting the Thanksgiving Dinner for my young friends has meant so much to us, that words can in no way express our gratitude.
I am currently in the process of placing two more youths in appropriate secondary schools in Arusha.
Yours kindly,
Sarah McCourt
— Report from Zambia
Alumnus Andrés Fernándes is working at a refugee camp in Kala, Zambia with the organization FORGE. Cosmo Club executive director Andrea Shields recently received this e-mail from him.
(For information on FORGE, see: http://www.prairienet.org/cosmo/others/Andres.html).
Dear Andrea,
How are you? I hope all is well. I am sorry it took me so long to write, but communication in the refugee camp is inaccessible to say the least. I have to bike 2 hours here and back to the closest town (Kawambwa) to use the computer at the UNHCR sub-office. So I only get Internet access for about 10 minutes twice a month!
I am well and adjusting. The job is demanding and the conditions are not the easiest but I am very satisfied with the experience. I have 45 refugees working under me for 7 projects, they all get paid 40 dollars a month for full time work (that is the established and allowed pay by the UN refugee agency, so I can’t increase it). They all have families, and they have built their own huts with mud for the walls and dried grass for the roofs. I have no running water, no electricity, and no phone/internet connection. I wake up at 5 and go to bed at 8 30pm. I eat rice and beans three times a day, and after seeing how they massacre animals, I have been a vegetarian for the last 5 weeks, we’ll see how long that lasts. I live with an ex-Zambian nun who also works for us, and we are the only organization living in the camp. Some other organizations here are UNHCR, World Vision, St. Marys, World Food Programme, etc.
How’s everything at Cosmo? How are the new tenants? How are the programs? Thank you for everything and you shall hear more from me as soon as I can!
Take care,
Andrés
Before moving to the refugee camp, Andrés lived for two weeks with these refugees from Rwanda, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.