Dear Donors,
On June 7th, I, Mr. Bede Bugase (teacher of the visually impaired) and John the Baptist, (a newspaper reporter) made a trip to Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo region to meet with the members from the Women’s Wing of the Ghana Association of the Blind. The purpose of the trip was to check the progress of the petty trading businesses and to discuss who would be assigned "project overseer" after my departure to the States.
At the time of our visit, three of the six kiosks had been built and only shelving is left to be installed. They will also be covered with a protective screen to prevent customers from reaching over the counter and helping themselves. According to the carpenter the other three kiosks will be complete in a month or less.
The first three kiosks are going to Ruth Boatemah, (a subsistent farmer and mother of five), Ester Ayamga (a mother of two whose husband is also blind) and Juliana Badu (a single mother of an infant). Ester and Juliana stayed at the meeting site to watch their children, and were therefore not able to accompany us to take photos of their kiosks. Instead Ernastina Vuuro, President, and Joyce Aguure, Vice President escorted us to take photos. (*Please see below for photos of the beneficiaries and their kiosks.)
After we visited the kiosks, the group showed us several products which will be sold in their kiosks. So far, only about 1/3 of the money that was allocated for goods has been spent. The ladies have purchased items such as: matches, spices, candy, school supplies, crackers, cookies and even hair products. They also intend on selling soap, lotions and other basic provisions. As of last month, the women were in the process of obtaining a micro-loan for 17,000,000 cedis ($1800) to buy goods for their kiosks. They had set up a bank account, made small weekly deposits and found two of the three guarantors needed to secure the loan. However, good news arrived two weeks before my visit as the Saddle River Valley Lions Club of New Jersey donated enough money to supply each kiosk with a full stock of goods and to hire an "overseer" of the project. Thank you Saddle River Valley Lions Club!
I have selected Mr. Bede Bugase de Venerable (teacher of the blind and visually impaired at Wesley College) to act as "project overseer." Mr. Bede is an experienced, hard-working and honest teacher who personally knows several of the ladies and understands their needs. Throughout the year he will make four to six visits to Wenchi (3 1/2 hours from Kumasi) to assist with budgeting, ordering goods and to assist those beneficiaries who need a little extra help managing the various day-to-day tasks. Mr. Bede will also send me updates and photos of the finished businesses. I will then post the information to this blog.
I thought it may also interest you to know that this coming August, the government of Ghana is issuing new currency. This currency will be adapted for the visually impaired. Notes will vary in size and have raised line shapes in the upper right hand corner. After six months the old currency will be completely out of circulation and the ladies should be able to operate their kiosks totally on their own! I have also asked Mr. Bede to take photos of the women using the new currency and will pass them on to you.
I had hoped that all six kiosks would be up and running by the time I left Ghana (I will be home July 3rd), but as is usually the case, things take longer than anticipated. In any event, the project is on its way and the ladies are working hard to complete the kiosks so they can start making some cash! Please check back in a month or so for updated information and photos.
Once again I’d like to thank you all for your generous support in making this possible. You have all sincerely made a difference in the lives of the seven blind women from Wenchi. THANK YOU! - Wendy Olson (teacher of the blind and visually impaired, orientation and mobility specialist)

Esther (sitting in the back) will receive one of the first three completed kiosks. Two of my students, Philomina (in light blue dress) and Afisatu (3rd from left, front row) attended the meeting.

Dorcas (on the left), Esther (located in back) and Clara. All will be kiosk recipients.

From left to right: member of GAB (name unkown), Dorothy (she is next in line to receive a kiosk), Julianna with her baby and member's daughter.

Outside view of Julianna's kiosk. This photo was taken on June 7th, 2007. The carpenter assured us that the kiosk should be complete by now.

This is Julianna's kiosk. At the time of the photo the shelves were not installed; however, by now the kiosk should be stocked with goods and up and running. The VP (Joyce) of the women's group is in this photo as Julianna stayed back at the meeting site with her baby.

The Women's Wing President, Ernastina Vuuro is in the photo; however, this kiosk was built for Esther and her husband who is also blind.

Ruth's kiosk, "Christ Our Victory Enterprise." Her kiosk is a bit bigger than the others as some friends kicked in a little extra money to make it bigger.

Ruth, with some wigs and other hair products behind her.

In front of Ruth's kiosk with John the Baptist (a reporter from Public Agenda) and Mr. Bede (the new project overseer and teacher of the blind and visually impaired)