Members of the SAS alumni leadership group recently volunteered to spearhead an international service project. The team is made up of SAS alumni and LifeLong Learners including; Jill Hurd, Nancy Tiege, Connie Sween, Herbert Thompson, Karen Burns, Barbara Harris, Elaine Church, John Schallau, Maeve Burns, and Sylvia Snyder. This group was initially created to be of service and to provide support to an organization that SAS had a relationship with through SAS field visits and through SAS alumni.
After initial meetings and reviewing several organizations, the international service project team elected to focus our first service project on the GodFreds Foundation in Ghana, Africa, an organization co-founded by Fredrick Benneh Frimpong (Fred), Barbara Allison, and Michael Allison. According to its website, the mission of the GodFreds Foundation is “to build and operate a low cost, sustainable, private school which promotes a positive learning environment using innovative teaching methods, while maintaining local traditions and following mandated curriculum.”
Over the last 6-plus months, we have worked together with the GodFreds Foundation’s team to build this project in a way that makes it possible to have a positive impact on the students, staff, and community of the Semanhyia American School.
Our initial communications were discovery-based– talking with Fred and learning about how we can best support the organization to improve their program and support more students in attending their Semanhyia American School. After much communication, we set our sights on two main goals: first, to provide school supplies and reading materials to the school. And, second, to find a way to support scholarships for more students to attend the school.
Our incredible team of committed alumni volunteers has worked over the last few months to determine the best avenues to access this information and also to identify any potential barriers to entry. We have secured avenues for donations of school supplies and are currently researching the best ways to support the school with scholarships.
Although this is the first launch of the international service project team, the long-term goal of the group is to create a streamlined and replicable model so that this can continue for years to come. The international service team project launch will be self-sufficient and will be coordinated and brought to fruition by us.
The more recent SAS voyage that recently disembarked on April 20, 2024, visited the Semanhyia School. Many of the students and LifeLong Learners had such a life-changing experience that they would like to stay connected with the Semanhyia School and continue to support its growth and success. As such, we are joining forces. We are excited to now be collaborating with John Schallau and a large group of students who were on the recent SAS Voyage. I am pleased to announce that we will be joining our efforts to support the International Service Project and bring our goals to fruition by Fall 2024.
Please see their first-hand account of their recent visit to the Semanhyia American School here: How A Chance Encounter With SAS Students on a Ghana Street Changed The Life Of One Man and a Thousand Children
