HOME comforts will be a continent away for Catholic teacher Danielle Bagraith and a group of family and friends who are about to embark on a volunteer trip to West Africa.
It won’t be a relaxing holiday for the group of seven, who will be devoting their time and physical abilities to help expand a growing Ghanian orphanage.
The group will leave Australia in this month, after months of fundraising through their charity, the Royal Seed Building Project, which was also responsible for raising $22,000 to fund local builders and materials for an orphanage in Accra, Ghana, in 2014.
Danielle said her sisters Natalie and Rachelle, who were part of the 2014 project, acted as her inspiration to spearhead this trip.
“They did an amazing job last time,” Danielle said.
“When they spoke of returning to Ghana to continue the work I knew I wanted to get on board too.”
The Year 6 teacher said she often talked with her students on the importance of social justice and saw it as a great opportunity to practise what she preached.
“I hope my trip can go some way to inspiring my students and helping them realise they can do something to help too,” she said.
Natalie said the goal of the Royal Seed School in Accra was to provide adequate facilities for a school and orphanage in separate buildings, due to a severe shortage of space.
“The goal was to build as much of the first building that we could with the money raised,” she said.
“We were really successful with the project but there is still so much more to be done.”
The Royal Seed Home was established by Naomi Esi Amoah in 2002, and consisted of two buildings and four children.
The home now caters for more than 120, driving demand for new facilities.
Natalie said the building site was a short drive from the orphanage and the 2016 travelling party would spend their time between the two venues.
“The site is big enough for 12 homes and a small farming area that will help the orphanage cut down on costs to feed all of the children,” she said.
“They are hoping to plant local root vegetables and fruits on the land.”
Rachelle said her experiences in 2014 were extremely challenging and she expected the latest wave of volunteers to experience their fair share of culture shock as well.
“We had bucket showers for three weeks and woke up numerous times during the night sweating because the electricity was cut and turned the fan off,” she said.
Natalie Scicluna, who has continued as a member of the Royal Seed Building Project, said while the progress made on the first trip was gratifying she knew there was much more to be done.
“Each building will eventually house 10 children in a home environment, allowing them to move out of the dormitory-style accommodation they are currently sleeping in,” she said.
“With the help of our kind and generous donors we will continue working with the orphanage to build a better life for the children at Royal Seed Home.”
By Isaac Murphy
