I am so grateful to have had this time with my sisters in academia. We didn’t know each other when we arrived on Ghana’s shores, but through one shared experience, I, with each of these women by my side, fell in love with myself all over again. I fell in love with my womanhood, my Blackness, our people, our homeland, our historical legacy, writing, and what each of these things mean for the children who will take up the writing that I leave behind when my time on Earth is done. I am prayerful that I will use the Grace that has been afforded me in having this ‘Writing Our Lives’ experience to write my best life for our children, and I will start by paying it forward to the children of Ghana who taught me the most about what it means to write our lives on purpose- the children with whom I shared time and space during this journey, the children at the Cynthia B. Dillard School in Mpeasem, Ghana.
I was blessed to have my trip to Ghana include the children and teachers of this amazingly special place. They hosted us for a day at the school where we witnessed the most amazing spirits, heard them recite incredible poetry, and experienced firsthand the lessons and learning they experience each and every day. As you view the students' faces in the pictures, I'm sure you can imagine how much they impacted my heart and soul, mostly because they and the families in their village take nothing for granted, not even the opportunity to learn and "study" and to be educated in a school with the love and support of Dr. Dillard, Henry, their village, and the kind hearts who have committed their time and money to building and supporting the school in which they learn.
After spending time with the children, my plan is to sponsor a Ghanaian girl whose dream is to become educated so she can return to her village prepared to gift back the gifts bestowed upon her by it, and I am reaching out to each of you to ask that you join me in paying it forward by giving whatever you can to help the village complete their vision of building and sustaining the school. It takes a mere $100 to cover a child’s education at the Cynthia B. Dillard School for one year. This includes costs for a uniform, books and materials, school fees, and meals during school hours. However, whatever you give will be put to good use, including towards cost to finish building the part of the school that houses the pre-kinder classrooms (for our babies ya’ll). Please join me in giving. Let’s gather our collective resources in the spirit of Ujima and Ujamaa and help our Ghanaian babies write their own lives. Give what you can. Every little bit counts. And by all means, pass this on so your friends and family can join you. The link to donate to the Cynthia B. Dillard School in Mpeasem, Ghana is included below. Thank you for not passing on this opportunity to love on the babies in our diasporic village. Thank you for giving. But most important of all, thank you for joining me in writing our best lives!
To obtain more information about the school, and make a donation, please visit the website http://givebuildshare.org/ where you will see photos, a video, and the smiling faces of the babies of the Cynthia B. Dillard School. If you made it this far, thanks for your time, consideration, and prayerfully your donation.