We have a great bunch of students here at CCCU giving up thousands of hours to volunteer and raising thousands of pounds for various charities and good causes.
Emily Holm, in her third year and studying Music, raised £3500 over the past year and visited Ghana in June and July taking with her equipment and donations to improve the lives of hundreds of people there. It's worth noting that Emily funded her own flights so all money went to this great cause.
Water is such a valuable commodity and Emily bought two self sustainable community water filters, which can provide clean water for 300 people for up to 10 years. This will dramatically benefit their health and therefor improve their quality of life.
Emily also especially wanted to help out the Abene Primary School, who she visited in 2014:
"I did this in the form of having a toilet block built for them, whiteboards in every classroom and new tables and chairs for the teacher’s staff room. I also took out watches, shoes, maths and science sets etc, for the teachers to award the pupils who deserved them the most and who also needed them the most. In addition to school equipment, I also took various sports equipment with me as sport is so big in Ghana but the right equipment is unavailable to them."
"When I went to Ghana in 2014, I met a 15 year old girl, called Selina at the school I was working on. I learnt that while she was one of the brightest in the school, she also had one of the worst living conditions, with her parents having left her to go and find work in the capital, and rarely sending her money. Since I have been back, she is now in the care of one of her teachers, Ruth, and they are both moving to the capital so that Selina can attend an excellent boarding school, as a result of the money raised. We raised more than we expected so are now currently in the process of funding another young girl, Rosmond, through to high school."
Emily also took lots of other donations and is looking to start up her own charity helping children in Africa gain access to better education and equipment, and to help improve the quality of life in villages in any way she can.
Watch the video below to see her diary of her time in Ghana. If you want to get involved with fundraising then join our Raise and Give society.