We wanted to share a story about a dedicated student who is going on a service trip to Ghana. Ella Flynn is a sophomore in high school who is passionate about social justice and is working with the organization Free the Children and their fundraising group called ME to We. This organization aims to provide children in developing countries with access to education, skills, and opportunities. The service trip Ella is participating in will build a school in a village in Ghana, while also providing the volunteers with a cross cultural experience.
From Ella:"Free the Children helped me discover the tragic reality of vast poverty and child labor in the world. Due to abject poverty, millions of families all over the world are forced to sell their children to labor traffickers. In Ghana, 1 in 6 children are engaged in child labor. It is very common for them to work 17+ hours a day, and to experience physical and emotional abuse. They are rarely given the opportunity for education. Therefore they aren’t equipped with the tools necessary to create a better future. Access to education is one important tool that families can use to begin to break the cycle of poverty. The most important thing I learned from Free the Children is that we have the power and the responsibility to help change things."
Ella is fundraising not only to pay for her trip to Ghana, but also to provide the materials needed to build the school itself. You can help her with this great cause by visiting her page here: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=2187187 on the ME to We website. We look forward to hearing about your trip when you get back Ella!