If you've been reading my blog for a while...you might remember that my daughter Whitney graduated from high school early and spent four months teaching in Ghana, West Africa.
It was quite something to visit her and meet the beautiful children she taught, above. To see your 18 year old daughter with a baby strapped to her back the African way, teaching in a hut with a dirt floor and no books...but filled with light and love...well...it was a mothering moment beyond belief.
Whitney went onto college and is now a junior majoring in Religious Studies with a minor in African Diaspora. But,the little village in Africa has never left her heart. She joined forces with another woman she met while in Ghana, Amy Shulin, and together they formed a nonprofit called CHILDREN INSPIRING HOPE. www.ChildrenInspiringHope.org Check out the short video on the site. Their goal is to match classrooms in America with classrooms in Ghana. So far over 1,000 kids have been matched.
Whitney and Amy are leaving tomorrow to return to Ghana. It will be our family's first Thanksgiving apart, but how joyful I am that Whit will be reunited with her beloved class.
Please hold Whitney and this project in your hearts. I do believe that children inspire hope and when you see the beautiful spirits of these children in the short video you will understand why she is longing to return to them...and bring them connections with other children in the U.S.
What your daughter has done is something that parents must be proud about. It just shows that you raised your daughter well. You are certainly an inspiration to all mothers.
Posted by: My daughter, puberty and me. | January 23, 2009 at 05:36 AM