Ghana Summary

My time here is drawing to a close, and by God's grace I've accomplished more than I had hoped to achieve with this trip.

Ghana Accomplishments:
* Interviewed all teaching staff at KCISS
Purpose: To discover their teaching experience and educational background, their current struggles and their desires for further learning, in order to share with future volunteers so that they can properly prepare for their workshops and training projects
Project: Special Ed Teacher Training (ThWB Special Ed Division)

* Copied Ghana's Special Education Curriculum book
Purpose: To know what the Ghanian government expects teachers to be teaching in special education
Project: Special Ed Teacher Training (ThWB Special Ed Division)

* Copied all students' current files & get their pictures
Purpose: To start ThWB's confidential files on all students/patients served by therapist volunteers which will allow volunteers to prepare for their visit as well as to have a virtual database of therapy, education, and training provided through the past/present/future.
Project: Database (ThWB Special Ed Division)

* Met staff at local hospital and its fledgling "rehab" department
Purpose: Establish official partnership so that when they receive therapist volunteers they know what to expect; also to learn about their hospital so that I can prepare volunteers for their visit.
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Medical Division)

* Met director of a local NGO, called Project All In Motion, which distributes wheelchairs and other adaptive equipment in addition to facilitating community sensitization and patient re-integration into society
Purpose: Get to know grassroots projects to learn what's been done, their philosophies, projects and support system, and ways ThWB may be able to fulfill needs
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Wheelchair Provision Division (WPD) & Home Healthcare Division)

* Met director of local NGO, called UNITE, dealing with healthcare and development
Purpose: Get to know grassroots projects
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Social Welfare Division)

* Identified and profiled several individuals with disabilities, gave initial consultation
Purpose: To find out who are not currently being served and what kind of services they need; to give them hope and some guidance on therapeutic techniques
Project: Database (ThWB Home Healthcare Division)

* Met with directors of 2 other special needs schools in Volta Region
Purpose: To learn how different special education schools are run in the area, their strengths and their needs
Project: Service Expansion (ThWB Special Education Division)

* Established a 'headquarters' for ThWB volunteers in Volta Region
Purpose: Identify where volunteers will stay, how they will be treated when here, the hosts' responsibilities, and have a local person/place for Ghanian organizations to contact if they need to work with ThWB
Project: ThWB Infrastructure