Buck-I-SERV Goes to Ghana

by Susan Neale

When Stephanie Justice, DNP, RN, CHSE, visited Ghana this summer, she packed 339 pairs of underwear.

She also took 25 pairs of flip-flops, 700 Band-Aids, seven mosquito nets and a pile of pens, pencils, Frisbees and jump ropes. These items were purchased with money donated by people from the College of Nursing to take to her destination: the Hope for Orphans Children’s Home in Akokwa, Ghana.

Justice, who is an assistant clinical professor in the College of Nursing, and another faculty advisor, David Adams, PhD, from the Department of English, led a group of 15 Ohio State student volunteers, including nursing students Amy Le, Bela Wetterauer and Leah Brennan. The two-week trip was sponsored by Ohio State’s Buck-I-SERV, an “alternative break” program that sends students to volunteer across the United States and around the world. Buck-I-SERV had sent groups to this orphanage in previous years, but none had visited since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

The orphanage is run by Charity Mensah, known to all as “Mama Charity,” and her staff, including Isaac Nyamekye Chaah and Jackie Acquah. The trip was in partnership with the Akumanyi Foundation, founded by Ohio State alumna Hannah Bonacci and Francis Akumanyi Boandoh. Following the trip, the Akumanyi Foundation donated additional funds to support the orphanage.

Together, students and faculty advisors helped from early in the morning until late at night with feeding, clothing and playing with the 40-50 children ranging in age from one to 19 years old who live at the orphanage, and more who come there to attend school. The Buckeye team used many different talents, from hammering nails, hauling water and stirring pots to wiping noses and playing tag. When most of her team came down with an overnight flu-like illness, Justice used her nursing skills.

The students decided they wanted to do more. They wanted to leave behind something that would have a lasting effect on the orphanage, so they asked Buck-I-SERV for funds to help rebuild the orphanage’s defunct dining hall. The roof had fallen in and there was no running water, but the students had hope. Local contractors drew up a plan for a refurbished dining hall and the Buckeye team got to work.

Buck-I-SERV responded with a generous grant. However, once building was under way, the team saw that far more money would be needed. That’s when Justice was surprised by the resourcefulness of her tech-savvy students, who knew what to do. They got on their social media accounts and asked friends and family for donations. Soon they had raised enough money to complete the project.

Justice still keeps in touch with people at the orphanage, “because you don’t just leave,” she said, and she hopes to go back. She’s grateful for this incredible experience. “It fulfills my love of caring for people, combined with my love for travel and learning about new places and new people. I don’t think you can get any better job than that!”

In October, Justice shared that the dining hall had been completed. "Three of our nursing students (Amy Le, Bela Wetterauer, and Leah Brennan) were instrumental in raising funds to completely renovate the dining hall, which now has the only working sink on the property! The orphanage will be purchasing tables and chairs too," she wrote. Friends from Ghana sent a What'sApp video of the children chanting, "We thank you for the dining hall! OH! IO!" in the newly-painted, beautiful blue room. Someone had painted "OSU Hall" by the front door. The Ohio State volunteers will not be forgotten, and will never forget their experience in Ghana.

Visit Hope for Orphans Children’s Home on Instagram at: @cha_rityhopefoundation