Claire Fischer, a beloved student at Northeastern University, has always been passionate about social work. She wanted to help the needy orphans in Africa and Central America, deciding on plans which will make their future better – and she made it happen! How so, you might think? By taking the help of ‘All Hands-on Deck for Africa’. It is a startup NGO in Ghana, which collaborated with Fischer to establish a foster home in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The home is called ‘the Mawuli Apeme’ which roughly translates to ‘God is Here’ Home. She literally pieced together coin by coin by personally indulging in fundraisers raised by her in her hometown. And it did surprise me – as it will surprise you now – that she accomplished this before she was eighteen.
Her co-op now will be in this Ghanaian foster home, with her goal being the creation of an efficient model, which would be incorporated in any designing of new foster homes all over the world. “Really long term, I hope to eliminate overpopulated orphanages so kids can get individual attention and care,” she said. “When you’re living with 120 kids, you’re just not getting emotion attention or the life lesson skills you need to develop yourself as a person in society.”
The ‘God is here’ home is populated with just six boys, in the age bracket of 13 to 22. The money she collected pays for not only the space in which they live but also healthy meals and other living expenses. The boys make sure they are always on good behaviour and go to school every day. “Each boy receives a dollar a day toward a savings account, another dollar a day for medical care, three dollars for food and an extra dollar a day for extra expenses. The idea is this will help break the cycle of poverty,” she said.
She is grateful for the University, saying that it has helped her dedicate herself to her passion for international services. She is now decidedly determined to make such children’s lives better. “This work found me, I did not find it,” she says. “I saw a problem and thought there must be a way to fix it.”
Pranjali Wakde