Upon returning to the UK from her placement in Ghana in 2012, Fiona Buckmaster set up ‘Support Ghana’, a charity whose focus is supporting young Ghanaians from the school and community she worked in whilst on placement. Yesterday, Fiona cycled the 47 mile trip of the ‘Pedal For Scotland’ event in order to further fundraise for her charity, and, her old placement. She tells us more:
“A lot of the people reading this blog right now will be preparing to go on their placements and I have to say I am extremely jealous! My Lattitude placement in Ghana was one of the best experiences of my life, but over a year since my return it’s difficult for things not to get sidelined in favour of work or university. One way I’ve tried to keep my Ghanaian experience at the forefront of my mind is raising money to help improve the educational facilities at my placement. My charity Support Ghana has raised over £1,200 (that’s around 3,600 Ghana Cedi) towards our first building project at Victory Assemblies Of God International School, although this hasn’t all been plain sailing - earlier this year construction ground to a halt as the ageing school bus broke down and was replaced using Support Ghana funds.
During my time teaching science at VAGIS I had to learn to adapt to conditions which were very different from anything I’d experienced before. The school had no electricity, no resources, but the one thing it did have was plenty of children. There were smart kids, funny kids, tall kids, short kids, kids who were eager to learn and kids who would much rather be in bed than listen to me! But every single one of these kids deserves an education, and that’s what Support Ghana aims to help provide.
In our latest fundraising appeal, the SG cycling duo undertook ‘Pedal For Scotland – a 47 mile ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh on Sunday 8th September. It was a tough but fun day!
In support of this event and of course for Support Ghana, it would be hugely appreciated if you could make a donation towards our efforts - no matter how big or small, via our website www.supportghana.org/donate. Every single penny of your donations goes directly towards helping young Ghanaians receive an education.
I will continue to support my Ghanaian community, and I hope that you can help.”
Congratulations Fiona and keep up the good work!
