Llandrillo College teacher wants to help Ghana

Mar 4 2010 by Ian Hughes, North Wales Weekly News

IN HER 12 years at Llandrillo College the most common distraction to a lesson would be an ill-timed fire alarm.

Teaching children in Ghana, Karen Williams had to become used to regular classroom visits from chickens and lizards.

“There are no walls, just tin roofs. People and animals would just wander in and out while you were teaching,” she quips.

In two weeks teaching at the start of this month Karen, 48, witnessed poverty akin to stepping back hundreds of years.

“It was like medieval times. You recognise the lack of wealth in the cities but as you venture out into the country it becomes so much worse.”

Illness was rife in the village of Nkyene Nkyene and Karen felt she had to do more to help.

“The villagers drink from the nearby Lake Volta. They also wash and use it for drainage. People quickly become sick from drinking the filthy water.”

She added: “It is so bad that death has become matter-of-fact. I remember a boy, Ernest, didn’t return to school after three days off.”

When Karen asked of his whereabouts she was told calmly that ‘the sickness’ had got him. He had died as a result of contaminated water.

“I now want to raise £1,200. We were teaching in four villages and that would be enough to buy water filtration for each of those. It would do a lot to help these communities”

“You can’t change things over there but there are little things that you can do.”

The former teacher, who now lives in Llanfair Talhaiarn, was inspired to go after her daughter returned from volunteering in Morocco.

“I thought; it’s not only the young that can do it!”

Now she wants to return and help out as soon as she can – but only when she can afford to spend enough time there. She remembers the people with sadness.

“They’re marvellous. Although they have nothing – they will give you everything.”

“I spoke one day with my class of nine to ten-year-olds. I asked what made them happy and what made them sad. Happiness was the typical football, singing and dancing. Sadness for them is hunger, sickness and dying.”

“It is horrible that these things have become a way of life for them.”

Karen is welcoming donations and hopes to run fundraising events in the near future.

If you wish to help out, email karenhwilliams@hotmail.co.uk