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 On July 1, Rachel and her husband, Chris, travelled to
Ghana, West Africa for a short-term humanitarian aid / missions project. No internet access was available during
the trip, so Rachel collected thoughts to share upon returning home while Chris
stayed in Ghana for another four weeks.
 What an entrepreneurial adventure for us! One of the community members blessed us with hospitality, while we went about gathering information and determining how best we could help the rural village of Adagya.
Photo: Rachel's new friend, Mary and her son, coached Rachel how to make "fufu" in the mortar and pestle. Fufu is cooked cassava and plantains mashed together into a somewhat sticky porridge.
There are no well-established humanitarian aid organizations on the ground in this remote village, so we met directly with local leaders and community members to determine what was needed. Ultimately, what we observed and learned first-hand changed our project plans.
Initially, we expected to be working on a community center building that would provide a place for literacy, business 101, and vocational training. We soon realized that this would be better as a second phase project, as it’s impossible to feed minds while bellies are hungry! Therefore, our first phase project ended up being a fish farm that will begin producing revenue within a few months.  The fish farm revenue will be used to provide food and limited employment in the village, and, in time, will fund the construction of the community center. Through this first-hand experience, I further value the important role that profitable, self-sustaining, social businesses play in ending world poverty. While I expect traditional donor-dependent charities will continue to play an important role, social business has the potential to overcome economic barriers more quickly and with lasting results.
Photo: Chris and Jim survey the land donated by the Chief for the fish farm and the future community center. If you would like to learn more, please visit: www.OperationDignity-Africa.org. Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website's users and/or members.
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