Kelli's Project

Amy's Thoughts on Kelli's Project:

Yesterday I got the chance to "shadow" my sister on her project with the Grameen Foundation. I am going to explain what is going on so that everyone reading understands. I have learned that the banking profession has a language of their own that can sometimes be hard for outsiders to understand. This includes myself.

I like Ghana banking, because it is much simpler to understand. I can sit down with their loan officers and understand how they track data and accounts. We spent most of our time yesterday with one of the female loan officers. I will give you a run down of our day and the interesting things that we encountered.

The first thing that we did was go out into the "field" with the loan officers. The loan officers have a really fun job and have a chance to really impact lives. They have to have a combination of skills in order for them to be successful. They must have finance, marketing, communication, and social work skills. They deal a lot with money and simple spread sheets and so they have to have a finance back ground. They are in charge of getting more clients and spreading the word and so that is marketing. They have to be able to communicate with all types of people, which is communication. Last but not least, they have to have a passion to work with the poor of their country and the ability to teach the people how to run successful businesses and have good stewardship of the loans.

We went to three different group meetings that the loan officer had. This loan officer we shadowed specifically worked with group loans. This is when the women have group accountability for paying back the loan. If one woman is struggling, the other women are responsible to step in and help her out financially. This is very similar to support groups in America. Each group consisted of anywhere between 8 to 15 women.

The groups met and the meetings were always opened in prayer. The SAT bank is a very Christian organization and they see microfinance as a way they can minister to the poor. I have been very impressed with the faith of the leaders and the loan officers of this organization. The women are constantly challenged to be good stewards of finances and money. The SAT bank uses the parable of the master and the talents to explain stewardship. I even understood this when they spoke their language.

We met women with all types of businesses. We met everyone from a bread maker to a natural medicine maker. The women all had a special spirit about them. They were survivors and were willing to do whatever it took to provide for their family. The loan officer told us that the women of Ghana were the "bread winners" of the family. She said that they were the ones that were most likely to provide for their families, and that is why they loaned to women.

The loan officers have to really get to know the people that they loan to. They go to their houses, businesses, and get to know their family. They put their heart and soul into making sure that they do whatever they can to help these women fight poverty one loan at a time.

It was a humbling experience to be able to watch the loan officers really invest their time into the people.

Stay tuned for a blog on our market place adventure where we saw HUGE live snails and many other interesting things. I am off to school today. I will update you when I get home. I will also tell you more about Kelli's project!

Day 1

From Amy's Point of View:

What an adventure I had in Ghana today! I will give everybody the highlights:

1. Running Out of Gas:
This is a new first for me. I haven't been in a car that has ran out of gas in a long time.....and this was in a VERY crowded street in a country I am new to. We were stuck in traffic and all the sudden the car stopped. After sitting there for a few minutes I asked what was wrong. My friends told me that we were out of gas. We then sat at the side of the road while many people passed by on foot and by car until a friend came and bought us gas.

2. Signs of Ghana
Now for those of you who have read the blog of when I went to Uganda, I can't help but fill you in on some of my new favorite signs in Africa.
-Day of Grace Rasta Do Hair Salon
-Double-F Pharmacy- Would not want to get medicine there, would you?

These are my only two new ones, but my eyes will be peeled tomorrow to update readers on new discoveries.

3. Visiting School in Ghana
I went to an orphanage and a school today. I will be volunteering at the school when I am not assisting Kelli with her project. I loved the orphanage and my heart broke for the kids that were there. I saw one little girl who was just brought to the home that was suffering from malnutrition and looked close to losing her life. Again it brought me back to why I am so passionate about helping the poor in Africa. There is something about looking at a baby starving to death that changes the way you look at what we are given in America and what we can do to be a blessing to our country and the world. This image will stick with me for the rest of my life. Although I was drawn there, I noticed there were already 8+ volunteers working there for the summer. I went to the school and many of the children had never seen a white person before. They wanted to learn English and are getting ready to teach phonics to the kids. They were very excited about me coming and said that they had plenty for me to do to help. The kids were amazing and I can't wait to spend some time there!


4. Tribal Dancing Festival:
This is perhaps the most interesting thing I have ever been to in all my African travels. This is a tradition that the Ashanti Empire in Ghana has every year. The priests of the empire dance and thousands of people come and watch the event. I have never been somewhere with so many people moving so fast. There were hundreds of dancer performing all different types of ancient dance. The friends that I met in Ghana that were with me told me that this was "black power."

I sat back and watched the people get so excited when a man was changing leaves into money (never got close enough to see it, only heard people shouting). They started a stampede and were chasing after the man and screaming.

I kept thinking how sad this was, but how I can often compare this to my life and the lives of so many people I know. The people in the crowd were so excited about something that could never satisfy them. They were chasing after things that could never give them the life that they could have if they were walking with the Lord.

The second thing I saw was a man that was carrying water on his head, but the water would never fall out of the basket, even though the basket had holes in it. The people were shouting that the water was not coming out and were jumping up and down so excited by this event. Again it humbled me and broke my heart to think that in John 7:38 Jesus spoke to the woman at the well and said, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." These people were so excited about this event and this 'black power" that was keeping them from experiencing the Living Water, which is Jesus Christ.


5. Being Able to Talk about my faith with my new friends in Ghana!

I woke up this morning and asked the Lord to give me an opportunity to share my faith today. Before going on this trip I asked that everyday I would be able to share Jesus at least once. God already answered my prayer and I am excited to see what the Lord will do in the hearts of my new friends!

I have been BLOWN away by the hospitality and the kindness of the Ghanaian people. They have made the trip enjoyable so far. I would recommend coming to this country to anyone!!! This day has been filled with eating fried bananas, drinking coconut juice right out of the coconut, festivals, friendship, and having my heart opened once again to how the Lord is moving on this continent.

Please continue to pray for the Lord's Guidance on our trip. Kelli will update the blog tomorrow she is too busy doing banking stuff! :)

We have Arrived!

We have arrived safely and wanted to give everyone a quick update...we will write more tonight. The flight to Accra was a memorable one with lots of interesting people on board. We then took a 5 hour bus ride to Kumasi and met up with a Japhet's sister, Grace. Japhet is with the Adakum Foundation that Kelli worked with to build the health clinic.

It is so good to be back in Africa. The people are friendly, the weather is warm, and the markets are alive! Just seeing all of the sights brings a big smile to our faces. Our hotel includes breakfast, running water, air conditioning, a giant bed, and wireless internet. These are all special treats for Africa! We made friends with a very nice guy who served us breakfast.

Please stay tuned for more updates in 10 hours. I am sure we will have lots to report on. Kelli will be going to the microfinance bank today and Amy is off to an orphanage and school. Please comment on our blog, and feel free to email us! Love from Ghana!

Introducing the Sisters

Kelli Moles

Kelli Moles is currently living in New York City, and her heart for Africa began when Kyle and Kelli decided to do what few couples would do and spend their honeymoon in Africa. The first week of the honeymoon was spent in Kenya on a safari, and then they joined Kelli’s sister (Amy Shackelford) and her three friends for a week and volunteered in an orphanage in Uganda, Africa. Kyle and Kelli began their marriage serving some of the world’s poorest people together.

Seven months after her return to the states, if Kelli had forgotten Africa, it hadn’t forgotten her. Inside Kelli’s body was a disease called Malaria that had been dormant for seven months. After twelve scary days of battling for her life, the disease was identified and Kelli was given the medicine to fight it.

As Kelli lay in intensive care, she began to think of the small children she had met in Africa that had fought this disease and were not given the medical attention they deserved. Her heart began to break for the people in our world who do not get their basic needs met. Kelli vowed that day to fight for people who deserve a chance to fight a treatable disease.

The following Spring, Kelli organized multiple fundraisers and raised $6,000 to provide medicine and mosquito nets to people in Africa. She found joy in joining people together to see change in the world. Her husband Kyle and her decided, “We haven’t done enough, there is still more we can do.” This is when the dream of building a health clinic was born.

Kelli talked with her friends and coworkers to brainstorm ideas for events. Ultimately, the team planned six events, from a three-on-three basketball tournament to a cocktail hour. The team ended up raising $38,000. Kyle and Kelli’s first trip to Africa changed their lives, so they decided to organize a trip to Africa so others could have the same. In September of 2008, thirteen of their friends traveled back to Ghana to work on construction of the health clinic.

Kelli believes that God will continue to use her in Africa. When the opportunity came around for her to apply for “Bankers without Borders,” a project that partners her company, J.P. Morgan, and the Grameen Foundation, she jumped at the chance. Please see the website for more information about the foundation: http://www.grameenfoundation.org/

The Grameen foundation focuses on fighting poverty through microfinance. The foundation focuses on mainly women and loans them small amounts of money so that they can start small businesses.

Kelli will combine her finance skills and her passion for Africa together to work on this project.

Amy Shackelford

Amy Shackelford went with three of her best friends to Uganda, Africa for nine weeks in the summer of 2006. The girls served at an orphanage and taught at a local school. It was that summer that the girls founded a women’s ministry called Unveiled Women’s Ministry that is in operation today. It is also that summer that Amy fell in love with a little boy named Tony and her life was forever changed. She had promised herself that she would never fall in love with one kid; because she knew it would make the reality of poverty so much more clearly to her. She knew that her world would never be the same if she had a clear face to poverty. To learn more about the "Four Hearts" trip to Uganda visit http://www.xanga.com/fourheartsforafrica

The four girls dreamed of doing more in Africa and the Lord opened up the doors for the girls to facilitate adoptions out of the orphanage they were working at. The adoptions were a miracle because in the past people had to live in Uganda for three years before they were allowed to adopt. Through the grace of God the doors were opened and the new adventure began.

The process was not easy and if it weren’t for the brave men and women that took these children into their homes, there is no telling where the children would be today. The first three children were brought home and then another one followed. In the summer of 2007, Amy and her friend Bethany went back to help with four more adoptions. This trip was extra special because this time it was Tony’s turn to have a family. Eight children later and her heart completely changed, Amy is forever connected to Africa.

Unveiled Women’s Ministry has continued to work in Uganda and currently has two girls in Africa for six months. To read about their mission you can visit: http://loveforugandanorphans.blogspot.com/. Two more girls will be joining them for two months in May. The Director of Missions, Stacie Shaw, is currently researching opportunities for Unveiled Women’s Ministry to make the biggest impact possible in Uganda, Africa. To read more about Unveiled Women’s Ministry go to: http://www.unveiledwomensministry.org/ensministry.org/.

Amy is excited about the opportunity to assist her sister with this new project in Ghana Africa. She can’t wait to get back on the continent and do the work the Lord has called her to do.