School Visits

Each year The Building Fund provides opportunities for volunteers to visit our schools. The exchange of students and adults to learn, teach, and share in the development and expansion of educational opportunities is a life-changing experience. The Building Fund was created out of one such experience and will continue to support volunteers to work with the students and teachers of all schools served by The Building Fund.

Recent Trips

Members of The Building Fund Board of Directors and Advisers recently returned from a trip to visit The Young Apostles International School and The Tuskegee International School. Along with donations for a new library, classrooms and scholarships, the trip brought over 100 lbs. of supplies to students at both schools.

Among the visitors Rachel Brill, Jesse Dudley, Virginia Lies-Dudley, and Jeremy Kotin were all making their first visit to Ghana and to the schools. Board member Rachel Brill remarked "when we first arrived at Tuskegee, I was struck by how well behaved the students were. There was no screaming or roughhousing going on - just quiet students diligently taking a test or listening to their teacher. You can see that the students really value their education and know how lucky they are to be at that school. During an independent reading session, I sat with a 5 year old girl who could read at a 3rd grade reading level! The children are so bright and dedicated - it is bittersweet to think about their potential and all they could achieve if they had more resources, a better school building, and well-trained teachers."

Please click here to read more about the trip from Advisory Board member Jeremy Kotin and view picutres of The Tuskegee Internationl School and The Young Apostles International School.

Volunteer Experiences

Freda Thomas - New York, NY, USA Thanks to the gracious coordination of Jessyca Dudley, I was able to volunteer at her host school, Tuskegee International in Accra,Ghana. It was a wonderful experience for me and I know I gained as much as I gave. I was in attendance for Tuskegee's first commencement service and took part as an invited guest in the culminating activities.What makes Ghana so unique for me is that in spite of the poor conditions of the school and its surroundings the children of Tuskegee are learned, eager to embrace the new and happy.I volunteered for a week from July 14 through July 18, and I spoke about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.I taught the children to make collage greeting cards. I spoke of the importance of an education and reading. I was also taught by the students of the history of Ghana. My last day was a session where the students were invited to ask me anything about America I have never felt so loved by strangers as I did at my visit at Tuskegee. Each day, I could not wait to get there. Tuskegee school is not equipped with the latest accoutrements and yet the hearts of the students at Tuskegee are what captured me most. I can't wait to return again, hopefully very soon, and spend more time with the staff and students at Tuskegee. To see pictures of Freda's time at the Tuskegee International School please click here.

Beverly Greenberg - Chicago, IL, USA If someone told me that I would be traveling to a third world country on a steady basis, 3 years ago, I would have raised my eyebrows and said, "Yeah, right!" BUT indeed I have traveled and I am now a steady, rather frequent flyer to a small country in the western part of Africa called Ghana. I tell people when I share my experiences and the thousands of photos I take of my 2nd school that I go to Ghana to become a more enriched human being. I want the Ghanaian's to know that they are significant and I am a small reminder of that through my loyalty and consistent involvement with them and their country. I can't say that what I do is for everyone. I can say that it is a life-altering experience which enables you to become enriched and develop insight into the world.To read more about Bev Greenberg's experince please click here.