During our 2014 Every Child Is Our Child site visit I had the pleasure of meeting Susan and was immediately taken aback by the fire and determination in her eyes. Susan is one of our four Senior High School Students and the only one who is not boarding at her school. It is customary for children to board in high school in Ghana, as the curriculum is very rigorous. Susan however, stays with her caretaker and assists her as she recently suffered from a stroke.

Susan's day starts at 4:00 AM with chores, cooking, and helping her caretaker with personal hygiene. She then starts her commute to school where she takes the bus and then walks about 45 minutes; she is punished if she is late. After a full day of classes, she walks home in order to save her bus fare for lunch money, and then helps her caretaker with dinner and chores, and finally settles down to complete her homework. In spite of all this, her headmaster reports that she is thriving in school! Susan is grateful for all that Every Child is Our Child (ECOC) has done for her and her friends and asked that I relay this message to all of our ECOC supporters.  She enjoys science & math and when asked what she wants to be when she grows up she responded that she is a "future nurse." When I asked her why she thinks school is important she responded, without skipping a beat: "so that all of my dreams may come true." I asked her about her dreams and she said it is to "help people in her community." Susan is an incredible, resilient, and intelligent young woman and we are so proud to have her in our program! You can help Susan and all of our students achieve their education goals by making a generous donation. Please contact the UU-UNO office if you and/or your congregation has interest in further engaging with this program! Also, If you or you congregation would like to write encouraging letters or postcards to Susan or any of our ECOC kids, please contact us (with subject line "ECOC Postcards")! By María Militano, Every Child is Our Child intern September 2013- May 2014. Maria visited the ECOC project in summer 2013, February 2014, and will return in summer 2014.