Melyssa Griffin’s Impact
with Pencils of Promise
When Melyssa Griffin joined the PoP Family, she immediately made a huge impact. An ambitious and passionate teacher, entrepreneur and blogger, Melyssa recognized the potential of quality education and made it her personal mission to support education in communities that are in need of everyday resources like safe school structures.
Joining the PoP Family in 2017, Melyssa set a campaign goal of raising $70,000 in just two weeks. Melyssa and her followers blew this goal out of the water by raising $119,227 in 21 days to help PoP support students in Ghana. Ghana was, until very recently, one of the poorest countries in the world. Over the past few years, the nation has experienced unprecedented growth and development (IFAD report; African Development Bank). Although the lives of Ghanaians have improved greatly, the country still faces many challenges, especially in the education sector.
Melyssa, our Pencils of Promise team is so grateful for all that you have provided to our students and communities. Your generosity will impact thousands of students and we thank you for partnering with us to make quality education possible for students who need it most.
Updates
Thanks to Melyssa’s support, the past year has been very busy (and exciting!). We completed construction on three schools in Ghana, and are well on our way to serving thousands more students around the world.
An update from Hohoe, Ghana…
Previously, the students of the Hohoe community were learning under provisional wooden structures built by the community. The Hohoe Basic School serves hundreds of students, so the need for an updated, safe and sound school structure was essential. Thanks to your support, PoP and the Hohoe community broke ground on a beautiful new six-classroom block in late 2017. The community was hard at work to progress the build, which was officially completed in the summer of 2018. The students are so excited to have a new school that will provide them with a positive and safe learning environment!
An update from Yonguase, Ghana…
Many of the primary students of Yonguase Primary School previously attended class under a group of trees. The first and second grade students used a poorly built, shaded structure as their classroom. Being exposed to the outdoor conditions left the students vulnerable to unsafe conditions, as well as hindered them from reaching their full potential due to the inadequate learning environment. Thanks to your support, PoP and the Yonguase community officially broke ground on a new three-unit classroom block in 2017. The new school was completed in 2018 and will serve hundreds of students throughout its lifetime!
An update from Anloga, Ghana…
Previously, the Zico Basic School had a very large stream of classes for grades one through six. Both streams of first through sixth grades were learning in one classroom block, causing severe overcrowding. Additionally, the remaining kindergarten classrooms were housed underneath a poorly built provisional structure. Not only did these conditions not provide a positive learning environment, they were posed a safety hazard to students and teachers alike. To address these conditions, PoP and the Anloga community worked to build a six-unit classroom block for the students. The school build broke ground in April of 2017 and, thanks to the dedicated and determined community members, was completed in December of 2017! The entire community is so grateful that students now have access to a high-quality learning environment that supports each child’s unique potential.
