For Our Daughters: Ghana to Granville

Last week I attended Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon, a speaker series like Pecha Kucha that brings together a handful of artists, visionaries, educators, and entertainers for one night of talks, without a particular theme. One of the speakers was Shannen O’Brian of Vancouver who founded Create Change.

This organization works in Northern Ghana and aims to provide water and education to those without. Following Shannen’s talk, a few girls (Fayuda, Gladys, Beatrice and Faiza) from Ghana spoke about education and the role of women in their region.

“It has been said that the educating a woman means educating the whole family.”

Since 2007, Create Change’s efforts have sent over 1,000 girls through high school and have provided 20,000 people with clean drinking water. They have also renovated seven elementary schools in Northern Ghana.

These students will share their stories on November 23rd at the Vogue Theatre during the “For Our Daughters” fundraising tour. The event will also feature a concert from Peak Performance Project finalists The Boom Booms, along with The Reckoners.

I spent a week in Southern Ghana earlier this year and I met with women who were union members, teachers, and caring mothers. They all said that their top concern was education for their children as it meant giving them the means to lead a better life.

Tickets for the event are available online at $30 for adults and $20 for students. 100% of proceeds from ticket sales go to support school fees for girls.