Volunteer!!!

We are inviting everyone to help us make a big change in the rural communities of the Volta Region of Ghana. Through HardtHaven Volunteers you have the opportunity to travel to Ghana and make a difference in the lives of needy children and the lives of those in thecommunities they come from. We are a very small organization, which gives us great flexibility and we can customize your volunteer experience. You can makeyour stay as short as 2 weeks or as long as 2 years, you can stay with a local family or at our Children's Home, and you can choose where you want to work. It is all up to you. We have placements in orphanages, daycare centers, schools, hospital wards, schools for the disabled, community development projects, in HIV/TB/Malaria prevention and more. Cultural lessons and short in-country tours can also be arranged. We cannot pretend to remedy the serious social and economic problems of the countries where we work and send volunteers, but we can set you up to be busy, be effective, and make a lasting difference in the lives of those who need it most.

For more information please contact:
*Executive Director/Founder- Joy Hardt* joy@hardthaven.org or joybear13@yahoo.com 001-509-951-6246
*Ghanaian Director/Co-Founder - Richard EdemAdjordor* richard@hardthaven.org or hardthaven@yahoo.com

To get you up to speed....

So this is a short summary get everyone up to date on what has been going on with HardtHaven so I can write short posts as the events happen instead of trying to make the time to write something long. So here goes:

HardtHaven Children’s Home first opened its doors on May 28^th 2007 and since then we have brought 15 children to come live at the Home. We have also begun sponsoring 8 children out in the community. 7 of the children we are providing care for or sponsoring are HIV positive and are now receiving the drugs and nutrition that they so desperately need. 8 volunteers from Cosmic Volunteers have spent their time at HardtHaven and all have gone back and done something small to help the Home. The first 2 volunteers coming from our very own volunteer program will be arriving in Ghana on January 19^th, thus our first alternative livelihood project is up and running. Edem’s clan has donated 4-5 acres of land to HardtHaven and construction on the first building will begin hopefully within the next couple of months

HardtHaven Children’s Home has officially morphed into HardtHaven Foundation. We are now running: a Children’s Home, international volunteer program, community nurse educator program, and an in-need children sponsorship program, and a memory-box program. We are in the planning stages for: a HIV/TB/Malaria prevention program, orphanages and children’s home caretaker training program, and a job-training program for the children in our various programs and for HIV+ adults in the community. And we have plans to build a rehabilitation center for severely ill and/or malnourished HIV+ children.

We have received funds from: MTV Staying Alive Foundation, a Ghanaian Charity Football Match, local farmers and sellers, and hundreds of individual donors in the US.

We are networking with Pegus Africa, Cosmic Volunteers, Village Volunteers, New Seed International, and ABC for All, among others.

We have the support of the DC (Mayor of Kpando), Director of Social Welfare for the Kpando Region, Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Social Justice for the Kpando Region, the administrator of the Ho HIV/AIDS clinic, the local sports commission, and many other members of the Ghanaian community.

Well, its a quick summary but as new things occur I will try my best to keep you up to date!