Four seniors in the School of Nursing and Health Studies returned from their fall semester abroad with a mission—help the fledgling Mother of Mercy Babies’ Home in Ghana. The students, who conducted research for their senior theses at the Navrongo Health Research Center, are now organizing a campaign to support the orphanage.
Caitlin Maloney (NHS ‘11), Ivy Higgins (NHS ‘11), Jaclyn Marrinan (NHS ‘11), and Phoebe Bacon (NHS ‘11) first became involved with the orphanage while visiting Navrongo, a town located 20 hours north of Ghana’s capital, Accra. Although the group had access to amenities at the research center, they said life for the villagers was difficult.
“The surrounding area lived on less than $1.25 a day,” Higgins said.
The students quickly became involved in a group called Friends of African Babies, which supports the Mother of Mercy Babies’ Home.
“[They] are not your typical definition of orphans,” Marrinan said. “For the most part, one or more of their parents are still alive. In this region there is a common belief in spirit children. So if a mother dies when the children are born, the father will abandon them.”
According to Bacon, any inauspicious events surrounding a child’s birth can cause the village tto reject the newborn as a “spirit child,” poisoning or leaving him or her in the brush.
The home, which provides for 16 to 24 children, receives no formal funding. Because of a limited staff, children are only admitted if accompanied by a caretaker, such as a sibling or an elderly relative. Higgins explained there is no running water or electricity in the building. The entire operation survives on roughly $3,500 worth of food per year.
“It’s pretty bleak,” she said.
Upon returning to campus, the students hung photographs of the women and children who live in the home in Uncommon Grounds.
“It’s very hopeful in the sense that, you will see in the pictures, a lot of the women are smiling and there’s camaraderie,” Bacon said. “They just added a school and sometimes they’re able to bring in local teachers. But it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The babies have cribs but the [caretakers] sleep on mats on the ground.”
FAB has trouble finding sources of funding outside of Ghana due to limited Internet access.
“We’re their only form of international contact,” Higgins said.
To raise money, the students will host a bar night at Rhino Bar and Pumphouse on M Street this Thursday.
“We wanted to go to the crowds,” Marrinan said.
They also hope to collaborate with NHS and future students who study in Ghana with hopes that Georgetown and FAB can build a lasting relationship.
“We’re hoping this will be the first of many events,” Marrinan said.
To the four students, the Mother of Mercy Babies’ Home is different from other charities they have participated in because it was so personal and real to them.
“You could see the big effect of a little change,” Higgins said.
