Ghana (MNN) — An annual trip to a school in Ghana is changing the lives of students in Ghana and Los Angeles.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship groups in the Los Angeles area have been going to Ghana every summer for 12 years because of the Adom Partnership. Adom means "grace" in the
Akan language of Ghana.
College students visit Amazing Grace School where they provide maintenance services and school supplies; they also get to build relationships with the kids and talk about Jesus.
"We taught the students a few of our songs and had them teach us some phrases and songs in their native language, Twi," said Linda Kim, a trip leader.
Because of the continued partnership with the school, college students are able to maintain relationships with the students at Amazing Grace School.
This continued relationship gives the school additional credibility according to Jon Ball, the associate divisional director for InterVarsity in Los Angeles. He said, "Local parents see Americans come consistently year after year. The parents know they can trust the school with their kids."
Not only is there an element of trust, students are proving to do much better in their academics because of the partnership. The improvements that have resulted because of the Adom partnership have contributed to the success of their students.
"Students who are children of farmers are performing at an academic level with the best in the country," Ball said. The students who were in preschool when Ball started the trip in 1995 graduated in 2005 and would be able to attend secondary schools. "It really is doing a phenomenal job of breaking the cycle of poverty," Ball added.
Any student in the Los Angeles area can participate in this trip.
