Cookies and Youth Savings Club, Mim

November 29^th

On Thursday night, Ernest (my local colleague) and I attended a year-end event for the Youth Savings Club in Mim, Brong Ahafo Region. The event was attended by more kids than the organizers expected, and MANY more than I expected. There must have been approximately five hundred kids in attendance from five to thirteen years old. There were very few adults in the audience. I saw this and immediately thought that there was going to be absolute chaos and confusion.

Students of the Youth Savings Club in Mim

During the speeches and presentations the kids were very well behaved. Although some of them ran around, talked with each other, and played games, many of the kids were interested in paying attention, participating in the event and learning.

It came time for me to speak to the children about what it means to start your own business and about how their savings can be used to become an entrepreneur, carving their own path in Ghana’s exciting future. Ernest, my colleague from the Credit Union Association of Ghana, took one microphone and I took the other. He offered to translate what I was saying as I spoke in front of the massive audience of impatient children.

After all the speeches were done prizes were awarded to a handful of the members. I was asked to give the prizes to the students and take a picture with them.

At the end of the ceremonies the children were given pop and cookies. The staff from the local credit union, Ernest and me helped distribute the snacks to the kids. I didn’t realize how much of a task this was going to be until I was halfway through the crowd, surrounded by about forty kids all screaming with their hands out trying to get the cookies I was handing out.

Joel presenting awards at a Credit Union AGM in Brong Ahafo

I returned to the front of the room after distributing cookies for about twenty minutes to Ernest laughing at how much I was attacked by the kids.

After leaving the event, we returned to our hotel for a well-needed rest.

The next day we got in the truck early in the morning and traveled to the upper most part of the country, Upper West Region. This was the first time that I had experienced the Northern part of Ghana. I had been warned many times that the North is significantly hotter than the south. So, of course, my entire experience in the North was sweltering heat and trying to find shade.

Ernest and I met with several credit unions and teachers in the high schools in and around the city of Wa. The next day we made a presentation to a group of students from the nearby region on entrepreneurship development.

Joel & High School Students after Entrepreneurship & Business Training Session

Finally, after about ten days traveling around the Northern half of Ghana, we made the 14-hour trek back down to Accra, finally arriving back at my apartment by midnight.

-Joel