I am used to being busy. I mean really busy. I have been working full-time my whole life; raised three kids mostly as a single mom, exercise/run a lot and currently have a 100 mile round trip commute to work. So when I found out that I wasn’t going to be able to work while in Ghana – I really started to wonder what I was going to do with all that time. Free time, gobs of it. I did have visions of me lying around, going for leisurely shopping expeditions, joining every exercise class I could find, but would that be enough?
And then life took a little turn of luck or serendipity or whatever you want to call it. A few months ago a friend was having a fundraising event for an organization called Mini Mermaids Running Club (MMRC). MMRC was born in 2009 in Santa Cruz when the founder, Heidi Boynton, discovered a lack of after-school running clubs for girls at or below the poverty line. Heidi has created a unique character-driven, movement-focused curriculum for young girls (and boys) utilizing running, jogging and walking as a teaching method for self-efficacy. As luck would have it, Heidi was at the event and we got to talking and then I found out that her program has expanded to OTHER COUNTRIES. Light bulb. I immediately wondered aloud – could we do this in Ghana? I could combine my love of running and its benefits, kids, and life and bring something wonderful and empowering to young girls in Ghana that they would not otherwise have available to them?
So, Heidi and I talked and met, and the more I knew about her and the program the more I knew that I wanted to try to make this work in Ghana. I got in contact with another coach’s spouse who lived in Ghana a few years ago as I remembered she had helped a school, Noyaa https://www.noyaaghana.org/ in the Jamestown area. This is one of the poorest areas of Accra and most of the children cannot afford to go to the regular public school (which costs very little but there is still a cost). Did she think this was feasible?Yes. Did she think the school that she helped might let me give this a go there? Yes. Would she put me in touch with the headmistress at the school? Yes!
I have a goal of implementing 5 six-week programs for elementary girls in Accra over the year we are there. $1000 can support a class of 10 girls so I have set a goal of raising $5000. There will be no cost to the girls to participate and each will receive a journal for reflection, t-shirt, supplies for activities within the curriculum, race entry to a local 5k and finishers medal. To donate please check out my fundraising page here.
If you would like to have more information about the program please check out their wonderful website at https://www.minimermaidrunningclub.org/ or please feel free to contact me directly at meredith.mills@gmail.com.
No donation is too small or too large. Meda w’ase! (Twi, a local language, for thank you)
Aptos To Accra 