Douglas Paddy

Douglas Paddy is the loan administrator for SEED Ghana.  He has officially worked for the program since September 2012.  He is in charge of finding students for our classes, organizing the classes, interviewing potential loan recipients and is responsible for overseeing collections.  Unofficially Douglas has been working for our program for quite awhile.  He has gone through the SEED class himself and worked to help our students with translating for the classes.  Douglas, with the Abu's, works hard to keep our interns safe while they are in country and plays a large role in the success of our program in Ghana.

Under Douglas's management the program has moved into 5 new areas, all of these areas currently have a 100% collection rate.

Douglas's opinion on working with the SEED program

Douglas was born in 1978 and is now happily married with three children.  Douglas completed senior high school and went on to study Agriculture and Economics at College and pursue different career options.  Between 1999 and 2003 he worked as a Field Assistant with the Ghana Cocoa Disease and Pest Control Division.  He later joined the Ghana Education Service where he taught Agriculture Science.

Throughout his life Paddy has lost himself in the service of others.  He has helped organize people for community labor, doing clean up and voluntary work.  In 2002, with the encouragement from his community, Douglas ran for mayor and was elected.  Douglas is currently the mayor of Akwadum, Akwaduso, Ekorso and Wekpeti.  

During Douglas’s first four-year term in office he was appointed secretary to the Works and Housing Sub Committee of the District Assembly Council.  Paddy has now been re-elected two more times and is in his third term in office.  He still serves as secretary but now on two different sub committees.

Throughout his ten years as mayor, Douglas has contributed a lot to the community.  On water and sanitation projects he has constructed roughly 160 household latrines in four different communities, two institutional bathrooms for schools and ten boreholes providing good drinking water.  Under his leadership three communities have been connected to the national grid that have provided these communities with electricity.  Paddy has constructed four different schools, a health care center, a marketing center and a 15-kilometer road to remote farming communities.

On top of all his work he does in the community, Douglas is furthering his education and will be graduating this May with a Bachelor of Science Degree.

We are very grateful to Douglas for all the hard work he does for the program.  We know our interns are in good hands with Douglas.  

Goodbye Ghana Spring Interns

Three months flew by, and our Ghana interns have already returned safely to the United States.  They definitely kept busy and we’re proud of all the work they did this semester in Ghana.  Here is a summary of all they did this summer. 

The five interns worked a total of 1580 hours for the program including 276 hours of service for the communities that our borrowers live in.  

The interns taught classes in three areas, Ekorso, Akwadum, and Wekepti (an area new to the program).  They gave loans to 18 new borrowers for a total of $ 3,558 (6760 GHC).  Here are some pictures of their work and their adventures.  

Hard at work funding loans

Teaching

This fabric is one of many interesting things you see in Ghana

Welcoming Margaret home from New Jersey

Celebrating our loan administrators, Douglas, birthday

Saying goodbye to the Abu's 

We are so thankful for all the work the interns put in to make this semester a success.  The summer interns will be arriving in May and we will be introducing them in a few weeks.  

Stephen Apeaning Abu Sr.

Stephen Apeaning Abu Sr. has been a key to the success of the SEED program in Ghana. He has opened his home to give the interns a place to stay, provided access for volunteer opportunities, translated classes, interviewed loan applicants, assisted in collections, and is the respected local figurehead of the SEED program. Stephen mentors Douglas and Wasatch Social Ventures interns on what direction to take the program and has unsurpassed knowledge of businesses in the community, particularly cocoa farming.

Stephen was born on July 27, 1943, ½ mile away from his current home in Abomosu, the seventh of twelve children. He married Margaret Ofosuah Abu in 1972 and together they have 6 children (5 girls and 1 boy) and 16 grandchildren. Each intern that has the privilege of staying with the Abu’s is adopted into the family and becomes one of Stephen and Margaret’s children.

Stephen, who the locals call Master Apeaning, spent most of his life as an educator in Abomosu. He worked his way up from being a teacher to the Headmaster of Abomosu Presbyterian Middle School and Junior Secondary School. His promotions continued from that position as Stephen became the equivalent of a school district superintendent for Abomosu and numerous surrounding villages.

Although Stephen has now retired from working with schools and children, his work continues in other areas. He has become an extremely successful farmer of cocoa, plantains, yams, oranges, coconut, pineapples, and other fruits that are spread across his 9 farms. Villagers are constantly coming to him for advice on how to operate their farms or to get help in their personal lives. Stephen is the country director for World Joy, a NGO that builds schools throughout Ghana and is also the Chairman of the Water and Sanitation Development Board for Abomosu. He was recently called as a Branch President for the local LDS church and has held numerous other callings in his 30 years of church membership. As a result of all his involvement in the community, Stephen has become a local celebrity who garners great respect from everyone. As Stephen says, “Only the child in the womb doesn’t know my name.” He rejoices whenever he can help to improve the lives of the people in Ghana, particularly for those who live in Abomosu.

Stephen Sr. initially became involved with the SEED program when he and his son, Stephen Jr., visited Utah State University and spoke with faculty members about bringing students to Abomosu to introduce the SEED program to Ghana. He believes that the program has been very useful in helping the poor and the needy in Abomosu and the surrounding villages. Stephen prays, “That the program will continue so life becomes meaningful to the people around this area.”

Ashley Peterson -- Spring 2013

The work here in Ghana has been moving along nicely. After meeting and interviewing with all of our potential loan candidates, we took on the difficult task of selecting our final loan recipients. It was hard to disqualify applicants that could obviously use the money, but their business plans are not quite up to par. Even though working within the budget was difficult, we ended up being grateful for some boundaries when selecting our recipients.

After selecting the loan recipients we started working hard on submitting loan applications that show how the recipient will use the loan and how the loan will profit them. These reports were very interesting to put together.  It is amazing to me how much a little can help change and improve these individuals’ lives.

Our loan recipients this semester are involved in a number of different businesses. We are funding cocoa farmers, provision stores, a hair dresser, and a number of food vendors. Funding the cocoa farmers during the spring is the only time to fund them, as the spring is where the majority of their expenses are incurred. It has been fun to learn about the cocoa industry and work with the farmers in our classes.

Meeting with some of our cocoa farmers. 

We are planning on funding our loan recipients this next week. The time here in Ghana has flown by, it does not seem like we have been here for over two months now. The things that we have learned during our time here will stay with us forever. 

Dustin Evans - Spring 2013

Greetings from Ghana!

The past week has been a busy one. Since our classes have ended we have been performing due diligence on requested loans and speaking with Douglas about what his thoughts are on our students. Wednesday afternoon all of the students from Ekorso, Akwadum, and Wekpeti came to have an interview with Stephen Sr. and Douglas. Stephen took the lead in the interviews and helped us to understand whether the individual was a serious applicant or not. His experience in interviews, knowledge of various businesses, and honesty with each applicant he interviewed was a huge help and his contribution cannot be overstated.

All of the interns agree that narrowing down our classes and deciding which people to fund has been the most difficult part of our time in Abomosu thus far. Between classes, helping with homework, and interviewing each candidate we have grown to appreciate each individual we work with and how much effort they put into the SEED program. Some have lost businesses due to life events. Others pay creditors obscenely high interest rates so they can purchase items to run their business. All have a hope that being educated in sound business practices will help them improve the way they do business and thus the quality of their lives.

Reviewing business plans with students in Ekorso

Rachel Drollinger - Spring 2013

This past week we wrapped up classes in Akwadum, Wekpeti, and Ekorso!  Due to a large number of applicants and small amount of funds, we wanted to ensure that we had time to spend with each student one on one prior to the character interviews we will be completing this week.  This was very helpful in realizing each students needs individually and clarifying their ability to contribute funds and the assistance they needed from SEED.

Akwadum Class (Karson and Chelsea)

Wekpeti Class (Dustin, Ashley, and Rachel)

Ekorso Class (Dustin, Ashley, Rachel, and Douglas)

 I am teaching with Dustin and Ashley in Wekpeti and Ekorso.  In Wekpeti, there are primarily cocoa farmers but also about four women that have various businesses.  As next month is the time that all of the cocoa farmers use fertilizer for the year we are finding it especially important to fund these farmers in the Spring opposed to any other time of the year. In Ekorso, this is all of the students second time in the class.  These students have a wide variety of businesses ranging from fish selling to salons to school supplies.  We are now ready for a week of due diligence and character interviews starting tomorrow before making the final decisions of who to fund. 

While we have been here in Abomosu we have had the opportunity to do a lot of service whether it be at the primary school, high school in Kwabene, health clinic, or others.  At the primary school we are each assigned to a level (grade) to assist the teacher or help teach.  The teachers have begged us to come often because having a white man at the school encourages the children to all come.  I teach in level 4 and it is always fun to see the children smiling when we come and to see them outside of school as well.  Being that most parents do not speak English, read or write any language, the English the children are speaking at school is only at school.  It makes it hard for the students to actually progress in learning.  However, it is my hope that with each generation the literacy and especially that of English will improve little by little even “out in the bush”.

We are looking forward to another week here in Ghana, as well as the water and power coming back!

Coco Farmers

Did you know?

Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa world wide.

In Ghana all cocoa produced is required to be sold to the government.  The government buys the coco at a fixed rate which is adjusted yearly, currently the rate is roughly $100 per bag.  Each acre costs around $150 to farm and yields 8 to 10 bags of Cocoa.

Below are a few coco farmers who have maintained a successful farm and were approved additional credit for further business expansion.

Doe Richard

Doe is married with four children and owns 10 acres of land that he uses for coco farming.

Stephan Asiedu

Stephan is married with eight children and owns 12 acres of land that he uses for coco farming.

Isaac Osei Owusu

Isaac is married with five children and owns 12 acres of land that he uses for coco farming.

Charles Boafo

Charles is married with seven children and owns 12 acres of land that he uses for coco farming.

Cosmos Oduro

Cosmo is married with four children and owns four acres of land that he uses for coco farming.

George Obeng

George owns two acres of land that he uses for coco farming.

Solomon Kesse

Solomon is married with two children and owns four acres of land that he uses for coco farming.