Awaso Academy International • Vision of Father Paul Mensah
Effort to support
Ghanaen school
Special to
T
gmh TODAY
he people of Ghana can attest to the generosity of
community groups from Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San
Martin that have been neighborly in the best sense of
the word. Individuals, businesses, faith-based organizations,
educators, and social groups have joined Ghanaians to fill an
educational need in their country.
Father Paul Mensah founded Awaso Academy International
and the Awaso Hope Foundation to introduce a new culture
of education in his native Ghana. He grew up in the small
village of Awaso and after earning a Master’s degree from
Santa Clara University, he returned there to minister to the
village community.
When asked about his decision to begin the school he
described how one day a dying infant was brought to him.
The child had been beaten and abandoned in a trash
incinerator—a testimony to the desperation and poverty
in which the villagers felt trapped. To Father Paul’s way of
thinking, the child was “a gift from God,” and the incident
inspired him to work for educational change in Awaso.
Father Paul named the child “Nyame Kye,” which means
“gift of God.” He saw in the child’s rescue a metaphor for
saving the castaway talents and potential of the people he
ministers to and serves today.
The child’s story also inspired people here in South County.
When Paul returned to Santa Clara University to pursue a
Master’s in Education Administration, he contacted everyone
he knew in the States and in Canada, sharing his plan to help
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the people of Awaso overcome poverty and become
self-sufficient.
By 2009, he had refined his vision and renewed his
deter-mination to achieve results in one generation. He
initiated an international voluntary effort coordinated through
the Awaso Hope Foundation.
Among the people who have joined to support this effort
are Scholarship Co-chair Monica McClintock; Maryann
Kantmann, Ghana Dinner fundraising chair; and Jacqui
Kanode, who travels to Awaso to coach teachers there.
Monica McClintock
Monica is a member of St. Catherine’s Church in Morgan Hill.
When she and her sister Janet Leach learned of the project
they decided to support it in a big way. They went to Ghana in
2010. Since that time they have been collecting and shipping
school supplies, providing support on Facebook, fundraising,
preparing mission visitors to the school in Ghana, and
working to obtain sponsors for Awaso Academy’s students.
According to McClintock, “When we are in Ghana, we
work with