This spring, CAF America sent 14 of our colleagues to eligible charitable partners around the world for the 2024 annual Site Visit program.
Our staff engage in these nonprofit site visits to gain local context to better tailor grant strategies, foster trust and build personal relationships with grantees, and enhance risk management and compliance efforts. They also help monitor and evaluate grantee progress and impact, strengthen organizational expertise and knowledge, and ensure funds are used as agreed and outcomes achieved.
CAF America’s Lev Heller (Business Process Analyst) and Anson Mersereau (Senior Associate, Grant Services) spent a week in Ghana visiting four nonprofit organizations. Learn more about their experience visiting Haven International below:
During our trip to Ghana, we had the chance to visit a nonprofit with a very unique mission for West Africa: assisting children with learning disabilities and other forms of neurodiversity. Despite less focus on this cause in West Africa compared to other areas of philanthropy, there is a pressing and urgent need for people requiring such support. Neurodiverse children face challenging educational environments due to common stigmatization of their differences. In Ghana, there is limited access to public educational facilities accommodating these needs, and the facilities that do exist are overcrowded, preventing children from receiving the dedicated support they require. Many parents simply do not send children with special needs to school at all, worried about the lack of understanding around and support for learning and behavioral differences.
The need for funding in this area was recognized by Robert Kumapley and Dr. Genevieve Kumapley, a U.S.-based couple from Ghana with a son on the autism spectrum. As they considered returning to Accra, they wanted to understand what resources would be available for their son. They approached Jennifer Dordor-Brock, the Executive Director of a community support nonprofit, and together they founded Haven International in 2012. Initially, it served as a resource center to provide education and support to the community. However, as dozens of families sought further assistance, Haven transitioned into a full educational facility for children and young adults with special needs in 2015.
Our Site Visit to Haven International
During our site visit, we had the fantastic opportunity to experience Haven’s work in action. The unique school works to bring the best practices for special needs education to the children it serves, with only 25-30 children enrolled per year. Class sizes are small, with two staff assigned to groups of seven students, and specialists such as occupational and speech therapists are readily available. All staff are extensively trained, fostering a sense of community between the students, staff, and parents.
While touring Haven, we had the chance to speak to many members of the staff and meet some of the students. “Haven is like a family,” one staff member expressed as we toured the school. Staff members went on to describe how their experiences in the school had completely changed how they viewed neurodiversity, and taught them that “neurodivergent individuals are not so different” from themselves.
Haven goes above and beyond to teach students how to build independence for themselves after graduation, with specific emphasis placed on building vocational skills that will allow students to earn an income and support themselves going forward. We had the privilege of meeting the current oldest student at the school, Nana Kwame Boakye, who exemplifies both the effectiveness of Haven’s program and the school’s philosophy at work.
Nana’s Success Story
As a 24-year-old with a gentle demeanor and a passion for crafting art, Nana has made remarkable strides since joining the local school after being diagnosed with autism. “When he first arrived at 19, Nana struggled to stay focused or sit still for more than a few minutes,” said Antoinette Etse, the head of the school. “Now, he can engage in tasks for up to an hour.” Under the patient guidance of educators like Antoinette, Deborah, and Alhassan, Nana has flourished. His talent shines through in the intricate crafts he creates, especially his skillful use of colored thread to create beautiful pictures. He will graduate from the school in the near future and, thanks to the skills he cultivated at Haven, will be able to produce goods that can be sold to support his lifestyle moving forward. Nana’s journey not only reflects his personal growth, but also highlights the importance of supportive environments for individuals with neurodiverse conditions in Ghana, reminding us of the potential within each person when given the right encouragement and understanding.
Overcoming Roadblocks and Creating Community
Despite these successes, we learned Haven faces some substantial roadblocks in its mission. One of the most important elements of effective special needs education in particular has proven difficult to accomplish. Many similar programs in the United States are built around inclusive classrooms that contain both neurotypical and neurodiverse students. Unfortunately, Haven has been unable to achieve inclusion in this form, as many parents do not want to enroll students in a school that teaches neurodiverse children. This is a substantial barrier, but Haven’s leadership has been creative in overcoming it; by hosting large, appealing community events in collaboration with international volunteers, they have been able to bring together neurotypical and neurodiverse individuals to collaborate on small projects. Through these efforts, steps have been taken to teach empathy and make strides in breaking the stigma surrounding conditions such as autism.
Partnership with CAF America
For all their impact, while visiting we learned that Haven has faced significant difficulty in securing funding. Primarily supported by in-kind donations and their founders, one of their first international grants was facilitated by CAF America.
In 2023, a CAF America grant supported Haven’s vocational program for young adults and funded the acquisition of additional furniture and tools for their newly established STEM lab education facility, now staffed by a full time professional and fully integrated as part of the regular curriculum. During our site visit this year, we were able to view the classroom and supplies that are set to be used this year.
In the future, Haven hopes to expand their STEM program, increase their capacity for students by building additional classroom space, and improve staff retention by funding health insurance for employees. With their dedication to providing a positive learning environment for neurodiverse children, we were very inspired by Haven and their innovative ways of fostering empathy and combating stigma associated with conditions like autism within their community.
Learn more about the great work done by organizations we support by viewing our other Stories of Impact. Learn more about Haven’s work here. Haven’s work can be supported through donations made via their CAF America donation page, found here.
