What can one say that adequately expresses the experience of spending 10 days in remote villages of Ghana and Sierra Leone in stifling heat and humidity, and cherishing every moment of our time together? I can’t tell you the joy of spending these past days with 3 of my beloved Clark students and 3 of our Seven Hills Global Outreach partners from Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Kenya.
I’ve been traveling to 8 developing countries with Seven Hills staff and Clark students for the past 15 years. What started as a means of honoring our Seven Hills employees who are from distant parts of the globe and brilliant and intellectually curious university students has become an integral part of the heart and soul of Seven Hills Foundation and today serves over 25,000 women and children through medical clinics, schools, economic development, microfinance loans, and water & sanitation initiatives. This makes Seven Hills unique among other health and human services organizations in the country.
Today began with Sarita, Ashish, Barbara, Pastor Kariuki, Rev. Barbara Asempa, and I visiting Njala University to try to understand the state of higher education in this post-civil war-torn country. Njala University enrolls over 6000 students yet lacks fundamental materials, equipment, or facilities. The pictures sent with this blog today are not intended to disparage the work of the University. Instead, they are meant to highlight students' tremendous disadvantages in this African nation. The chasm between the developed countries and those emerging but resource-poor is profound.
This afternoon was a more joyous experience for us as we traveled back to the Bandawa Medical Clinic and Primary School campus built by Seven Hills Global Outreach and its partner, Zion Ministries. Upon arriving, we trekked several miles toward a village of 300 called Bandatown over log bridges and centuries-old paths until we reached the village and met with local villagers to try and understand their lived experience in a community with no electricity - save one pole solar light we installed last year- mud brick houses, and a primitive, yet beautiful existence in complete harmony with the natural environment. You’ll see photos of our team in Bandatown and several people living there in the photo gallery. These annual SHGO trips are meant to accomplish three things:
understand the lived experiences of the people who live in the communities in which we work.
offer whatever economic or social training or assistance, within our ability, as a means of assisting an Indigenous community in uplifting itself out of poverty.
honor the employees of Seven Hills from developing regions of the world.
For my Clark University students, it provides an experiential learning opportunity unlike any other so that one day, they may decide to integrate human service into their work and personal lives. Later this afternoon, village chiefs and families from throughout the bush region surrounding our Bandawa campus gathered to honor this 15th year we have been engaged with the 26 villages we serve in Sierra Leone. Speeches and songs were plentiful, lasting well over 4 hours, recalling the many years Seven Hills staff and Clark students have traveled from village to village, helping establish clean water wells, build schools, and create small local businesses. On this trip, for example, we discussed the potential of establishing a cassava processing business that would produce a flour-like product used throughout the
country. We analyzed the potential of helping to jumpstart a small hostel, a business designed to serve Western visitors and NGOs, which could generate revenue to support social assistance initiatives - like food security - in the region.
These days behind us have been remarkable in our attempt to understand the challenges faced by many in the developing world, create meaningful and sustainable solutions, and confront our roles in furthering social responsibility and service to humanity. Over these past 15 years, we have learned much- given much - and received far more in return. “If not us, then who? And if not now, then when?” With our return, the work begins as we attempt to raise funds to complete a new vocational training center for flood-displaced youth in Djorkpo, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. We will continue to seek donated funding for our emergency hunger relief fund and to complete the construction of a new grades 9-12 school for poor yet brilliant students of BO.
Thank you to Ashish, Sarita, and Barbara for sharing this experience. You are all “magnificent.” And to those who have followed our journey on this blog site, “thank you “ for following this remarkable January 2025 team. We are all looking forward to being home soon, yet a part of us will remain here. To my wife, Dr. Kathee Jordan, thank you for always supporting this work I do, which takes me away from home. I’ll be home to you soon.
Dr. David A. Jordan
President Emeritus, Seven Hills Foundation & Affiliates (1995-2023) &
Dean of the School of Business, Clark University
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