Dear friends & family,

As many of you already know, I’m in the process of organizing a fundraiser here in Barcelona to raise money for my Ghanaian friend Somed who was recently accepted to the four year Journalism program at Kings University (in Halifax, Nova Scotia). Those of you who are familiar with the program and the university will recognize this as quite an accomplishment; the program usually only takes about 40 applicants a year, worldwide.

When Somed got accepted to Kings, after his second application attempt, it was something which I felt I had to help him with as much as possible. This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime for him and will inevitably change his life as well as the lives of those around him in Tamale and in Ghana. It’s also something that he would never be able to fund on his own. Somed lives in a house where he shares a small room with 8 other people and right now earns the equivalent of less than $100 CDN a month, at his full time job at the radio station in Tamale. Without financial aid, at least for his first year, there is no possible way he’ll be able to attend Kings.

I met Somed when I was working for JHR (Journalists for Human Rights, a Canadian NGO) in 2007 in Tamale, Northern Ghana. We were colleagues at the radio station and became close friends. During my time there I helped him apply to the Kings Journalism program but his first application attempt was rejected. When I left Ghana, Somed asked me to help pay for him to go to Journalism school in Ghana, so that he could further his education before re-applying to Kings. So for the next two years, my brother and I paid for him to do the two-year Journalism program in Accra (Ghana’s capital). Somed graduated from journalism school in Ghana and then re-applied to Kings and in May 2010, he was accepted into the program.

The University is doing us a favour by allowing Somed to defer his start date until September 2011, in which time I’ve been trying to raise enough money to pay for his first year of schooling (books, accommodation, meal plan tuition etc…) The idea is that if I can give him a good head start, he’ll be able to work part time in Canada with his student visa, thus being able to fund (or at least partially fund) the remaining 3 years of his program.

Our goal is to raise 10 000 euros through our fundraiser in Barcelona. It is a challenge, but not impossible and we are relying on international/online donations to help us meet this goal. I know that everyone’s busy, not to mention it seems we can’t walk down a block without being asked to donate to a new cause. Knowing this, I’m asking for your help with two things. If you have 5 minutes and can donate just 10 euros (CDN or USD also work) and can also pass this email on to just one other person (who you’re pretty sure has no affiliation with me and who doesn’t even know me), then I think we have a shot at raising enough money to help send him to school next year.

I know many of you have no connection with Somed, JHR or Kings University, but this is a person I believe so strongly in, that I wouldn’t feel right letting him pass up this incredible opportunity due to lack of financial means. I want to give this my best shot and am sincerely hoping that In September 2011, I’ll be able to greet Somed at the airport in Canada! I would greatly appreciate any financial assistance you can manage.

Thank you in advance for at least taking the time to read this email and if you can donate just 10 euros (obviously more is always welcome) and pass it on to at least one more person (again, more is always welcome) that would be a huge help to me and consequently to Somed.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop me a line. The link to pay is below, if you don’t have an existing paypal account, it takes two seconds to set one up and there’s an option for how to do that when you click on the link.

Thanks so much, I really do appreciate this!

Have a wonderful day.
Besos from Barca.

Sam