You are listening to Herzenssache, Project Whispers with Madamfo Ghana, the podcast that takes you to Ghana.
Christine and Bettina tell moving stories, chat about their personal lives and share personal experiences.
Come with us on this special journey. Let's go!
Hello dear ones, welcome to Herzenssache, the podcast from Madamfo Ghana today with a special episode,
because we have very important visitors in Ghana, Jerome is with
his entire family came to visit his projects.
Welcome!
Thank you for the invitation Bettina.
We are delighted that Jerome is here, not for the first time, but for the second time.
Genau.
For the second time. And maybe we'll just do today's episode about what motivates someone who supports us.
And the really great thing is that Jerome is actually from Ghana. Jerome, tell us a little about yourself.
Gladly. Yes, I can tell you who I am, so to speak.
I am Jerome Evans, 38 years old, born in Bremen.
I spent most of my youth there and then eventually moved to Frankfurt am Main.
That was also about the time when I first heard about Madamfo.
That was around 2013, 2012 when I saw you on SternTV.
Ah, okay.
On SternTV.
Genau.
Wow. And what was it like for you?
Because I totally remember when I sat there on that seat.
I was so excited.
And that was such a huge opportunity for us.
And then you basically saw us there.
What were you thinking?
My father comes from Ghana and I had not had much contact with the country before.
I must say, then I found it of course exciting that I
I then saw someone on the show talking about the country.
That's why I found it super interesting.
And back then, I think, there was talk about children, slavery, and so on.
It was of course very emotional to watch then
somehow, because previously you only had a view of Germany.
And when you see how children in the countries are doing, I think that touched many viewers at the time.
Yes, also your home, so to speak, because your dad comes here.
You have a completely different emotional approach to it, don't you?
Genau.
Of course, that triggered a little more in me .
And then I sent you an email relatively quickly
sent whether I, so to speak, although, ah no, it was basically like that.
At that time I thought to myself, I 'm working in the IT industry in Germany.
Back then I thought, when my company gets a bit bigger, I'll send you an email.
And the time was, I think, exactly five years later.
I have to think about it again for a moment, google it a bit, there it was again and so on.
And then I sent an email to your office.
Ja.
Then spoke to one of your employees on the phone.
We had a very nice conversation.
And then the whole thing happened relatively quickly.
Then I talked to you back in 2017 about how we do it.
Have you sent me a project proposal for.
Then I think he asked me what I would like to do, what kind of school I would like to take.
I think that's great, of course, because education is the foundation.
Yes, education is very important.
And yes, I found it to be a very tangible project.
Exactly, I set up my fundraising campaign on your website.
Ja, ja.
Yes, and of course with the help of my network, friendly business partners,
We then collected money for the first school project.
And it went relatively well.
My hands were a little sore after two weeks.
I typed a lot there via WhatsApp and Co.
And yes, I basically donated about half of the donation amount privately.
And then I tried to find the other half through my network, family and friends.
And that happened relatively quickly.
After two weeks, I think we have already collected the donation amount.
Yes, that happened incredibly quickly.
I can still remember that.
Yes, there was a good dynamic there.
And I think everyone had a good feeling, I would say, with you as a construction organization.
And of course because some of them were friends of mine for a very long time,
who are all very happy to get involved.
And then we were able to get the project up and running very quickly, at least financially.
And then, yes, it worked out great.
Yes, it was from our side, so it was a school project.
And as we told you in the last episode, I think we also told you,
it is the case that Jerome has just contacted us
and called our dear Tanja in Hagen.
She called me, which of course made me really happy,
Because such a complete school is of course something very special for us too.
And then we sent Jerome the cost estimate, which you then received.
And based on this cost estimate, he then decided,
how he can in principle make this sum available.
Exactly what you just explained.
Then we implemented the project.
And how was that for you?
You visited it then.
Perhaps you would like to tell us how you then decided,
to visit us in Ghana.
And what it was like for you when you arrived.
Yes, first of all, I was really happy,
that we reached the donation target so quickly,
to turn this idea, which I had had for a long time, into reality.
And yes, then of course I decided to fly from Nundergesetz to Ghana for the first time.
Although my father comes from Ghana , I was never there when I was young.
It somehow never really happened.
And that was of course a great reason to fly to Ghana with my father.
It was extremely exciting because it was of course a different travel experience,
than now a European country in that place.
But yes, it was a really, really great trip.
It was, of course, extremely overwhelming at the time.
First time in Ghana, lots of new impressions,
everything works a little differently here.
And I can still remember the day the school opened very clearly.
Such a school is always opened with a lot of fanfare.
Yes, because it's something very special for people, right?
Yes, and yes, of course it was very great and very emotional at the time,
then seeing all the children at the school, at the opening and so on.
And yes, it was a very special moment for me back then.
What perhaps needs to be mentioned is that the school is really very far inland.
So, Jerome then flew to Akra, from there to Kumasi,
simply to cover the distance faster.
And from Kumasi it's another five hours by car
and really on roads that are not so good,
if you are simply not used to the way the streets are here,
so pretty bad and also the heat.
And then to take on all this travel supervision, that's just a lot,
yes, a little more difficult than you might imagine.
So, if you could describe how you experience this environment,
this, that is completely different, was, can you still remember it?
So, the food is different, the environment, the warmth, the people.
Perhaps you can tell us a little about yourself and how you felt.
Yeah, no, I like doing that.
So, of course you arrive with wide eyes.
First you have to do all the travel preparation,
with visa, vaccination check, yellow fever etc.
All these topics.
And then you drive through the country with your eyes wide open.
Because this is all completely new, what I have done before, in general,
I've been on the road a lot in terms of travel , but of course this was completely new here.
So, yes, you drive through the country with your eyes wide open.
What I found particularly impressive was that the people were all very nice and kind and so on.
It must be said that the canal people there are very welcoming .
And of course it's nice with the kids.
And yes, you could see how grateful the children were, so to speak,
but also all the teachers involved from the community and so on,
that, yes, let's say , you responded to the request,
for the school project in this relatively remote region.
And yes, it was, yes, a super mega day, I have to say.
So, a lot of impressions.
And then, yes, I once had a, yes, what is that from the...
A garment, a native garment.
Of course, it was all a bit overwhelming in that moment.
Yes, I'd like to imagine that.
Now I see the pictures from seven years ago, yes, it was, it was real, yes,
a completely different world, but a really, really great day.
Yes, what I remember very well is what
You just said, you can see a little bit.
You come from Ghana, so your dad is coming here and your dad was there too.
And what I remember very well is that the
the whole village and the people from the area were so upset,
because you are one of them, right?
Of course it doesn't matter where you come from, the main thing is that we all help each other,
but still for them to see, your dad is from Ghana, your mom is from Germany
and you basically come home and help them.
I remember very well that this was very upsetting for people.
For the first time, one of the Irish came home and helped them
and that made her so happy, yes.
Such a great feeling of pride, right? For everyone involved.
For everyone, yes, that's right. Yes, that was a while ago and now we are currently sitting in Takoradi.
So back then we were in the Bronca Haafo region, now it is the Bono region
and now we are sitting in the Western Region and yesterday we visited the school that you built here.
Maybe, I mean, of course, we suggested the school, logically,
but what is wrong with you, I think your father is perhaps also a little bit behind it,
motivated to do something here in the Western Region?
Yes, generally speaking, the first project, I liked it so much that I thought,
okay, this won't be the last school or the last project,
what I would like to implement with you.
And then I contacted you, I think it was probably in 2022,
what other possibilities there would be, perhaps in another region,
We are now here at the school project, about 30, 40 minutes away from the place,
where the rest of my father's family lives.
Ja.
It was of course also nice that you could take them with you to the school opening ceremony,
that they are not so close now.
So your whole family, your Ghanaian family came with you yesterday, right?
Of course I thought it was all great and yes, with the second project it was like that,
I came there in 2022, I probably wrote you a WhatsApp,
that I would like to implement a project again.
We did that during the Christmas season of 2022.
This went even better than the first project,
because we went a bit over the fundraising goal.
That's a bit of an understatement, it was almost double.
No, that was really great, a lot of commitment from all the people,
who of course, let's say, already knew you to some extent and had even more trust in you
and yes, the nice thing at the end of the day was that we not only had school
then we could build in the new region, but also in the existing school project
Another school report for, I think, six classes first.
Yes, the school that Jorgen went to was an Attacrum, i.e. Bono region
and we basically added another school building
and because the donations were so much, almost double,
Now in Wujisui there is another complete primary school, so in principle two schools at once.
Yes, that wasn't bad and then, exactly, yesterday was a girls' school,
I also thought it was great, of course , because I was able to talk to the teachers
talked with the school principal and Pro, and then of course understood better,
that especially with girls it is often the case that the more rural the region,
are less often at school , they are then more often at home
and at the girls' school we then of course have the opportunity to increase the quota of girls,
who then goes to school and that is of course very, very nice,
if you can do more in that area .
Yes, this is a model school, of which there are very few in Ghana
and that's like Jerome just said, only for girls
and what is so great about it is that you really saw yesterday,
how motivated and empowered they are by this new building,
through the opportunities they now have, which you have just created with your donation
and that's just great, you just have to check out our website,
under Education, i.e. www.madamfo-ghana.de
and then you can simply look under Projects under Education
and there you will also find Jerome and his projects, we will also link them here in the show notes
and then you can take a look at it
or on our social media channels, where we also have photos and videos,
where you can simply illustrate what we are about to say a little bit.
Yes, I think I have rarely seen so many smiling children in one week,
that's really unbelievable.
So we would like to, I would like to use this again, thank you very much,
because not only the projects have now been created through this, which means only,
but we can also say a friendship,
simply because we worked together so well
and you, all our employees here on site who actually do this,
I'm always a bit just the face,
We have Victor here and Sunday and the headmistress
and everything you just told me
and it is important for me to say again how well we all worked together,
recognized as a team in hand and your whole family comes and supports it,
It's just really nice to see.
No, I can only return it because we have been on the road in the cars for a week now,
Sometimes we drive five hours a day and your team took great care of us,
that we, I would say, got through the country safely.
Yes, it feels like friendship or family, I must say, after seven years, seven or eight years.
Yes, of course, how time has been forgotten.
What are you asking yourself now?
I mean, you went to three schools, that's clear.
How did the whole thing affect you personally here,
apart from perhaps your commitment, it simply opens up the horizon to say,
Now you said that you moved from Bremen to Frankfurt, a huge metropolis,
You certainly have a lot to do professionally.
What makes it so personal for you that you now know both worlds?
So our Germany, I would say, is highly modern and not even on the way to becoming so.
Perhaps you would like to conclude by summarizing what this means for you as a person.
You've become a father too, that does a lot to you, doesn't it?
Yes, definitely. So I am, well, in Germany, I work primarily, more or less a lot,
it revolves around family, friends or then, so to speak
my dogs, which I have outside of Germany, care a lot about it.
And what I was able to implement with the project with you was of course a little bit like that,
that I was able to give something back, through the business success that I built up over time.
Of course, that was a great motivation for me, so I would say, yes,
what I have built up with my company, that I can benefit from,
in order to do something good in the world. You ca n't, I can't ensure that everything is done right now,
that a school is being built, of course, was now,
Sure, it's not a home yet, right?
Exactly, because it is the country that my father was born into and I have a natural connection to it.
And that was of course a great motivation for me,
when we are in my company or in the previous company, we also talk about the projects,
the company, which then also partly participates and the
Employees in my company also thought it was really, really great,
that I was involved in this, they also partly supported it themselves.
And yes, for me it is a great motivation to be able to pass on a part of my success, so to speak,
to people or even special children who then
not as good as we all are in Germany at the end of the day,
One must say, and yes, of course that would also be my wish if there were more people now,
for which I might then implement an inspiration with my own project with you.
It doesn't have to be a school, it can also be a sponsorship or even smaller amounts of money.
I think at the end of the day, every euro is really being put to good use.
and then reaches those who need it most.
Yes, as you just said, exactly, every little piece of the puzzle can do something
and if of course, like yours, a school comes out, then of course our beautiful clear,
because if you can achieve something big, you will naturally reach a lot more people.
Genau.
Jerome, thank you for taking the time, you still have a lot to do,
You want to do a little something with the family , I'm really happy that we were out together
and wishes you personally all the best and also our entire team
and we look forward to welcoming you back soon.
Yes, then Bettina, thanks again for your hospitality here
and thank you for the invitation to the podcast.
See you soon, my love, bye.