Chris Springbett went to Ghana as a volunteer in 2010
– and that started a long connection with the Maranatha Beach Camp and the Maranatha Community School, its founder and driving force, Winfred Dzinado, and the village of Kewuenor.
Your contribution will help continue the work Chris started there
Chris continued to go back to Maranatha…
That led to the formation of the non-profit Maranatha Development Society – which many friends and colleagues have supported over the years. It supported the Maranatha Women’s Association – and started training in sewing, so women could have a source of income. And the Society supported Chris’s friend Ebenezer, helping him start a barbershop.
Since Chris’s death in February 2020, his work colleagues and friends generously donated to the Society.
The first project was to get Ebenezer re-established with a new barbershop back in his home community. The projects at Maranatha have been delayed by COVID – but now, things are moving again with a new building to house the Women’s Association, and a nursery school. This will also be a memorial to Chris’s work in the community.
The Women’s Association
Kewunor, the village where the Maranatha camp and school are based, is a small, remote village nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Volta River. Fishing is essentially the only form of employment, but the women ‘don’t go to fishing’. Though they work incredibly hard, theirs is an unpaid labour and there are very few opportunities for women to become gainfully employed and financially independent.
So with help from friends and colleagues, Chris helped to start a training project to teach sewing.
The first project was hammocks, made with colourful Ghanian fabric – and then later, to yoga mat bags and clothing, for sale in Canada
Ebenezer’s Barbershop
Chris met Ebenezer on his first day as a volunteer – he was clearly bright – and over the next few years, Chris helped with school fees – and then helped him to start a barbershop.
Some of the money raised after Chris’s death went to help Ebe open a new shop in his home community.
Here’s what Chris had to say in 2016… “When I arrived ) he took one look at my hair, grimaced, and said “Let me give you a GOOD haircut!”. And you know? I’ve never gotten more compliments on any haircut I’ve ever had in my entire my life – both in Ghana and Canada. Apparently it’s the haircut all the football stars from Ghana’s Black Stars team wear.
The Maranatha Development Society’s mission is to support the community, but to always let the community drive our projects and their implementation
– Chris Springbett
Your contribution will help with equipment, tables, and supplies for the Women’s Association. In Canada, send an etransfer to chrisyetilove@gmail.com
We’ll post other options once they are set up.
Thank You!
About Us
We’re continuing the work of the Maranatha Development Society
Get In Touch
- maranatha.development.society@gmail.com
Snail Mail
c/o 977 Hampshire Rd
Victoria, BC V8S4S3
Canada
chrisyetilove.ca 