Sheila Goes Ghana 2022

Input needed please

Hi again all. I have WiFi tonight so I’m using every second of it!

Several of you have mentioned wanting to donate money or supplies. I tried to set up a GoFundMe site today but unfortunately, that site is only supported in 19 countries and Ghana isn’t one of them. Rats!! I tried to set up the page as if I was in the US (instead of Ghana) but it would not let me connect to GoFundMe that way either.

I was redirected to a site called SpotFund but the reviews on that site are very mixed and scams are huge here so I don’t want to work with them.

The only way that I think I could safely get money from the US to Me here would be via Venmo. My Venmo acct is @Sheila-ODonnell-3. It is attached to one of my bank accts and I can withdraw money here from an ATM with my bank debit card.

If you have a Venmo account, you can send funds directly to me. If you don’t have a Venmo account, many of our own kids do so you could pay them and they can Venmo me?

I assure you that 100% of your donation would go to some wonderful people that I have made personal connections with: Healthcare Providers, Teachers, Coordinators of after school band/soccer programs, needy families etc etc etc. If you want to choose where the money goes, that’s fine-just tell Me where and I will make it happen. Or if you want Me to distribute the funds as I see fit, that would be easy because the need is everywhere.

I just sponsored a little boy named Grant in our village so he can go to a decent school this year that actually has a teacher. Many schools lack teachers so kids show up to an empty classroom. It cost Me $36 (American dollars) to send this boy to school for a year. My God, I’ve spent more in 1 night on dinner+drinks at home!!

Please know, I am NOT asking anyone for money since this was my idea to take this mission trip, not yours. I am only posting this info in order to try to make this happen for those who have asked how to donate.

If anyone has any input/ideas here regarding how to best accomplish these financial transaction, I would be VERY grateful to hear from you.

💝Sheila

Sheila O

10 responses to “Input needed please”

  1. Sheila, I love reading your blog posts and can tell that you are embracing all the experiences you are having both good and not so good. You are a strong woman! Your attention to details when writing your blog makes me feel like I am there and I can’t wait for the next episode to come 🙂 I will be sending you some $$ via venmo. I would like you to use it for equipment (maybe toward the vacuum suction the midwife needs? ) and then some for medication people can’t afford. I trust your judgement. I have always felt very sad for the folks worldwide who do not have access to factor products (because they are not available) for bleeding disorders BUT not having access is different than not being able to afford simple lifesaving medications that should be available for everyone! XOXO keep up the good work.

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  2. Thank you Tracey for your beautiful message AND for your donation 💕
    I agree with you about the sadness in lacking basic medical care AND lack of factor for our hemophilia patients.
    I assure you that I will let you know where your money went starting with the vacuum extractor for our Midwife… and I assure you, the funds will go a long way and be very well spent.
    Thank you my friend💗

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  4. Love you right back Betty, thank you! The only reason that this elder has Venmo is because when my 3 kids went to college, it was so much easier to shift monies. Please give my firstborn son a squeeze for me😘

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  5. Shelia, you truly are an inspiration for all of us. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. You are a loving and caring person who is spreading sunshine and happiness to so many who need it. I am sure this is a life changing experience for you. Keep the updates coming, please take care of your self and stay safe!❤️❤️❤️

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  6. Well Tracey, putting your donation to good use will be very easy and it started today. When I got to the clinic this am, there was a woman who is 4 months pregnant vomiting repeatedly at the edge of the property. Her husband finally got her inside to us. Her blood pressure was 90/50 (for you non-medical people, that’s not great).The staff tried to give her some oral rehydration fluids but she vomited that up too. She was clearly quite weak and not in good shape. She and her husband had no money so the clinic was going to send her home with oral rehydration salts which she had just proven weren’t helpful because she couldn’t keep them down! Thanks to you Tracey+Dave, we brought her to a bed, gave her an injection of Phenergan to stop the vomiting then gave her IV fluids. She was resting comfortably finishing her fluids when I left. Surely her walk home will be markedly safer/better. The price for her care was only $8.50 (American money) yet without your help they could not have afforded this. Can you imagine what could have happened if they sent her away in the condition she was in when she arrived? Thank you so much!! 💓 I will continue to use your donation for people like this and yes we’ll definitely order the vacuum extractor for the midwife🤗

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  8. Hi Tracey- this is Janet on right. She has a terrible/painful foot wound that we have been treating in the field but it is not getting better-actually getting worse because she needed more than I could offer her out there. Her family couldn’t take her to the clinic for IV+oral antibiotics because they have no money. I was very worried she was going to lose that foot or perhaps even die without treatment. But thanks to you she’s in our clinic this morning getting the treatment she needs. 😍 I will keep you posted on her progress!! Thank you!!💗🤗💗

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