Goods from Ghana for Sale in Athens

There are thousands of children living on the street in Accra, Ghana. Emily Meltzer Wancier, a social worker from Athens, is trying to help a few hundred of them.

Emily and her husband, Alan Wancier, moved to Ghana in February 2010 for his job with Guinness. The first few months, Emily had been baking cakes, sewing and slowly getting accustomed to the rhythm of life in Accra.

In March of this year, Emily began working with an NGO in Accra called Chance for Children. The group operates a day center where children can learn academic skills and handcrafts. Chance for Children also staffs group homes.

“The goal is to make them productive members of society,” she said. “We will support them in Accra or in their home villages with their families.”

It’s estimated that there are 30,000 to 50,000 street children in Ghana. Emily lived in New York for many years, where she also worked with street children. The difference between New York and Accra is that the children in Africa are much younger, some of them only eight years old, she said.

Chance for Children was started by a Swiss woman who decided to do what she could to help the Ghanaian children. Emily is helping the organization develop systems to make the delivery of services more efficient.

Emily came home to Athens in the spring, to have her first child in America. Eli was born in April, and they will return to Africa in July.

Tomorrow morning, she will head to the Athens Famers Market, with her parents, Richard and Angela Meltzer, and baby, Eli, to raise money for Chance for Children. They’re going to be selling batiked headbands, tote bags, aprons, place mats and napkins. Also for sale will be greeting cards, bead necklace kits and beautiful necklace made from recycled glass.

“I thought this would be something I could do to help,” Emily said. “I hope people will buy.”