In January of 2017, Fr. Rudy of St. Irenaeus Parish, Cypress conducted Ghana School Supplies Drive for two weekends. He wanted to help provide students in his village of Vea with school supplies so that they would have the tools they needed to improve their education. He said that there were 100 students in pre-school, 1,000 students in two elementary schools, and 250 students in middle school. High school students had to travel to other towns for high school.
Fr. Rudy said that most families were too poor to provide school supplies and uniforms, and often the children came to school without having breakfast. Their parents were mostly subsistence agriculture farmers and did not have enough food for the children especially from February to July. Fr. Rudy hoped that by improving the students’ education, they would have better opportunities in their lives in the future.
Wish list for better opportunities
Father Rudy’s Wish List for the students included, college ruled spiral bound notebooks, college ruled composition note books, pens, pencils, crayons, coloring books, backpacks, scientific calculators, lightly used or new shoes, sandals, T-shirts, summer clothes, soccer balls and monetary donations for shipment.
Parishioners of St. Irenaeus responded generously and overwhelmed Fr. Rudy with 80 boxes of donations filled with mainly the notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons, scientific calculators, summer clothes, shoes, backpacks and soccer balls that he requested.
Trucking and shipping
After all the supplies were collected, the 80 boxes filled with donations from the parishioners weighed a total of 3,500 pounds and had to be sent by truck to Oakland. Parishioners Dave and Dawn Gallagher offered to put all the boxes on shipping pallets and trucked the boxes from Cypress to Oakland, California.
Other parishioners donated funds to pay for shipping all the boxes from Oakland to his village of Vea in Ghana, including 450 miles of ground transportation at a cost of approximately $2,500.
It will take about six weeks for Fr. Rudy’s School Supplies to reach Ghana. It will be sometime in March before Fr. Rudy will hear what the people in the village of Vea think about all the gifts from St. Irenaeus parishioners.
Background on Fr. Rudy Alumam
Fr. Rudy Alumam came to St. Irenaeus Parish in Cypress in July of 2015 through a special partnership with his diocese in Ghana and the Diocese of Orange. With the permission of his bishop in Ghana and the bishop of the Diocese of Orange, he will be serving parishioners of St. Irenaeus parish for four years, until 2019.
With over 4,500 families in the parish of St. Irenaeus, the parish staff and parishioners have appreciated Fr. Rudy’s help as he celebrated Mass, listened to their confessions, anointed the sick, and buried their dead. Fr. Rudy did whatever was needed of him as he served parishioners in his priestly ministry. Parishioners at St. Irenaeus were grateful to have Fr. Rudy and were glad to be able to share their blessings with the students of Fr. Rudy’s village of Vea in Ghana.
Fr. Rudy expressed his thanks in St. Irenaeus Parish bulletin of Feb. 5, 2017. He sincerely thanked all the families and individuals who responded generously and enthusiastically to the Ghana School Supplies Drive. He wrote that it was such a great joy for him to experience the zeal, kindness and generosity of the St. Irenaeus parish community that is reaching out to the many kids of his village in Ghana. He said he had no doubt that these precious items of school supplies, clothes, shoes and money donations for the shipment of the supplies will make a difference in the lives of many families.
He ended his message in his native language saying, N puse ya, Yine wa songe! Thank you, God bless you!
Students at a primary school in Vea, Ghana. New school supplies are headed their way thanks to the generosity of parishioners in St. Irenaeus Parish, Cypress. Photo courtesy of Fr. Rudy Alumam.
Students at a primary school in Vea, Ghana. New school supplies are headed their way thanks to the generosity of parishioners in St. Irenaeus Parish, Cypress.
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