Pennies for the Playground

The Playground is Completed!

In 2007, during the season of Lent, we asked your help to build a playground that is an integral part of supplying water to the village of Akramah in Ghana. Nearly 30 churches in the diocese and three schools, including St. Matthias' in Bowie and St. Louis in Clarksville, both Roman Catholic parochial schools, participated in Pennies for the Playground. Each group received a packet that included teaching materials for use in children’s Sunday school classes. The children were introduced to the preschoolers who would be enjoying the playground through photographs and stories. More than $11,000 was raised. It is a wonder how the children's coins added up to so many dollars.

The playground is now complete and the preschoolers are busy climbing, swinging, running, jumping and especially spinning. The Merry-go-Round is the key piece to providing clean water to the people of the village. As children turn it around, it pumps water from an underground well to an above-ground water storage tank.

More information about the Playpump system may be found by following this link: www.playpumps.org. Learn more about the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) at www.e4gr.org.

Thank you for supporting this important project. Photos of the children playing are below. Click on a photo to download a larger image.