Wego + Joe = Proud Mama

So its been awhile since I've blogged about why we are in Ghana.  In short, our heart is to live out the Gospel in the developing world.  Our lives are messy, broken and inadequate.  We fail a lot.  But we love Jesus.  And we want our friends in the developing world to know Jesus...the "Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love of Jesus." (from the Jesus Storybook Bible - love it!)  We pray that living our lives in front of them will somehow reflect the grace that we experience and that we'll get to watch God do his thing...turn mourning into dancing...turn brokenness into healing...turn despair into hope.     

I realize living out God's story in our lives looks so different for each of us.  For our family, it has meant following Jesus to Ghana, West Africa to use the skills he's given us to start sustainable businesses.  We believe the message of Jesus is difficult to hear when one's basic needs for survival are far from met.  We believe the cycle of poverty can be broken through sustainable enterprise that empowers people and offers hope...  HOPE not just in the possibility of a better life but HOPE in the ONE who is the GIVER of LIFE.  This is what gets us excited each morning.  This is what keeps us from racing to the airport to get on the next plane back to familiarity.  This is why we're in Ghana...

The journey hasn't been easy.  Its often 2 steps forward, 1 step back...or maybe 2 steps forward, 3 steps back.  Like with any difficult journey, its important to celebrate the successes.  In the last couple weeks,  we have celebrated a few positive steps forward.

Our current businesses are two-fold.  The first is that when we return in the summer, Vytrak will begin manufacturing 3-wheeled vehicles similar to this one.  While almost EVERYTHING you find in Ghana is imported, we are excited to start manufacturing a product in Ghana that Ghanaians can be proud of.  We are also excited to not only create jobs in the manufacturing of a product but also be manufacturing something that can be used to create even more jobs.

The second business is called Wego.  Wego is a transport service where we hire drivers for the Vytrak vehicles and work at helping them be successful as independent entrepreneurs.  Many of our drivers will come from situations where they are making about $1 a day.  Our goal is to help them succeed to the point where they not only can better care for themselves and their families but also make enough to care for their vehicles and plan for the future of their businesses.  Many of them will be part of a "work and pay" program where they will pay a daily amount towards the cost of their vehicle. Within the year, they will own their own vehicle and be able to put their full daily earnings toward improving their lives and growing their businesses.   

We currently have 4 Wego drivers.  Although 3 of them are operating in a different part of the city, 1 of the drivers lives in our neighborhood.  Introducing Joe...

Joe comes to pick up his vehicle at our house each morning and drops it off the end of the day so we get to hear how his day went.  Joe used to make 1-2 Cedi a day ($0.50-$1.00).  One evening I was outside when he returned from his day's work.  I watched as he made his vehicle payment then proudly showed off 10 more Cedi saying, "Look Daddy, I made this for me!"  (everyone calls us Mommy and Daddy here in Ghana...presumably because we have so many kids!  :)  ) I teared up and beamed like a proud Mama.   There was some serious high-five action and cheering in the front yard that night. 

Joe's first vehicle payment (and Wego's first earnings!)

We've been working with Joe on some marketing strategies.

It was a good thing too as one day the vehicle came back with this...

We decided that these were in order...

and these!

We are excited to see how Joe and the other drivers grow in their business skills and we are even more excited to walk with them and encourage them on their journeys to Jesus.