Coventry shirts for Ghana?

Do you have some spare or old football shirts? Why not put them to good use then?!?!

The following article first appeared on the Vital Football Aston Villa site.

In January I returned to Ireland, having spent five months doing voluntary work in an orphanage/Leprosarium in Ghana. I brought with me my collection of Villa jerseys with the intention of distributing them to the children there.

I've posted a couple of pictures of the guys in the jerseys. The place is called Ahotokurom and is being run by Sister Pat and Sister Monica, 2 Irish nuns. It began as a safe place for leprosy sufferers to get help and treatment, but eventually an orphanage was built for the children of the sufferers who had nowhere to go. There is also a Special School for young and old. They have a website at Click Here



Pictured from Left to Right are: Me, Patrick Tetteh, Kojo Patrick (In Wheelchair), Christine (Volunteer), Richard Tetteh, Baby Cojo, Kweku Thomas, Solomon Nelson, Kobe.

Some of those pictured are very unwell, in particular Kojo Patrick (Muscular Dystrophy) and Kweku Thomas (Severe mental and physical disorder).

Following a successful appeal for my own team, Villa, I thought why not spread the word further and allow fans of other clubs to spread their team colours in Ghana and help out those in greater need?



I've lost my jersey collection, but I think it was definitely worth it.

With the help of J at Vital Villa, we have organised that these pictures appear in the Villa matchday programme, perhaps with a small plea for more jerseys to be sent to the country. We are aiming to get all the shirts sent over before November. Nothing is given out in the orphanage until Christmas when Papa Obruni visits(Father Christmas: Papa White person). Anything before then from anybody would be greatly appreciated.

If you want to donate a jersey or two, email me at bernardlillis@gmail.com and I'll give you the UK address where to send them.

If you know anyone else who might be willing to help, then please feel free to send them the details and if any of the clubs are reading this, your help would also be appreciated.

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