Ghana

I've just had the unique opportunity to spend a short time staying with a family in a rural village in upper eastern Ghana for a story reporting on the work of Anglo/Ghanaian charity Afrikids . Myself and feature writer Bryony Gordon spent two days and nights with Alfred Yoroyire and his extended family in the village of Manyoro, 5 kms from the border with Burkina Faso .



Afrikids was one of the Daily Telegraph's Christmas charities and each year the charity runs the Afrikids Experience Challenge where people are placed with rural families in northern Ghana to give them an insight into the daily struggles that families face and ultimately an opportunity to help bring change with their own expertise and experience .

Alfred is one of the lucky few who has some land to grow crops and a small chemist shop to support his family. Although their lifestyle compared to us in the west is incredibly basic they still are in the more fortunate minority, levels of poverty in the Bolgatanga municipality and across Ghana are incredibly high with many families struggling to support themselves without the help of NGO's and charities as their own government appears to struggle to provide much help beyond the most basic infrastructure . The gulf between rich and poor in Ghana is simply astounding , like in so many "developing nations".

I was deeply touched by the Yoroyire family's kindness and generosity during our brief stay and of the work of Afrikids. I've been fortunate enough over the years to have travelled to many countries and have witnessed much along the way, but occasionally I'm still struck by how those who have so little material wealth have hearts that are so generous they can put us all to shame.

A gallery of my images from Ghana can be viewed here