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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 15, 2014 | 8 Oakville woman bringing change to community in Ghana by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff One person can make a difference. Oakville native Sharla Wallace, 26, has made the truth behind that statement abundantly clear over the last six years through her work with the village of Toh-Kpalime in Ghana. The former Iroquois Ridge High School student was responsible for the construction of a school building in the isolated rural farming community, which today provides education to approximately 130 children. "The kids there do not have the opportunities that kids have here," she said. "I see them as future leaders in their country, if only someone will pay them mind or invest in them. That's why I started." Wallace first visited the African village in 2008 as part of her international development studies program with Trent University. During that time, she lived with a traditional healer and his family in the community for four months. She said life in the village of approximately 1,500 was not easy. Many of the inhabitants live day to day with what they farm, giving them just enough get by. The village has no running water and access to medicine is largely limited to the herbal remedies provided by the traditional healer with whom Wallace stayed. What the village lacked in luxuries, however, it made up for in kindness with Wallace receiving a warm welcome from the people there. Her desire to give back, particularly to the family that housed her, led Wallace to teach English classes at the local school for four months. There, too, the conditions were difficult. The classrooms were crowded into someone's home, while some teaching was held outside under a makeshift roof. The Kindergarten students sat in plastic chairs under a tree. "These kids didn't have a shelter. When it rains, they all go home," said Wallace. "The sun is so hot and there were no fans or electricity." She said many children in her Grades 3 and 4 classes did not know how to read or write, however, they had a huge thirst for knowledge and encouraged Wallace to give them homework. Most of the students also attended after-school classes. Textbooks and other resources at the school were scarce, which Wallace kept in mind when she returned to Canada. She began telling the story of the school she visited and asking neighbours and the Oakville community for help in securing materials to improve the standard of education there. The public response was more than Wallace could have hoped for with local primary schools donating textbooks and other residents giving so many books that Wallace's garage became full. Over the course of six years, Wallace sent the school more than 15 steel barrels packed with Sharla Wallace | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver books -- enough to get a small community library off the ground. Large amounts of money were also donated, which prompted Wallace to return to TohKpalime to ask what was needed. They asked for a proper school. Wallace's fundraising efforts continued. She organized garage sales, spoke at schools -- McBride Avenue Public School in Mississauga raised $1,600 in pennies -- and secured corporate funding. She is now affiliated with DevXchange, a Canadian registered charity. In six years, Wallace estimates she has helped raise more than $30,000 for the school project. "It is not finished yet, but for now we have eight classrooms, we have a concrete foundation built," said Wallace. "Eventually, it will be a complex with a playground. We have these poly tanks that collect rainwater so we are trying to introduce environmentally-sustainable initiatives." In July, Wallace returned to the village to lead a solar panel installation at the school. This project will see electricity and lighting at the school for the first time. Other projects included a chicken farm added to the area so the children can have access to more food and learn about animal husbandry. The possibility of Internet access is also being examined. Wallace said the transformation at the facility has been incredible with the introduction of rainwater harvesting barrels meaning children no longer have to fetch water at the river and instead can spend more time in class. For more information or to donate to the continuing development of the school, visit www. devxchange.org/Ghana.html. Wallace can also be contacted directly through sharla.wallace@ devxchange.org. BOOK YOUR NEW POOL INSTALL TODAY! Come CheCk out... Your BaCk aCk Yard SpeCialiSt Spe LEISURE CENTRE Authorized Dealer of ORDER YOUR SAFETY COVER NOW AND SAVE $$$! NEW 2014 MODELS ON DISPLAY! lazboyspas.com SIZZLING SUMMER SAVINGS EVENT ON NOW! La-Z-Boy Spas offers 9 models that are loaded with standard features and are backed by our 100% no nonsense, no fine print guarantee. 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