HAPPY EVER AFTER – empowering people through words

SIOBHAN:

I met with Naa Otua for more coffee and chat today – perhaps Costas could provide us with some sponsorship? Buckets of free cappuccino at least! As always I came away feeling completely inspired – Naa Otua has an infectious personality – it is impossible to meet with her without feeling uplifted.

Anyway, after marvelling at how far we had come since our previous meeting – a website, a blog, an article in the local paper and a launch party at Waterstones no less – we set to figuring out the next stage of our operation, fund-raising.

Coca Cola and Guiness are among the companies with interests in Ghana so we figured, what the hell, why not approach them for some kind of sponsorship. Watch this space for details of how we get on…

Naa Otua and I also talked about how determined we are to make this project a success. I will be going to Ghana with her in the new year, to see for myself just how badly this literacy programme is needed. But already, just talking to her and doing some independent research, I am shocked at the disparity between our two countries. Here in the UK the ability to read and write are taken for granted, but in some parts of the world literacy is a luxury. As a certified book worm I find it hard to imagine a world without the written word.

More news next week as the countdown to the launch begins…

Siobhan’s Happy Ever After blog:

Isn’t it funny how life goes. You can be happily plodding along – going to work, paying the bills, keeping the kids amused over the long summer holidays – when all of a sudden you find yourself setting up a charity. It is now almost two weeks since Naa Otua and I met up for coffee in Costas, Harrow-on-the-Hill and decided to set up Happy Ever After. It was writing that brought us together in the first place; Naa Otua had come to one of the writing groups I run and then she had asked me to edit her excellent novel, ‘The Dancing Tortiose,’ prior to its publication in Britain. We hit it off immediately and it wasn’t long before we started talking about life, the universe and the joys of writing. Then Naa Otua told me of her desire to help other women in her home country of Ghana. This was something esle we discovered we had in common – the determination to use our writing to help others. Although Naa Otua and I have had very different upbringings, we both passionately believe in the power of writing to free people and transform their lives. Illiteracy keeps people trapped and Naa Otua’s desire to help other women back home is infectious. For a long time I have been helping people through my own writing coaching practise but Happy Ever After will take that to a whole other level. I left Costas that day buzzing with ideas and plans, so excited I had to walk the four miles home! Now the website is up and running and we are getting to work on a launch party. If I am honest I feel a little bit scared right now – this project has the potential to be huge and it is so important that I get it right. I have never set up a charitable organisation before and I am a little in the dark regarding the proceedural side of things. So if anyone out there has any experience please drop me a line!But mostly I feel very excited – I love the idea of linking our two countries through the universal language of writing. And the thought of bringing help to people who really, really need it is awesome.