Harriet, the African Angel

From the beginning on and until today, Harriet Bruce-Annan is 'the' African Angel and the heart and engine of the project. She was born and grew up in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Here is a picture of her as little girl. Doesn't she look like a little angel already? Her family was well-off, they were living in a nice house in a good town quarter, and Harriet loved going to school. When Harriet was a child she suffered from a mysterious illness that made her loose patches of of skin and tufts of hair. Her family believed she would not survive until adulthood and therefore spoiled the little girl. But the disease faded away, and Harriet lived to experience a life of many more pronounced highs and lows.

Because of her disease, Harriet needed to be taken much care of, and she spent much time with her grandmother in Bukom, one of the poorest quarters of Accra. Here I quote from the African Angel website, where it says: 'There were kids of her age who did not have enough food, no clean and proper cloth, slept with many other kids on the floor; and what appeared to her worst of all, was they had no money in order to attend school to have an education.' This made a deep impression on little Harriet, and from then on she had a dream of offering help to the children of Bukom.

Size: 238.537 km² (roughly equivalent to the United Kingdom). 24.2% of land area covered with forest.
Population: 23 million. Ethnic groups, languages and dialects present in Ghana can be counted by the dozens. Official language is English. It is also the standard language used for educational instruction.

Image source: Wikipedia/Creative Commons by Rei-artur

The following figures were taken from the Indicator Tables of the Human Development Report 2007/2008, published for the United Nations Development Programme:

Ghana's place on the human development index: 135 of 177 countries (US: place 12)

Health: Life expectancy at birth: 59.1 years (US: 77.9 years) + Probability at birth of not surviving to age 40: 23.8% (US probability of not surviving to age 60: 11.6%) + People not using improved water source: 25% (US: 0%) + Under weight for age (under age 5): 22% + Under 5 mortality rate per 1000 live births: 112 (US: 7) + Physicians per 100,000 people: 15 (US: 256)

Education: Illiteracy rate aged 15 and older: 42.1% (US: 1%) + Net primary enrolment rate 65% (US: 92%) + Net secondary enrolment rate 37% (US: 89%) + Internet users per 1000 people: 18 (US: 630)

Industry: GDP per capita (PPP US$): 2.48 (US: 41.89) + Population below income poverty line: $1 a day: 44.8%, $2 a day 78.5%, national poverty line 39.5% + Electricity consumption per capita: 289 kilowatt hours (US: 14,240) + Electrification rate: 49% (US: 100%) + GDP per unit of energy use (2000 PPP US$ per kg of oil equivalent): 5.4 (US: 4.6) + CO2 emissions per capita: 0.3 t (US: 20.6 t)

After finishing school, Harriet trained and worked as an IT specialist in Ghana. In 1991, in her early twenties and newly-wed, Harriet followed her husband to Germany. Her plan was to get some additional IT training at university, but things developed in a very different direction.

Her marriage soon turned into a nightmare, and she found herself in a position where her only chance to support herself was to work as a cleaner at the Düsseldorf Messe (The Exhibitions and Fairs Park of Düsseldorf, her home city in western Germany). But here the story turns impressive: In spite of (or maybe even because of) the hardship she had gone and was still going through, she did not give up her dream of helping the children from Bukom. Therefore, she accepted a second cleaning job for the evening hours at a Düsseldorf pub, and the money she earned there she saved for the children.

Then the idea of founding a charity crossed Harriet's mind. Seven is the minimum number of members needed in Germany to found an organization. Initially she had difficulties finding people who were interested, but she managed to overcome this obstacle (which was the first of many obstacles that were mastered until today.) One or two of the co-founders were friends of Harriet's. The others had replied to a newspaper ad that Harriet had published on her search for fellow campaigners. So for the first time in the history of African Angel, its resources were not ample, but just enough.

Since its foundation in 2002, African Angel engages in fundraising by the means possible for such a small organization. The image shows a poster advertising the 1st birthday-fundraising party held in the pub where Harriet worked her evening shifts.
As far as I can see, African Angel spend very little money on fundraising till today. Luckily, they received coverage from quite a number of local media, and gained new members as a result (and I am one of them).

This is the story of how the first 26 children moved in, as told on the African Angel website:
'On 14 September, 2004 was the day when 26 children from Bukom, after having been medically examined in a hospital, got the chance to look forward to a new beginning. They moved into a rented house Harriet was able to procure. This meant they were able to enjoy having their own bed to sleep in, eat regular meals, and a supply with a number of new clothing.
Apparently, Harriet had beds only for 24 children, but 2 additional kids, with all the excitement, had manage to smuggle themselves into the mini bus which carried the children to be checked in the hospital. The bus was crowded after the head-count had completed. Harriet was also too excited, at the time, and did not observe that the head count, unknowingly to her, had slightly increased.
After the medical check, the hospital gave Harriet the bill, stating the charges covered a total of 26 children. She complained, but then decided to do a re-count again, only to find out she too arrived at the same number. Not being able to leave these two kids behind, she had to quickly organise two extra mattresses. Now every child had to take its turn to sleep one night on a mattress on the floor. That's how she managed to have 26 instead of the original 24 children into the initial programme.'

In 2004, when the organization had something like a financial background, Harriet went to Bukom an tried to persuade parents to leave their children to her care. This was a difficult task at first because parents were suspicious as to what her true intentions were and worried about their children's well-being. But she managed to win their trust and as a result took 26 children to live in a rented house in a 'good' area of town. Those children who are not orphans remain in contact with their families and regularly go for visits with them.



Initially, Harriet employed two women to share the house, cook and care for the children. And, very importantly, she arranged a place in a good school or kindergarten for everyone. None of them had gone to school before, but once given the chance, many of them advanced very fast and achieved good marks. In many cases children were able to advance to higher classes ahead of time. All children also are members of the Sakumomo Presbyterian Church. At least twice a week they attend church services and join in Sunday school activities or singing lessons.

In 2007, the children were kicked out of the rented house by the landlord, who had never been very cooperative. Finding new living space for the bunch of kids was difficult. Luckily, financial resources of the charity were just enough, in combination with Harriet's spirit and will-power, to buy a property. After renovation work, the children moved into their new accommodation in early 2008. The new building opened up the opportunity to accommodate more children; currently, there are 52 of them. Another building, that will provide living space for more children and hold a library, is currently under construction.

From the African Angel website:
'German Ambassador opens African Angel's new house in Accra!

It was quite exhausting in labour and time for Harriet over the past 2 months. When the German Embassy informed her that His Excellency, Dr. Marius Haas, and his wife, planned to attend the opening ceremony of the African Angel Home on the 17th February, Harriet was quite overwhelmed. She had actually planned and catered for only a big children's party with coke, chips and funny games, with no Dignitary in mind.
Spontaneously Harriet organised a more festive event with official speeches, and the National Anthems of both countries being sung by our Bukom children. As the Ghana Television and News Agencies were reporting the event, special scissors had to be purchased, so that the Ambassador could cut the traditional ribbon.
In the end, the day was mere happiness and joy: The Ambassador brought presents for our children, who welcomed their guests with waving flags and dances. It was also an exciting day for Harriet as well, who enjoyed and appreciated the official recognition of her work by the German Government.'

Since the foundation of her children's home, Harriet goes back to Ghana every year during her holiday. She uses the opportunity to spend time with the children and arrange the affairs of the home. This includes the purchase of building materials for the new house and supervision of the construction work. When these tasks are completed, she returns to her cleaning job in Germany.

Image: Harriet and two newly arrived children after the relocation to the new home.

Harriet left for her yearly visit to Ghana end of March 2009 and was scheduled to return early June. In the end, she returned in mid-August, as there were various unexpected problems to solve. There is now a report available on news and activities that took place during Harriet's stay. The report is in German, but I made a translation.... You can read it here.

The logo will take you to the English version of the African Angel website. Since the whole charity is run only by a couple of volunteers there is a marked lack in manpower, and even though also the English version of the site has existed for some time now, we are still in the process of making it presentable. I can say 'we' because I actually got involved in making a translation of the German site's text. The task is not complete yet, but we have come a good way. So please use this link and read up on many more details about African Angel, but please bear with the imperfections...

There is also an African Angel group on facebook.

• Become a member of 'African Angel'


• Donate a little money (or a lot, if you want). In contrast to some bigger charities (as I have heard), African Angel is very grateful for even the smallest donation. (You can use PayPal for sending your contribution. Their PayPal address is info@african-angel.de)


• Spread the word to friends of yours, eg. by emailing this page


• Have a look at the Ghana- and Africa-related products displayed towards the bottom of this page. Sales will earn a small royalty for African Angel.


• Currently, donations of English language children's books are needed to fill the library in the new building. In case you have some that you would like to get rid of you can post them to African Angel's office in Düsseldorf, from where they will be shipped to Ghana by sea together with other donated items. Their address is: African Angel e.V., Derendorfer Str. 89, 40479 Düsseldorf, Germany.

Remember, the motto is
(as analogy to the tips that Harriet receives in her cleaning jobs):

50 Cents Can
Change the World

If you prefer making a donation by bank transfer,
please find the details at the bottom of this page.

"Ye da mu ase, Nyame enshira mu"
The children of Bukom will thank you for your interest and your kind support, saying "Nye yiwala donn agbo agboi" ("Many thanks" in Ga) and "Ye da mu ase, Nyame enshira mu" ("Thank you and God bless you" in Twi).

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