PLEASANTVILLE, NJ - It was heartbreaking to choose from the dozens of orphans rounded up in a small town in Ghana, West Africa.
Afua Crozier, who now owns an African crafts store in Pleasantville, would have helped all of the children if she could. But her small organization only had enough funds and manpower to sponsor about 15 of the needy children. She had to turn many away.
"The (Ghana) government want me to take more children, but they not giving us any money. I want to help them all, but I can't. When we get bigger I can help more children," Crozier, a native of Togo, said this week, a few months after her last trip to Africa.
Crozier and her friend D. Harlan Williams, of Atlantic City, are slowly raising money for their organization, "Beauty of Africa," a project that would create orphanages in Ghana and Togo; to open an African cultural center in southern New Jersey; and maybe one day open an orphanage here, as well.
Those big dreams are off to a small start. The group has a building and some employees in Ghana, but the building isn't ready to take in children.
The group began sponsoring its handful of children this past winter. The children, all between ages 5 and 12, still live with foster families. Crozier has visited them twice, most recently in April, to oversee a plan to give each child a bin filled with rice, canned fish and vegetables, and soap.
The "Beauty of Africa" will look in on the children to "make sure they're doing OK, make sure they have enough to eat and clothing" throughout the year, Crozier said.
Crozier's big concern is that the school year is starting soon. There are no free public schools in Ghana. Crozier estimates it would cost $1,000 to send the group's children to school for a year.
Part of the profits from Crozier's store, Chez Afua, are set aside for the cause, as are profits from William's self-published book "Destiny!" and a few other business ventures, including recent organized tours of West Africa.
Anyone interested in helping, or learning more about "Beauty of Africa," can call 677-1100.
