Menaye Muntari Shows Love To HIV/AIDS Patients And The Less Privileged

After winning the title ‘Miss Universe Ghana in 2004’, Menaye Donkor set up the Menaye Charity Organisation which raises funds for deprived children in her home country of Ghana, particularly children infected with and affected by HIV or AIDS.

Charity has always been important to Menaye. Her family, and father in particular, showed her the importance of giving back to the community, and Menaye wanted to do this in her home country of Ghana, particularly to support children in the deprived central region.

Through her charity she is solely responsible for providing the funds and management of the Menaye International School, which has to date provided an education to over 500 Ghanaian children who would otherwise not have had access to an education (for more info, see box to the right). Menaye has also raised awareness and funds to help support children affected or infected by HIV or AIDS at orphanages across Ghana.

Menaye works extensively with an orphanage in Odumasi in the Eastern region of Ghana, which homes around 600 children affected by AIDS. The organisation also publicly acknowledges the good and courageous work of the health practitioners who have supported AIDS education and cared for those affected by the disease.

Menaye’s intention is to grow and develop the Menaye International School in Agona Asafo to meet the needs of more children. She will also continue to support Ghana’s orphans, and the education of society about prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS.

The Menaye International School was founded on 7 September 2000 on three acres of land in the central region of Ghana. The school is located in Agona Asafo which is considered to be in one of the most deprived regions in the country with very high poverty and illiteracy rates.

Menaye, whose family is from Agona Asafo, compared the educational facilities in the village with those in Accra where she studied and lived, and was deeply concerned about the future of the children who resided in the village and in the surrounding areas.

The Menaye International School opened with 78 pupils learning in one school block, and now has 140 pupils in three blocks. It has so far provided education for over 500 children and gained excellent results in its first BECE examination. The Menaye Charity Organisation provides everything for the school from the physical buildings and equipment through to the teachers’ salaries, uniforms for the students and books and stationery.

Through the Menaye Charity Organisation, the school has recently been provided with a new IT suite and a library, and Menaye has plans to further improve the facilities at the school. Next on the agenda is to provide a bus so that the pupils don’t have to walk the (sometimes several mile-long) journey between home and school.