This past summer, I spent two weeks in Dzita, Ghana building compost toilets for families in need. The feelings of pride, fulfillment, and joy had an immense impact on me. I acknowledged the importance of public health and most importantly discovered a different perspective on life.

After the eleven hour flight back to New York, it was time for reality. This is when I started to brainstorm. Lists and more lists.

My grandmother and I were talking about how much this meant to me and it sparked an idea. Since Dream Big Ghana, a charity connected with the social work I did in Ghana, is only funded through the United Kingdom, there are no donations through the United States.

One might think that everyone can donate through the UK online. However, donations from the US have always been very problematic as sending donations to the UK and then on to Ghana can incur lots of additional charges.

Creating my own website was a must for what I wanted to do. This would inform people about what the organization entails, how it has made such an impact on me, and why sanitary facilities are vital to keeping a community healthy and clean.

The program I participated in was through an organization called Global Leadership Adventures (GLA). GLA’s website created a new link to donations for their trips. How perfect is that? After months, the website was created and the donations were all set through GLA’s program.

The thought process of building a website and creating a successful way for donations was challenging. The name, the message, and most importantly all spelling has to be perfect. I know it doesn’t seem hard to come up with a name, but WOW it is. After going back and forth hundreds of times, the final decision was on the name “Charlotte Cares.”

Dream Big Ghana has helped countless families all over the community of Dzita. Charlotte Cares is designed to help build compost toilets for over hundreds on the waiting list. If you get a chance, please look through my website and help change Dzita from developing to developed.

Click here to read a Pelham Examiner story about my trip and Dream Big Ghana here.