An Amazing Young Man

I met a young man named Erik Van Der Ven. He was from the Netherlands and was volunteering through a different organization. He got money by working and fund raising to come to Ghana to help children. He wanted to build a school so that orphans would have a chance for a better life through education. The bishop of the orphanage where he was placed gave him the bid for the school. The bishop insisted he use the bishops suppliers and workers. Included in the bid was one Mercedes Benz color gray. Yes, everyone knows you can not build a school without first buying a car. Needless to say Erik was beside himself. He hadn't worked or raised funds for a Mercedes. Luckily he met Johanna a woman working as the director of the vocational school at the Liberian Refugee Camp. Johanna is a lay missionary from a Catholic relief agency. Johanna told Erik to buy the materials and her students would do all the building for free. They would build the school as practical experience for their own education. First Johanna and Erik had to convince the bishop this was the way to go. When the bishop was informed the only way Erik would build the school was this way, he agreed. The vocational school ends at 12:00 but none of the workers left the job site until sundown. Many other Liberians also volunteered to work as laborers as a way to show their appreciation to the Ghanaian people for allowing the refugees into their country. Since the vocational workers now had no time earn money for themselves, Erik paid them 10,000 cedis a day for their work. This is about $1.20 US. This is also about 50 percent less than they would have made elsewhere. The workers wanted to help the orphanage and Erik. Not one speaker before Erik mentioned the Liberian workers but all were very grateful to Erik. The following is the speech Erik gave at the opening ceremonies of the school. You can also click on the link to see pictures of the school in progress.

Speech Opening School 03-04-06.
Hello everybody. Thank you all for coming to this opening day. For those of you who see me for the first time today, I'm Erik. Some call me the leader of this project, some call me the head or the founder, but I tell you all right now, I'm not. I don't know anything about building, I'm no engineer, I'm just a Dutch boy who wanted to do something good.In fact, I didn't come to this orphanage to build at all. I just came here as a volunteer to take care for the children, and put up a fund called Support Fund Ghana to help me buy the stuff they needed. But when I came here, it soon became very clear to me that the most important thing they needed, was good education. And when I saw the school I knew that there was a lot of work to do. And that's how this project started. A project that really soon turned out to be much more special than I ever thought it would be. A project that broke some cultural boundaries. A project where you could see people growing. A project that would change old habits, and challenged us all. A project where different people from different cultures try to work together. And sometimes two cultures met each other, and stood face to face. I come from a culture much different than here. In my culture respect is something you have to earn. Respect is in things you achieved, you say, and you stand for, and you have to prove it day after day again not to lose it. In my culture, it takes a long time to reach the point of respect, and with one mistake, most of the time your at base one again. It's not something that comes with a name, or with the way you are dressed. It's not in the position you have in society or the status you have. It's all in what you say and do. A housewife can have more respect than a minister. In my culture, a mouse can always fight an elephant, and teach him a lesson.So is this Erik a mouse that came into another culture, trying to beat an elephant? No, I'm not. I'm always willing to listen to any elephant, but as long as you can't convince me, I'll stay on my own path. And that's why this project happened the way it happened. For the first time in the history of Ghana, refugees did a project for the Ghanaian society, on Ghanaian ground. Why? Is it because I like refugees more? Don't I trust Ghanaian people? Can't Ghanaian people do the job? No, all wrong. I did it, just because it felt good. And I am Erik, a Dutch boy, who just wanted to do something good. I did it, because I wanted to help people. And by doing it this way, I got the most out of this project. Students worked on this project. Each day they learned new skills which they can use again if they have the chance to go home and rebuild their own country. Children will be learning in this school, and so will have a better chance for a brighter future. We have helped the Bishop to expand his orphanage however the bishop in this project didn't have to pay for a single thing for what happened on this ground. For me the Liberians did it the fastest they could, with hardly any breaks, 7 days a week, so me and my sponsors could see it finished before I go home. This was a win win project. How could this be wrong? This could only be good. And that's why I did it. Just because I wanted to do something good. Not a single Liberian ever made me doubt my decision. How could I, when every time I walked up to the building site, I saw people working really hard, but all with a big smile on their face. Some were tired, some were sick, some soaked of sweat because the sun was on their head too much, some even had accidents. But everybody kept working, no time for complaining, and all stayed smiling. These people are a true example for me, and I look up to them.Although I brought in the money for building this school, I'm not a rich person. I don't like it when people think I am, and see a lot of chances through me. When I go back home the day after tomorrow, I step in a plane with no money in my pockets at all. Everything is left here, and is in the school building right now. Wow, so Erik bought the whole school building? No, not at all. At home there's been a lot of work done to gather money. A lot of people who trusted me sponsored my fund to do 'something good' out here. I'm not a rich person. Although I may look right now as a well dressed head of the project. I'm not, and I'll never feel that way. To be honest, I still wear my free Areeba T-shirt which I got when I bought my phone card. I still wear my shorts, and I still like wearing my old sports shoes. Just because they fit me well and I feel comfortable in them. And I've done this for the past three months no different. It didn't matter which meeting I had, it didn't matter which bank manager I had to speak to, I wore my shorts, and T-shirt. I did this for the past three months, and I'll still do it now. It's not about how you look. It's about what you have to say. (Florence's addition ---- At this point Erik took off the suit he was given and had on his shorts and t-shirt. He also changed into his work boots and at the end of the speech donned his dirty old ball cap.)
I'm no more than anybody else. When I'm home again I'll have to go to school myself too. Just like all the children here who we built this school for. When I'm home again I'll have to work hard to buy my own clothes, to eat my own food, and to have my own place to stay. I'm a student, not a rich person. I won't be able to send over money. I won't be able to buy tickets for people to come over. I won't be able to send second hand cars, sponsor more projects or take care for someone's career. I'm not a messiah that will improve everybody's lives. I'm Erik, a Dutch boy, who just wanted to do something good.If I look back on this project, I don't feel like a leader at all. We have had no leader. We have had no head. We had no boss. And we didn't need one. We did everything together. All of us. In fact, I even don't like it at all to be standing here, seen as the main person of the project. I didn't build this school. I did not even touched one stone of it. And therefore, I'm not the one that should be thanked and the one who gets all the gratitude. The ones I want to thank and the ones who I really respect are the Liberians who did the job. Most of them who have really traumatic backgrounds, that came here, and showed everybody what they were capable of. I have a lot of respect for Eric, who co-ordinated everybody and every material. I'm proud of him, although I know that sometimes he thinks different. He really impressed me about the kind of work he did. Wisé, who was always there instructing workers. I really want to thank all of the workers, which showed up everyday, wasting no time, took their tools, and started, with that same smile again, over and over, 7 days a week. We are looking at time brothers, was the main thing your heard everybody say. And how is it possible that people stayed working so hard? Who thought of thanking the cooks? They were there everyday. They made sure there was enough energy for them in their meals, everybody enjoyed the food so much that they all kept going. Really, we couldn't have done it without them! Bernardt, who secured the whole place, sometimes slept on the building site, and made sure nothing would be missing when the next morning the job started again. It's always in the little things that makes the big things happen. I really respect the whole of the SMA staff about their honestly and how open they where throughout the whole project. They trusted me and helped me out in different times. I respect the way Johannah took care of me, the project, and her people. She's too much the same like me, so I know that she doesn't like me naming her now. But then I might say this is only to get her back because she also mentioned me in her speech last week. Johannah, thank you. Really I have learnt and still learn a lot from you. You are the kind of person I look up to. Holland misses people like you, but you are needed here. You really made my trip. I need to mention that we all couldn't have done this without the help of my home. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes. The website that really made me able to do this project and made people interested. The money transfers, the sponsors that made Support Fund Ghana, the articles in the newspapers. It wasn't me who did this. This project relies on a lot of people other than myself who deserve the same amount of recognition. There's another person, which I have to say that I really respect. I've got a roommate, which chose to join the project half way. By doing this, he chose to never have as much recognition as I got. He chose to always stay in the background. People tell me, God blesses you Erik, you built a school. Guy put as much personal money in this as I did. Guy is a student as well. Guy will have to go to school himself too when he's back home. But who thanked him for this project? Without him, the third room would be missing right now. Thank you Guy, really.For me, he is one of the examples what I stand for in life. Recognition shouldn't satisfy the job. It's the job itself that needs to satisfy you. For the past 5,5 weeks I've been proud and satisfied. The past 5,5 weeks were full of recognition and fulfilment. And to be honest now, you don't satisfy me by making big celebrations, a lot of good words, or official ceremonies. What would satisfy me, is keeping up the good work. And that all lies in your hands right now Pierre.A proper school building Pierre, doesn't make good education. It is like what i was trying to say with taking off my clothes. A nice suit doesn't make you a project leader, or a respected recognised person. A proper school building doesn't make well educated children. It is all about what's inside.A proper school building changes only one thing. It give's you more possibilities. So make use of those possibilities. Use this building to improve the education of the children. You have got an office right know, a library, and three big rooms with furniture. Get the right motivated teachers. No sleeping during the lessons anymore. Use the office to make the right decisions, to make tight schedules, and to organise everything well. Use the library to store books, papers and pencils for the children to teach them how to read and write, and keep up the discipline not to lose any of these materials. You've got enough benches now for every child to sit and work on. So now let them work. They need it. They deserve it. I challenge you Pierre, to make the Good Shepherd International School a school which the whole of Ghana can be proud of.As proud as I am about this project and how it went. We did almost the impossible. But proved once again, that if you really want to do something, nothing is impossible. I have really learnt and experienced a lot in my three months here. A lot of positive things, but also I have learnt a lot from my negative experiences here too. SQL didn't contribute anything to this project, but did teach me a lot. I have also had the same experiences with my time at the orphanage as well. However I have learnt that negative experiences can be quite educational, therefore I look at them in a positive way right now because they have taught me a lot. This project taught everybody a lot.Somebody special here experienced that age doesn't matter, you are never to old to learn. And that's where I hope this school will be the start of. Young people will have their start in the world of learning... and this process will never stop. I might be the one who started this project, but I'm not the leader. I will go home, but this project.... will never stop.I'm no leader, no head, and I'm not the one who should be thanked. I did something that I thought was right. However I am missing something that I've always worn in my three months here. Ah, there it is. I'm Erik, a Dutch boy, who just wanted to do something good.