OUR MISSION, WHAT WE’VE DONE

2026 UVA Social Impact Project

Each year, UVA's McIntire School of Commerce sends students from its M.S. in Global Commerce program around the world to work alongside organizations on their missions. In April and May 2026, five of them partnered the Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation and came to Winneba.

They took on two projects.

The first was a computer drive. They raised $48,000, equipped a new computer lab at Coast Bridge Academy in Akosua Village with 5 laptops and 20 desktops, and donated 15 more laptops across Winneba to the traditional council, the municipal assembly, and students at the University of Education, Winneba.

The second was a website for the Aboakyer Festival. Winneba's biggest annual celebration draws visitors from across Ghana and deserves to be findable by everyone else. [Link, or: The site launches ahead of the 2027 festival.]

Our team supported the group through project guidance, infrastructure, and on-the-ground logistical help.

They made a video about the work. Watch it here →

Thanks to Caroline, Carlyn, Emma, JM, and Sammy!

Group of children and adults gathered outside a building, smiling and waving, with some children wearing school uniforms and others in casual clothing.
Group of eight people standing around a table with various items in a box, inside a room with orange blinds.
Silhouette of a woman carrying a bowl on her head and a small child in her arms, set against a yellow sunburst background. Text reads: The Helen Project International, Inc.
A young girl getting her hair styled in a salon with a stylist working on her hair.
A yellow wall with an open wooden window frame, revealing an unfinished room with a corrugated metal roof and a window showing greenery outside.
A group of young African children gathered outdoors, standing behind a yellow chain barrier, with one girl cutting a pink ribbon in the center.
Group of diverse young people and adults sitting in a circle, reading books in a communal space, with some standing and others seated, surrounded by bookshelves.
Exterior view of Manuel's Restaurant with a reception area, balcony, and colorful sign.
Woman carrying a child on her back in a colorful, makeshift camp with numerous hammocks and hanging fabrics.

This is just a taste of the many collaborations, activities and exchanges being undertaken by the all-volunteer Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation. We are very proud of what we have done to this point and can not wait to see what we can do in the future.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our mission!

Sister City Delegations to Winneba

Since 2009, nearly 300 Charlottesville-area residents have traveled to Winneba with us. The trips are the heart of what we do.

Delegations go twice a year, timed to Winneba's two biggest celebrations. In May, the Aboakyer Festival — the deer hunt and durbar that draws visitors from across Ghana. Around New Year's, Kakamotobi, the Fancy Dress masquerade. Between the festivals, delegates meet with city leaders and the traditional council, visit schools and the public library, spend time at the fishing harbor, and stay at Manuel's Guesthouse alongside people who become friends. Many go back.

You don't have to live in Charlottesville to come. You don't need to have been anywhere like this before. Most delegates hadn't.

Next trip: [dates]. The fee is $[X] and covers airfare, lodging, all meals, travel visa, travel health insurance, ground transportation, and admission to cultural and historic sites. Payment is due [date]. Thanks to local donors, we have several $1,000 travel scholarships available to lower-income residents.

To join us or ask questions, email cvillewinneba@gmail.com or visit our contact page and fill out your information.

The Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation is working in partnership with PROSAMI to improve maternal and infant health in Winneba.

PROSAMI, based in Staunton, began operations in 2009 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and recently expanded to serve the Municipal Hospital of Winneba. It has already donated a significant volume of medical supplies and is looking to offer midwife training and other supports.

Gwen Goodkin, who traveled with our May 2022 delegation, continues to gather medical equipment and supplies for the Municipal Hospital today.

Coast Bridge Ghana Expansion


Several Charlottesville residents donated toward construction at Coast Bridge Academy, which serves Akosua Village: a dining hall, a renovated classroom building, and expanded library and IT space. More than 150 children attend the school.

Thanks to Rupa Valdez and to Rajan and Kashmira Sheth for making the improvements possible!

Winneba Public Library Support


The Charlottesville-Winneba Foundation played a key role in establishing Winneba's first public library. Since then, Winneba's Member of Parliament, Hon. Alex Afenyo-Markin, has secured funds to build 18 satellite branches throughout the Effutu region. Charlottesville residents have supported the libraries by sponsoring library cards for students, reading to children, and donating books.

Manuel’s Guesthouse Expansion


With loan financing from friends in Charlottesville, Emanuel Mishiwo expanded Manuel's Guesthouse, where our delegations usually stay in Winneba, adding four guest rooms, a streetside shop, and a new reception area.

Winneba, Photographed


Charlottesville photo artist Paul Stams traveled to Winneba with our May 2023 delegation and used photographs from the fishing harbor to create a series of photo montages, since featured in several Charlottesville art exhibits. One of the pieces hangs at Manuel's Guesthouse in Winneba.

More of Paul's work: paul-stams.pixels.com

Albemarle Rotary Club Grant

Group of diverse people standing together in front of an arched building, some wearing traditional African clothing, smiling for the photo.
A large outdoor banner with the flags of Ghana and the United States, and text welcoming an American delegation from Charlottesville, Virginia

PROSAMI Partnership

Helen Project International


The Charlottesville-based Helen Project International provides small loans to women in Winneba to start or grow their own businesses, with a focus on grandmothers raising orphaned children.

The organization is led by Founder and Executive Director Dr. Dale Johnson, who participated in our very first delegation to Winneba in 2009, and Project Manager Tina Yawson. To date, 57 women have received loans, and the program has a 100% repayment rate.

Visit their website and read more about their mission here: https://thehelenprojectinternational.org/

Hawa’s Salon


Gaynell Spinner traveled to Winneba with our May 2024 delegation and befriended a hair braider named Hawa. She later provided the financial support for Hawa to open her own salon.

"Understanding that she needed sustainable empowerment rather than temporary financial support, I took deliberate action," Gaynell said. "I am thankful for my obedience to God's vision, which has transformed her life. I hope Hawa's business will serve as a beacon in her community, illustrating the manifestation of answered prayers through Faith, hope and love."

Thanks, Gaynell!


The Albemarle County Rotary Club awarded a $1,500 grant to repair the storm-damaged Osubonpanyin/Ateitu M/A School in Winneba, a project that Paramount Chief Neenyi Ghartey VII personally brought to our attention. The school had been closing whenever it rained. The grant replaced the damaged windows and doors and repaired the roof.

This was the Club's second grant for school upgrades in Winneba. In 2022, it awarded $1,400 toward a library and IT center at Coast Bridge Academy.

Many thanks to the Albemarle Rotarians for their continued support!