Windsor couple use lottery win for years of charitable work in Ghana

Sharing with those less fortunate than yourself is a common theme during the Christmas season — but for Fred and Elyse Maindonald, it's more than just a holiday sentiment.

In 2011, the Windsor couple won the Brentwood Dream Home Lottery, instantly becoming the owners of a new house.

Instead of personally benefitting from the windfall, the Maindonalds sold the property and used the funds for something they considered more gratifying: Helping impoverished and orphaned children in Ghana, West Africa.

"It makes my life worth living," says Fred Maindonald, 84. "I've often told people that I could have bought a nice big boat and a truck and everything — and you know, in 15 years, all that would be garbage."

"But now, I've got all these schools and all these children. They're so happy to see us, and so thankful."

For more than a decade, the Maindonald's Star of God Children's Centres have provided health care, nutrition, education and Bible lessons to kids in communities in the upper west region of Ghana.

The region is prone to lack of resources and infrastructure. According to assessments by the United Nations, about 70 per cent of the population there is reliant on subsistence farming — meaning one bad growing season can result in widespread deprivation.

"Honestly, it's hard to come back home and see how much stuff we have. And people are not grateful for it, a lot of times," says Elyse Maindonald, 73, a former nurse practitioner.

"(In Ghana), they're grateful for every little thing... They give us so much more than what we give them, even if they don't have material things to give."

At the start, in January 2012, the Maindonalds' project involved one classroom in the community of Wa. The enrollment consisted of about 20 children of toddler age, who had all lost one or both parents to AIDS.

"At that time, the AIDS epidemic (in Ghana) was still at its height," Elyse says. "There were mothers and fathers dying, even children dying of AIDS."

With each successive year, the Star of God project has expanded. It currently involves eight buildings across the communities of Wa, Duori and Jirapa. Total enrollment this year is 976.

The Maindonalds make it a point to visit Ghana annually to check out the progress. Most recently, they were in Jirapa last month to celebrate the opening of the Star of God's first Junior High School.

Fred says: "One the of the nicest, most satisfying things that we had this year is when we were speaking to the junior high children. Elyse asked, what would you like to do when you graduate? And one girl says, 'I would like to be a nurse.'"