海角大神

On a recent Friday afternoon, the ocean in front of Accra鈥檚 iconic Jamestown lighthouse heaves and coughs up another wad of trash onto the grimy beach. The new offering quickly mingles with the old 鈥� plastic bottles and hunks of plastic foam, candy wrappers and sea-battered pieces of glass 鈥� forming a layer of trash so thick that in places it is impossible to see there is sand underneath.

But halfway up the beach, the informal trash dump abruptly ends. There鈥檚 a chain-link fence and then beyond it, sand soft and clean enough to sink your bare feet into. Which is exactly what a small group of children are busy doing, chasing a soccer ball across the small open beach, giddy with the energy of the coming weekend.

This oddly placed oasis is the JayNii Streetwise Foundation, an orphanage, primary school, and arts center in the center of Jamestown, a neighborhood of Accra, Ghana鈥檚 capital city.

Jamestown has the complicated distinction of being both one of the most historical neighborhoods, dating to the 17th century, and one of the poorest 鈥� its tiny houses are packed together like pieces in a Tetris game and are largely without toilets, running water, or electricity.

For Streetwise founders Naa 鈥淛ay鈥� Borkor Quartey and Emmanuel 鈥淣ii鈥� Quartey, though, there鈥檚 a far more basic reason they work here.

It鈥檚 home.

For Nii, Jamestown is the ramshackle but warm community where he grew up sharing a one-room shack with his parents and six siblings. Each evening they unfurled thin wooden mats over the dirt floor, and each morning they rolled and packed them away again to turn their communal bedroom into a cramped living room.

His father was a policeman; his mother sold trinkets on the streets. There was rarely enough money to go around.

For Jay, however, Jamestown is the place where she lost both of her parents 鈥� first her father when she was age 7, then her mother at age 12. It鈥檚 where, during her teenage years, she and her older sister shared the burden of raising their four younger siblings alone.

In those days, she says, she did whatever she could to keep them afloat, spending long hours before and after her school classes weaving through traffic with heavy trays of oranges and chocolate bars balanced on her head to hawk to hungry commuters.

鈥淭he moments I felt best were when I was dancing,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was the only way I could relieve my stress.鈥�

So when she finished high school, Jay joined a local dance and drumming group where she met its handsome leader, a sharp-featured drummer with an infectious, toothy smile. His name was Nii.

Over the next few years, the two became close friends, traveling the city and across this West African country playing music. Then, in 2006, they decided to buy a small sliver of Jamestown鈥檚 clogged beach and convert it into an oceanside bar and concert venue.

鈥淎t the time we were both really focused on getting gigs, getting an audience for our music,鈥� Jay says. Meanwhile, their troupe was training some of the local children in dancing and drumming 鈥� along with providing them with meals and school fees on the side.

But as Jay and Nii cleaned up their beach, they began to notice that the oceanfront was packed with kids wandering listlessly throughout the school day.

That, Jay says, is when they had a thought: What if, instead of just a performance space, they also made their beach a children鈥檚 shelter and taught art there? Dance had helped her 鈥� surely it could do the same for children in similar circumstances. And why not add a school, too?

So in 2007, JayNii Streetwise Foundation officially opened its doors and welcomed its first young charges, 10 in all.

鈥淔or money we decided we would rely on God and our talents,鈥� Nii says. 鈥淲e cannot give what we don鈥檛 have. What we have is what we can give people.鈥�

That means that when money gets tight 鈥� and money has nearly always been tight 鈥� the two get creative. They cater weddings and parties, hustle trinkets at local markets, and sell colorful fabric bags to tourists. Jay sometimes gives manicures from a roadside stand.

鈥淎frica is a DIY kind of place,鈥� Nii says, laughing.

Over the years, the Quarteys have taken donations from Western nonprofit aid groups. But they鈥檝e learned that these organizations can rarely be relied on to stick with a project like a small Ghanaian orphanage over the long term.

Meanwhile, they鈥檝e also enlisted the help of a rotating cast of volunteers from the United States and Europe.

It was one of Streetwise鈥檚 first guest teachers, a young American named Meghan, who noticed that Jay and Nii, with their boundless energy and love for music and children, seemed too well suited for each other to just be friends.

鈥淪he was always teasing us about that,鈥� Jay says. And she wasn鈥檛 wrong. The couple began dating in 2008. Three years later, when their first child was born, they named her Meghan.

Today, Streetwise鈥檚 orphanage houses about 25 children between the ages of 4 and 18, with another 25 or so youths filtering in and out each afternoon for meals, drumming lessons, and help with homework. No Western volunteers are around these days 鈥� Nii says they鈥檝e been scared off by West Africa鈥檚 Ebola epidemic (which, ironically, never reached Ghana).

The children share two simple, bright green dorm rooms. After they finish their homework, they鈥檙e given free rein of the Quarteys鈥� living room, where they crowd onto slumping couches to watch Bollywood action movies and Mexican telenovelas dubbed into English.

It was from one of these dramas that Nii Sackey Okine 鈥� better known here as Sanchez 鈥� got his nickname. Sanchez, a natural comedian with a booming belly laugh and a flirtatious air, was one of the first 10 children to live at Streetwise, after Jay and Nii found the 12-year-old working at a slaughterhouse for 1.5 cedis (39 cents) a day to help support his family.

Today, he鈥檚 in his 20s and owns his own motorcycle, which he uses to deliver SIM cards and airtime vouchers for a local cellphone company. Earlier this year, the consulate of Colombia invited him to that South American country to teach drumming for a month at a local university.

鈥淛ay and Nii have been like my parents,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the ones who really raised me.鈥� Nii says the couple always joke that they have 52 children 鈥� two of them biological (Meghan and Manny) and 50 adopted.

Jay鈥檚 phone is full of photos of the children busy with art projects and soccer games. In one shot, a gaggle of boys splash and giggle in the glossy turquoise pool of a ritzy Accra hotel where she took them on a field trip 鈥渢o see the world.鈥�

鈥淭his place is the one doing everything for me,鈥� says Richard Tackie, a soft-spoken 10-year-old who has lived at Streetwise for nearly two years. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice. It鈥檚 home.鈥�

鈥� Learn more about the work of the JayNii Streetwise Foundation at www.jaynii.com.

How to take action

Universal Giving helps people give to and volunteer for top-performing charitable organizations around the world. All the projects are vetted by Universal Giving; 100 percent of each donation goes directly to the listed cause. Below are links to groups that help children in Ghana:

鈥� Globe Aware seeks out projects and solutions that help others live happy, healthy, and independent lives. Take action: Help build a school in Ghana.

鈥� Rural Communities Empowerment Center provides resources and services to help achieve higher levels of literacy in rural communities in Ghana. Take action: Empower an adolescent girl through education, including learning practical skills.

鈥� Made In A Free World seeks to abolish modern slavery. Take action: An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 children are enslaved right now working in Ghana鈥檚 fishing industry on Lake Volta. Help to free these child slaves.