Nsawam is a large town and the capital of Nsawam-Adoagyiri District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The city is home to about 50,000 people and located about one hour north of the national capital, Accra. Throughout its history, Nsawam has leveraged its strategic location at the crossroads of numerous regional towns to attract considerable economic investment. Nsawam flourished in the second half of the 20th century, as the town made a name for itself exporting pineapple juice to the rest of the country from its many canneries. 

At the turn of the 20th century, cheaper producers from around the world ramped up production and exports. As a result, the centers of Nsawam’s economic life closed. Nsawam has since struggled with rampant unemployment, poverty, and brain drain, stemming from a lack of economic opportunities. A lack of support from the national government has eroded critical infrastructure and allowed an increase in visible pollution. 

Still, because of its location at a major crossroads in Accra’s sphere of influence, Nsawam remains a bustling trading community. Nsawam also has one of the largest hospitals in the Eastern Region. As such, the town remains an important place for ordinary Ghanaians who live in the greater Accra area. 

The Founding of Ambassadors for Christ International School (AfCIS)

The myriad of challenges that Nsawam faces stems from its inability to retain youthful talent, as students from Nsawam who stand out academically or professionally have easy access to a more diverse, fruitful, and international job market in Accra. With human and natural resources dwindling, facilitating sustainable improvements in Nsawam remains an uphill battle. 

With these youth-focused challenges in mind, Mr. Emmanuel Ametepey, a development practitioner and church elder based in Nsawam, founded Ambassadors for Christ International School (AfCIS) in 2022. AfCIS provides students aged 3-15 from single-parent and/or low-income households with an affordable, private education that uses Christian principles to develop its students into motivated lifelong learners and community leaders in Nsawam itself. When the school first opened, it served six students. Today, it serves over 100 students, with plans to welcome at least 500 students by 2026. 

AfCIS’s curriculum goes hand in hand with Youth Advocates Ghana (YAG), a Nsawam-based civil society organization (CSO) also founded Emmanuel that works at a grassroots level to educate, empower, and equip youth in Nsawam with the tools needed to benefit themselves and those around them, both now and far into the future.

A Period of Growth: AfCIS Expansion and the Founding of Relief for Children

In July 2023, David Traugott and Stephen Sobonya, two American development professionals  who, that May, had graduated with masters degrees in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, DC, visited AfCIS. They witnessed firsthand the critical services that AfCIS provides to Nsawam’s most vulnerable children. David and Stephen also saw the large number of operational needs that must scale with the school’s growing number of students: food, school uniforms, learning supplies, teacher wages, and technology. Since the visit, Emmanuel, Stephen, and David have explored ways to strategically support the growth of the school, while also expanding opportunities to educate children throughout Ghana and across West Africa. 

From this desire to expand, Emmanuel, Stephen and David founded Relief for Children in November 2024. Relief for Children functions as the charitable wing of AfCIS. Through partnerships with local churches, corporate bodies, and philanthropic foundations, Relief for Children will reach vulnerable youth in Ghana and eventually throughout West Africa to provide holistic education, healthcare, and nutritional access, as well as economic empowerment and spiritual development.