Family Support Lifeline (FASU), originally Succour Link, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by Peter Felix Eduful in 2005. The vision was borne together with philanthropists, Richard and Suzie Kiphart of Chicago, IL, to establish an organization that supports rural families in Ghana to develop their children. Peter met and became friends with the Kipharts in 2000 when he was an international fellow at the University of Chicago Chapin Hall Center for Children. Returning to Ghana in late 2000, Peter attempted to bring to bear his newfound knowledge and ideas at the Ghana National Commission on Children where he worked before the Chicago fellowship. With his Chicago connections, Peter’s work on children received a new lease of life, in particular after being connected to the Kipharts while in Chicago through Delores Holmes. With a heart committed to supporting children, and for that matter rural, underserved and less-privileged people, the Kipharts made their first visit to Ghana at the invitation of Peter, circa 2002. Indeed, Peter had conceived the idea of establishing an organization to ‘succour’ less-privileged people several years earlier, but it never became a reality until he was connected to the Kipharts whom he referred to as ‘angels’.

Seeing at first hand and interacting with the dire situation people in rural and under-served communities faced in Ghana, including, particularly, abject poverty, the Kipharts were touched to support Peter to improve, not only the lot of rural families in Ghana but also their life chances. Three areas of interventions were, therefore, mapped out by the trio: provision of facilities and creation of access to water and (improved) sanitation, education, and health. These three thematic areas have since defined FASUL’s operations, with the overarching mission of ‘supporting families to develop the child’. Visiting Ghana to undertake these development interventions became an annual affair for the Kipharts between 2002 and 2012 until the sudden death of Peter in November 2012. Since October 2013, the Kipharts support for the Ghana projects have been routed through the University of Chicago’s Richard and Suzie Kiphart Centre for Global Health.

Peter met and became friends with the Kipharts in 2000 when he was an international fellow at the University of Chicago Chapin Hall Center for Children. Returning to Ghana in late 2000, Peter attempted to bring to bear his newfound knowledge and ideas at the Ghana National Commission on Children where he worked before the Chicago fellowship. With his Chicago connections, Peter’s work on children received a new lease of life, in particular after being connected to the Kipharts while in Chicago through Delores Holmes. With a heart committed to supporting children, and for that matter rural, underserved and less-privileged people, the Kipharts made their first visit to Ghana at the invitation of Peter, circa 2002. Indeed, Peter had conceived the idea of establishing an organization to ‘succour’ less-privileged people several years earlier, but it never became a reality until he was connected to the Kipharts whom he referred to as ‘angels’.