Welcome to Humjibre!
Humjibre is a small town in the western region of Ghana. It has a growing population of about 4,500. Most families make their living from cocoa farming in this area. Humjibre has been known for centuries as "a place of rest" thanks to the natural spring that quenched the thirst of travellers heading to the coast. Their reputation for warm hospitality endures even today, as Humjibre welcomes volunteers from around the world.
What truly sets our work apart from other grassroots N.G.O.s in Ghana, is our community. All of our staff are from the community; they are from Humjibre, and work for Humjibre.
Overtime, GHEI's work, still firmly based in Humjibre, has broadened to include the neighboring villages of Kojina, Muoho, Ampenkrom, and Soroano. But our approach has been the same, to provide tools to community members to work together to make lasting, positive change.
Get to know us a little better in the documentary filmed about GHEI's work:
Voices from our Community:
Mensah Gyapong is the Health Program Assistant for GHEI. He is originally from Soroano and was instrumental in GHEI starting their malaria prevention program there. Mensah now works full time for GHEI in Humjibre, coordinating Health Programs.
"I think about how GHEI has helped my home, Soroano, so much, and then I think about the other places that need our help. I think the future for GHEI is that we help new communities. Like Dansokrom, it is a small community, but there they have a small lake. Mosquitos like still water, so all the problems we had in Soroano and in Humjibre, they are having now in Dansokrom. Who will help them? I think we should.” ...Read More
Lawrence Donkor is the GHEI Library Administer. The library has become very popular among children and adults alike in Humjibre. His work has been fundamental to its success, and his path to GHEI is an interesting one.
"I think the library is changing Humjibre. It’s difficult for kids to have a place to study because not all students have electricity in their homes, but the library is a comfortable place and has plenty of lights. They are also learning with friends and discussing issues together. We can also see those students who are coming to the library are getting good marks on their exams and performing well academically..." ...Read More
Christina Gyenning taught ECL and YEP classes with GHEI and administered the scholarship program that continues to help students achieve success. She has also been influential in building our Girls Empowerment program and helping GHEI focusing on gender equality in all education programs:
"When I completed JHS, my grades were good enough for SHS but my father’s friend tried to discourage him from sending me to school because I am a girl and the only way I could produce was through childbirth, not education. We’ve noticed nowadays that women can also work and get the same positions as the men. What men can do, women can also do. So Girls Empowerment exposes girls like me to this idea and encourages education..." ...Read More
Ernest "Saga" Badu has been with GHEI for years, first as a scholarship recipient, and now as a full time staff member and teacher with GHEI:
"I want to pursue teaching as a career because of my experience teaching for GHEI. I love teaching, because when I am teaching, I am also learning. I learn something from my students almost every day...and I am helping my community." ...Read More
Dickson Ackah Mensah is an elected District Assemblyman for his home community in Ampenkrom and has been active with GHEI for a number of years helping expand Health programs in Ampenkrom as a Community Health Worker. He continues to support GHEI, managing UCLA medical student volunteer programs in the summer:
"I have seen so many problems in this community, and I felt that local elected officials were not doing enough to help. I wanted to address some of these problems, like the lack of proper school infrastructure and education supplies, so that I can help the people in my community..." ...Read More
Yaa Mary is one of GHEI's Community Health Workers in Humjibre:
"I learned about GHEI when they first started here in Humjibre around 2001. They were working in our community, helping us with health and education. I saw that GHEI had many good things to tell us, so I decided to become a CHW. That was 5 years ago..." ...Read More
Kesse Asare is a young man in Junior High School who one day decided that he would appeal to anyone who would listen for a computer for the Humjibre library. We put his letter up on the blog and our supporters came through. There is now a computer in the library that is used by many, but mostly by Kesse and his classmates. You can read his original appeal letter here as well as his thank you with an update on Kesse's ongoing 'blogging', here.
The Aduanaba Information Centre in Humjibre, a loudspeaker that proclaims messages loud enough for anyone to hear...especially early in the morning!
What Christmas is like in Humjibre for kids (and adults!)
Read samples of some of letters from our junior high students in our supplemental English classes
