GHEI Celebrates 10 Years

On Tuesday, GHEI celebrated its 10th anniversary as an officially registered NGO in Ghana. GHEI began in 2001 when Diana Rickard, then a medical student in the U.S., partnered with Humjibre’s then assemblyman, Clement Donkor, to lead a new community organization. Now, with more than a decade of experience in our communities, GHEI has consistently demonstrated a commitment to local sustainable development.

Ghana Health and Education Initiative was created with the mission of building local capacity, and providing necessary resources and support to enable communities in Humjibre’s district to improve their children’s health, learning success and opportunities. While our mission and values have stayed the same, GHEI’s interventions have changed. Part of our success comes from the fact that our programs are constantly evolving; allowing us to focus on best meeting the changing needs of the community.

We believe in long-term investment and empowering local individuals: both the beneficiaries of our programs, and the staff who lead them. The vast majority of our staff is from the communities where we work. They understand the context - what the communities’ needs are and how to work successfully within the local culture. Their leadership and ability to transfer their skills to others means that eventually these communities will be self-sufficient in leading development.

For GHEI’s family of staff, the day was a cause for celebration. Each of our full-time staff members proudly contributed to a group donation: giving back to the organization. To include the community, we made two public announcements informing everybody of the milestone, the programs GHEI offers, and of course, thanking everyone for their support. There was a celebratory football match in the afternoon. 

The match was against a local team of young men, World 11. An eclectic bunch of full-time staff, volunteer teachers, community health workers and some of our eldest YEP students came together to round out the GHEI team. While it was not a group that practices, teachers and students played side-by-side and GHEI easily came together to work as a strong team. After a tough match, the game ended in a draw 2-2. 

Afterwards, we moved to the Lovers’ Inn for speeches and a commemorative drink. At this point, all of GHEI was present: current (and some past) full-time staff, volunteer teachers and community health workers. The Humjibre Chief and Queen Mother, and Soroano Chief even joined us. Clement began by thanking everyone for the sacrifices they had made for the organization, and their support over the years. 

One of our largest supporters, Humjibre Chief Nana Kwadwo Twum II, spoke next. He stated that prior to GHEI’s existence, people in Humjibre were not interested in education in the way that they are now. English was not spoken as much, and students did not aspire to go to university. He acknowledged the amount of opportunity that GHEI has brought to the community, and closed by explaining that “when you wake up and hear the morning announcements, the cockerels and the early sounds of the village, it will be the whole community thanking GHEI for its’ efforts.”  

Others in the community have echoed the Chief’s statements about behavioral change. They have observed a heightened interest in development and more people voluntarily taking steps to increase their own levels of health and education. Since GHEI’s establishment in Humjibre, long-term benefits are apparent; and they are not only coming directly from our programs, but also a community-led change in culture. This is the definition of sustainable development.

When I asked Clement about the meaning of this anniversary, he told me “They say that there is a certain river in Africa, that no matter how full it is, it can always grow.” GHEI has made great progress over the years, but for now, there is still much more for us to do. 

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Early Childhood Literacy at GHEI

Visiting an ECL classroom is an exciting and inspiring experience. The students have boundless energy, and three days a week, their teachers, Saga and Felicity, match them. On these days, Early Childhood Literacy classes can be clearly heard throughout the GHEI compound.

Students often arrive one or two hours early to run in circles, play well-strategized games of Connect Four, and build with play dough and blocks while they wait for class to begin. Lessons start with Daily Routines. Our two ECL teachers enthusiastically lead their classes through a recitation stating the day of the week, the date, current weather, and each student’s emotion. The students use rhythm and repetition to learn patterns and anticipate their teachers’ questions; shouting their answers in unison. The teachers are animated: acting everything out as they express it and in turn, the students are engaged. They are focused, but smiling and laughing the whole time. When one of their teachers steps back, the students take turns happily leading the class and clapping for each other when they get the right answer.

They speak loudly and build confidence working in English. The walls are covered with a mix of printed and hand-drawn posters that illustrate a large portion of the ECL curriculum. Students reference the posters throughout class as they work to increase their vocabularies and fluency.

The typical Early Childhood Literacy student is a younger sibling who either has not shown much promise in school, has some learning disability or is simply hyperactive. Most ECL students are seven, eight, or nine years old and at a critical stage where children develop at vastly different rates and all need to be nurtured and given the opportunity to grow. The students chosen for ECL have often already been labeled as poor investments; beginning a pattern of neglect from parents and teachers that compounds and becomes increasingly detrimental over time.

When GHEI tried to hold a meeting for parents of new students at the beginning of the year, only one parent bothered to show up.

ECL classes give students individualized attention, positive encouragement and allow them to actively participate in class while building their creativity and critical thinking skills. As part of GHEI’s female education and empowerment initiative, 60% girls and 40% boys are recruited for the program.

Using a culturally-adapted version of the Wilson Fundations phonics-based curriculum, classes focus on building literacy skills and incorporate purposeful play, songs, poems and time for individual reading and writing. The students thrive in a small classroom setting with ample books and school supplies.

To help monitor the program, GHEI measures students’ performance by organizing end of term exams and conducts baseline, midterm and final Early Grade Reading Assessments. Students’ exam scores improve and in the course of a year, many go from learning the alphabet to reading narrative passages and answering basic comprehension questions.

The program has been commended by local school teachers. They have written GHEI to report that students who were once falling behind are now shining as leaders in the classroom. With the help of ECL, initially poorly performing students have the opportunity to catch up with their peers and gain the attention and encouragement they deserve.

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