"Free Forever"

This was how Kwame Nkrumah described Ghana when he first declared independence on March 6th, 1957. His country was the first independent nation amongst former colonies in Africa, leading its peers by calling for freedom, justice, equity, and Pan-Africanism. Today, Ghana boasts a stable, multiparty democracy and continues to be a leader in development.

Students from Humjibre have been preparing for 6th March all week; practicing their marching, salutes, and cleaning and pressing their uniforms so they can look their very best on Independence Day. Even in the evenings, children constructed makeshift drums to try their hand in hopes of someday leading the march. On the day of independence, everybody in town came out to see the students from the four local schools; District Assembly, Anglican, Wireko Memorial and Deeper, perform.

Festivities began with students marching from the Anglican church through town to the football park.

A local band led them in their steps.

Once students from all the schools arrived at the park, Assemblywoman Madam Janet began with a speech.

Each group of students then marched by and saluted. Even the youngest nursery students took part. Some of these students required extra coaxing to stay in line.

Each group prepared a march and different salute to show to the crowd. Wireko Memorial boys marched like soldiers.

District Assembly boys took a knee to salute.

Deeper girls gained approval by saluting with a popular dance style.

Deeper girls saluted with a Ghana flag.

Anglican girls saluted with a sign that read “Peace.”

Students were not the only group to take part in the march. Farmers and other groups joined in at the back of the line to represent the important contributions they make to their nation.

Ghana’s Coat of Arms as posted in the Soroano Public Information Services office.

To learn Ghana’s national anthem, click here.

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GHEI, Partner in Development

It’s not too difficult for an NGO to exist in a vacuum. Non-governmental organizations are independent, non-for-profit groups that in some way advocate for the disadvantaged. As long as there is funding, an NGO’s goals and methodology are determined by the leaders of the organization and are a reflection of their personal ideals. These goals can be anything. At GHEI, we value cooperation with local leaders. They help define the needs of our communities and how we should work to satisfy them. We volunteer information about our organization and insist on monitoring and critical feedback; always holding ourselves accountable to the highest standard. For our communities, we strive to serve as a partner in development.

A few weeks ago, GHEI’s Country Director, Education Program Coordinator, Health Program Coordinator and Communications Officer traveled to the capital of our district, Bibiani. Armed with copies of the GHEI 2013 Annual Report, we sat down to talk about our programs with the district leaders.

Almost 30 copies of the 14-page report were personally delivered and critically discussed with district officials, head teachers, and chiefs from our catchment communities. The report states GHEI’s mission, lists all of our staff and volunteers, and updates and outlines the performance of each of GHEI’s programs for the 2013 calendar year. At each office, we invited feedback on our interventions; and often found ourselves in long discussions on the finer points of each program and how GHEI can better serve our communities.

This level of collaboration with government officials in planning and evaluating our programs is invaluable. In rural districts like Bibiani-Anwhiaso-Bekwai, local leaders commonly struggle with the problem of setting goals and making plans to improve development and the welfare of their population, without the capacity to follow through with the programs that they know are necessary. This gap between planning and implementation creates the perfect opportunity for organizations like GHEI to step in.

Many of GHEI’s programs have been guided by the advice of the offices that we regularly visit. A great example is the Vision program we are piloting this summer in partnership with University of Texas Houston’s Medical School. The local district has set a goal to do vision screenings at schools; however, due to insufficient staffing, they have prudently chosen against beginning a project they may not be able to finish. To help solve this problem, GHEI has been working with district officials to write screening protocols and bring a small version of the program to life. The Vision pilot we will be running will rely on GHEI resources, international volunteers, and district-level expertise to help complete vision screenings and basic interventions for local students. Our interventions work with already existing public programs, rather than against them (as some NGOs’ unfortunately do).

The value of transparent, accurate and understandable reporting beyond what is required by the state cannot be overstated. Inviting local officials to monitor our organization and directly communicate with us nurtures trust. We have formed relationships with the people at these offices, work well with them, and always enjoy a nice visit.

GHEI strives to function as part of the community. We collaborate with local officials to plan and implement the most relevant programs, and then closely monitor them and report back. We encourage leaders to give us their most critical evaluation. GHEI does not exist in a vacuum. We work openly and strategically with those around us.

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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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