Fundraising, Recruiting and Prepping! Oh My!

To begin with, thank you to all our wonderful 2013 SSL volunteers.

We rely on you in countless ways. You have all been amazing and inspiring and somehow made the summer pass ridiculously quickly. Those of us who work with GHEI full time know the impact of what we do. We see evidence of it every day. Supporting the community is always a part of our daily focus.

To some degree, we get used to it. But when you come in, and we see the way you react and the awe in your expression, it reminds us of the extraordinary importance of our work.

There has been a short radio silence on this end. We were exhausted and took some much needed rest. Now, we’re back. And with our new found motivation and energy, we are going to hit the ground running.

There are almost too many new exciting things happening right now at GHEI. In an effort to keep track of them, here’s a quick run-down of what you should know about:

1. #STARTARYOT Challenge: We’ve partnered with Ryot News and are taking part in this year’s 5-week fundraising challenge to see how much we can gain. Check it out, spread the word and donate if you can. Let’s see how much we can raise together!

2. As part of the challenge, we’re also fundraising for our scholarship program. Senior high school in Ghana is not universal and the required tuition fees are often extremely difficult for families in Humjibre to afford. GHEI fundraises and offers scholarships to give deserving students the opportunity to continue their education. I will be posting more about scholarships in the next couple of weeks as we move toward the September 15th fundraising deadline.

3. We've just published our Annual Report and will be creating new promotional materials. For a beautiful overview of all of our organizational goals and programs in the last year, check out the 12-page report covering June 2012 through May 2013.

4. Summer Serve and Learn 2014: If it’s possible to top this year’s SSL programs, we are going to do it! We’ve had so many positive experiences this year. We are reflecting and carefully evaluating - the good and the bad - and will be rolling out improved programs for 2014. Stay tuned to learn more about them and the role you can play in the coming months.

To our volunteers, friends and supporters: thank you. Writing this, I’m overjoyed to be part of all these things. Thank you for making them possible.

To learn more about how you can help fundraise for scholarships, or if you’re interested in any other GHEI promotional materials, send me an email at communications@ghei.org!

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Girls Empowerment, Lessons Learned

That awkward moment after you say goodbye where nobody wants to take the first step to leave. “Maybe we could start over again?” one of the camp participants suggested. The girls sat in silence with their certificates of completion, goodie bags, and folders with all the work they had done. Communication during the camp had been more difficult than the volunteers expected. But as the workshops progressed, everybody learned to change their vocabulary and speech just enough so that they found a language everybody understood. In addition to the six official workshops, there were home visits, a drumming and dancing class, and other activities to help the groups find common ground and bond in a more relaxed atmosphere. 

Workshop One: Money and Business Management
 
After a few activities on the importance of differentiating between wants and needs and keeping track of purchases, Madam Comfort, a local shop owner, spoke to the girls about what it takes to start a business. Sitting on their benches, they leaned in and listened intently to Comfort’s advice “work hard…take your studies seriously… make plans….”

Workshop Two: Family Planning

Entering the community center on Wednesday, balloons scattered the floor. After having the girls grab as many as they wanted, the first activity was revealed: “This is how many children you will have. With a set sum of money, see how long you can provide for them.” As the girls moved between stations paying for food, healthcare, education and clothes for each of their future children, the lesson became apparent: bigger families are harder to support, and if you want to provide well for your children, you’re better off with fewer. 

Workshop Three: Safe Sex

Thursday began with making sock puppets and using them to role play different important conversations between partners. After some demonstrations, the girls sat down to talk with a local nurse. Judith spoke to them on their level. They opened up, asked honest questions and were satisfied with her answers. 

Workshop Four: Self- Confidence

While confidence is instilled in boys from a young age in Humjibre, girls do not get the same treatment. To help the girls become surer of themselves and comfortable speaking to others, the girls practiced expressing what they like about themselves and taking turns complimenting each other. 

Workshop Five: Leadership   

On Friday, the girls worked to understand what characteristics they would need to develop to be successful in specific occupations and how to make decisions for a group. They then sat for a talk from our very own Agnes Obeng. Beyond being a strong force on the GHEI team, Aggie is a mother, the president of her church and an involved community member in Humjibre. 

Workshop Six: Choice- Rugby and Happy Feet

Using a Nerf football, everybody split into two teams and played touch rugby. With the exception of one of our volunteers, this was a new game for the girls and volunteers alike. They ran around, laughed, and passed the ball in the wrong direction as equals. After the game and singing some football chants that aptly expressed their enthusiasm, everybody sat down to watch a movie together. 

The workshops presented new information and reiterated some ideas that the girls had seen before. Along with support and some translation from our local staff, the workshops were orchestrated by the volunteers. They played a greater role than just teaching useful lessons for the girls as they mature. The volunteers were positive role models and their presence provided encouragement for the girls to advocate for themselves and work toward their goals. To all our Girls Empowerment volunteers and camp participants, you have been amazing: Thank you. Y3 da mo ase paa!

Don't forget to check our Facebook where the final GE photos will be posted tomorrow!

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Girls Empowerment Check-In

The lives of Ghanaian teenage girls who have just finished junior high school hold a lot of uncertainty. Some wait for their exam results to learn if, and which senior high school they will attend. Others just wait to see what the next step in their lives will be. In many impoverished places like Humjibre, educating females is seen as a trade-off. It is thought that girls and women belong in the home, so there is no use in wasting resources by putting them in school. However, educated females ensure the health and education of future generations. For a community, their role creates now what is seen as one of the most successful paths out of poverty. GHEI’s annual Girls Empowerment camp sets aside two weeks for volunteers to help motivate local girls who have just finished junior high school, and give them the knowledge and confidence they will need to continue with their education and fulfill their aspirations. 
 

 Each SSL session completes a vastly different project, so the program changes throughout the summer. For this one, there are about 15 local girls participating in the camp. Workshops with the volunteers are held in the early evenings so that the girls can still tend to their household responsibilities. 

 Sunday night was the first opportunity for everybody to meet. No small affair, the girls had been meeting and preparing for their Girls Empowerment Presentation all-month. When the music came on, they entered the community center in two lines from the back. They danced their way onto the stage and into a line, each with a letter to spell “Girls Empowerment.” Next, they sang this year’s theme song “We are Women for the Future” and put on a hysterically funny performance of the GHEI classic drama The Importance of Girl Child Education. Afterwards, the girls preformed a choreographed dance and the Humjibre Queen Mother; Nana Adwoa Ampo II took the stage. This part was completely unplanned. She spoke about different opportunities available to girls and to the delight of the audience, even lead them in a song. After the presentation, the girls, bubbling with excitement, started a dance party on the stage. The volunteers joined them, taking their first steps to get acquainted and learn their first azonto moves. 

Over the week, workshops began. So far, volunteers have met with the girls on the topics of money, business management, family planning and safe sex. The community center has temporarily become a space reserved for girls to grow and learn. Every day, they are exposed to new ideas and encouraged by an all-female group of volunteers and local staff. This camp is a positive force in the girls’ lives; where they will become more confident, knowledgeable and prepared to face the next step.

More photos will be posted on our Facebook and be sure to check back next week to learn more about each workshop!
 
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Spotlight on Data Collection Teams

The Malaria Prevention volunteers left Humjibre early Monday morning, but will not be easily forgotten. As was mentioned in our last post, the volunteers were split into three teams. Each team member was assigned one of three roles: Data Coordinator, Logistics Coordinator, or Field Coordinator. The volunteers came from diverse backgrounds and varied experiences that enabled them to complement each other as they fulfilled their roles and worked together on teams. The system proved to be extraordinarily successful. Teams worked independently, understood what needed to be done and accomplished it in record time.


They were so effective, they were each able to consistently finish their work ahead of schedule. Survey session house lists were completed early and interviewers were given the choice to do either re-visits, get a head start on their next houses or go home and get some extra rest. The volunteers took advantage of extra time by bringing computers to the field to begin data entry during surveys. The teams were completely comfortable tackling their workloads. About getting ahead, Team Exquisite explained that it just “feels good to get it done.”

***

Team Profiles- Team Awesome

     This team was constantly joking and finishing each other’s fictional stories. While accusing one another of creating power struggles related to stolen pens and supplies, one of them admitted “deep down inside in this little place in our hearts, we actually love each other.” These guys had become so close; they started waking up every morning for a team work-out and cross training session. They brushed their teeth with a shared flashlight and created a culture all their own.

     Luckily, their interviewers had extremely good luck with visits. They visited houses, found everybody they needed to speak with, and moved on. The work felt easy, and their sense of accomplishment showed in their constant smiles. 

Team Profiles- Team Big

     The first day that teams met, Mensah entered the classroom ready to see who he’d be working with and asked: “Where’s our team?” When Team Two motioned him over he exclaimed “Whoa we’re big!” To cement the name, Alfred- at a staggering 6’6’’- stood up to greet him. Ironically, team members were often absent, lost or otherwise unaccounted for, and Team Big was by far the smallest working group.

     They refused to let this deter them. While all three teams were given an organizational system for their surveys, Team Big formulated the best working plan for them and created a unique system that each member understood perfectly. No matter how many revisits they had or team members they were lacking, Team Big was always prepared with a supply of biscuits, water and optimism, ready to take on their next challenge.

Team Profiles- Team Exquisite

     While the origin of their name was never fully understood, Team Exquisite lived up to the uniqueness and prestige that their title implied. This team had a consistently positive attitude and shared their good vibes with the others working around them. Team Exquisite took charge of keeping everybody’s progress updated on the white board and playing relaxing music for the larger group.

     When asked what set them apart, they answered with confidence, “Our work speaks for itself.” Managed by women, Team Exquisite was professional, competent and efficient. Sure enough, they were the first group to completely finish both their surveys and data entry.

***

While our initial goal was 250 surveys, the teams completed 267 with ease. It makes me wonder whether we could manage an even more ambitious goal next year. Overall, this was an ideal group of volunteers and an amazing group of people. They preformed beyond anybody’s expectations with the surveys, and learned a lot about life in Humjibre in the process. The volunteers grew tremendously in their understanding of culture and development, and formed genuine relationships with not just each other, but also their Ghanaian counterparts.

To all of our Malaria Prevention volunteers and interviewers: Thank you. Y3 da mo ase paa!

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Malaria Prevention Check-In

It has been almost a week since the Malaria Prevention volunteers have arrived, and in that time they been nothing but spectacular.

Their main concern is implementing an extensive annual evaluation survey throughout all of GHEI’s Malaria Prevention Program catchment areas. The survey consists of three parts; the first collecting general census information and two additional questionnaires to be filled out for each woman of reproductive age and child under five respectively. Depending on how many people live in each household, implementing the survey can take the interviewer anywhere from a very short amount of time to several hours. Data from each survey is then brought back to the volunteer team for review before the interviewer can move on to visiting the next house.

Administering the survey is a huge undertaking. This year GHEI has 17 trained interviewers, recruited from our local full-time staff, community health workers and volunteer teachers. These interviewers are split into three teams, each with a lead interviewer and interviewer-in-training along with three Summer Serve and Learn volunteers who have each taken the role of Data Coordinator, Logistics Coordinator, or Field Coordinator. The use of these defined positions for SSL volunteers is new this year, but has so far shown to be extremely beneficial. The volunteers are taking ownership of their responsibilities and each making a great contribution to some small part of the survey project.

The volunteers engaged in several trainings on GHEI’s Malaria Prevention Program and data collection before surveys began. They were incredibly enthusiastic and receptive to the trainings, taking detailed notes and asking well-thought out questions. Once the teams officially started surveys on Friday, they were professional and the volunteers were ready to effectively manage interview teams and code household surveys. All of the teams were based together in one of GHEI’s classrooms on Friday, where there was an air of positive energy as people happily dug into their work.

Everybody mostly took the weekend off from surveys- some elected to do some coding- and spent most of their time relaxing and taking part in cultural activities around Humjibre. Saturday morning brought a visit to Happy’s farm to learn about small-scale farming and cocoa production in Ghana. In the evening, volunteers participated in a community-wide workshop on the traditional Kete style of drumming and dancing followed by an informal workshop on the now popular Azonto dance style at a local drink spot. On Sunday, many volunteers attended local churches, tried their hands at doing their own laundry and participated in a pick-up football match with some of Humjibre’s youth. 

 

We have a full house with nine volunteers (including one awesome coordinator, Amy Henderson Riley) who are all a pleasure to have around. They have fun, but also work hard and are excited about the project at hand. At the close of work on Friday, 36 surveys were completed, and we hope to reach our goal of 250 by the end of this week.

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The Second Annual Quiz Competition

Friday marked GHEI’s highly anticipated and extremely popular Second Annual Quiz Competition. The competition gives students from each of Humjibre’s schools an opportunity to come together, compete side-by-side, and share what they have learned. In total, more than 600 people including students, teachers, members of the Library Board, the Humjibre Chief and Elders and other community members attended the event at the JoeKwart Memorial Community Center. Supporters packed the center and sat by their schools where they were ready to celebrate every correct answer.

The event was split into three rounds: one for Lower Primary (P1-P3 classes), one for Upper Primary (P4-P6 classes) and one for Junior High School. Teams of three, representing each of the four primary schools, competed during the two primary rounds. For the third round, teams from the two JHS’ in Humjibre competed head-to-head. In total, 30 students participated.

 Teams took turns using a set amount of time to attempt to answer each question. If they got it right, points would be added toward their final score. If they got it wrong, the question would be passed on to the next team for bonus points.

In its second year, the competition has become more sophisticated. Teachers demanded that the schools be placed in a random order since it is advantageous to follow weaker teams. Schools that were less prepared will want to prove themselves and become the ones to beat next year. Students competing for multiple years and family dynasties have also emerged. Moving forward, competitors will know to watch out for the all-stars and their younger siblings as they get older. To help control the lively crowd and deter potential cheaters, GHEI threatened to hand out yellow and red cards to schools who engaged in foul play. Luckily, no red cards were awarded and no one had to be disqualified. After close competitions, the two first-place schools were Memorial Primary and Deeper JHS.

Organizing the event was a tremendous effort. GHEI is thrilled to have hosted another successful Quiz Competition and grateful for the help of our two volunteers, Dan Doverspike and John Schaidler, who played an integral role in the its planning.

Overall, the event was a great opportunity for community members to get excited about books and rally around their schools. Clement Donkor spoke during the event to remind everybody that its’ purpose is to support the education of Humjibre’s schoolchildren. Academic competitions give students an opportunity to challenge themselves, practice critical thinking and public speaking, and help them grow to be future leaders. Everyone at the center was invested in the competition; at one point the Quiz Master had to turn around and advise some of the teachers who could not contain their excitement; “If you have a suggestion, put it in the box!” Those teachers, along with their students, GHEI and the entire community will be looking forward to the event next year.

As always, don’t forget to check our Facebook where more photos will be posted on Monday!

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The Soroano Book Drop

Book Boxes, a project that GHEI staff have been planning for months and dreaming about for years, finally became a reality on Monday in Soroano. Every last detail of the event was planned out, and somehow it went perfectly. As promised a few weeks ago, here’s what went down.

Parade of the Boxes

GHEI staff met early in Soroano, picked up our newly made boxes from a local carpenter, locked the new books inside and carried them to Soroano DA Primary School. The boxes were stacked in a nice pyramid, a white sheet was placed over them and teachers lined their students up to begin the presentation ceremony.

Once everybody was ready, GHEI staff went first, and then the chief, head teacher and an elder took turns speaking to Soroano’s schoolchildren on the great value of books.

It was an impressive sight; topped only by how excited about book boxes the Soroano community really is. Hearing their leaders’ statements and speaking with teachers, PTA members and others, you get the feeling that everybody truly believes this project will make a great positive impact.

Soroano Chief Speaking to Students

GHEI Staff, Soroano Chief, Elders and Teachers with the Book Boxes

Primary 1 and Primary 2 Students

After the ceremony, it was time to bring each classroom their box and explain how to use them. To go with each of the six primary classes, GHEI staff split into groups of two to hang posters in classrooms, go over the sign out sheet, unlock the boxes and start reading.

"Readers are Leaders"

Once the boxes were opened, everybody was reading. Students took breaks only to whisper to each other about their books.



One of these  photos is the contents of the store closet for the Primary 2 classroom. The second is the Primary 2 Book Box which was added to that closet yesterday. While students in Soroano have a school to go to every day, resources are scarce.

Ghana is one of less than a handful of African nations which has achieved universal primary education. The challenge for Ghana now has turned to quality. Even if children are going to school- it is possible that they are not learning anything. While the situation here is probably not that bleak, educational quality still needs to be addressed. With the new Junior African Writers Series books, our hope is that the creation of a rich-text environment will improve schools and make an actual impact in Soroano’s children’s education.

It was absolutely amazing seeing a school full of students immersed in books, with their whole community behind them. While this is just a pilot program that has not been evaluated yet, there is no question that Soroano’s students will benefit from these books.

                                                    ***


As always with our outreaches, don’t forget to check our Facebook where more photos will be posted soon!

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A New Look for SSL

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” –Benjamin Franklin 

Sitting at Sister Comfort’s, our two literacy volunteers did not know exactly where the quote came from, but they could both recite it verbatim. While the Malaria Prevention and Girls' Empowerment sessions remain untouched, the GHEI Summer Serve and Learn (SSL) program has undergone a partial restructuring this summer. Our SSL volunteers have always been deeply involved and appreciated for their work with GHEI and in the community. We are now simply asking the question of how to further extend this for volunteers. How can we best use their skills and expertise so that everybody gains the most from working together?

Photo by John Schaidler

Our newest volunteer, Dan Doverspike, explained the question perfectly. “How can one make a lasting impact from a two-week internship? How can one truly contribute?” As a Library Intern focused mainly on overseeing the upcoming 2nd Annual Quiz Competition, Dan is joining our Soroano Book Box aficionado, John to round out the first session of SSL. Both Dan and John bring their experience as teachers, book lovers and experts in the field to the specific project they are each focused on.

Even with just two volunteers, the children know to come by all the time and these guys are constantly reading, playing football and engaging them with other fun games. Volunteer season is upon us in Humjibre. 

Last year, the community-wide 1st Annual Quiz Competition was a major hit. This year, GHEI hopes to build on that success by doing away with the Read-a-Thon to allow students and teachers to focus their efforts on the Quiz Competition’s assigned texts. Depending on their grade-level, classes are either assigned Keith Whiteley’s Kagiso’s Mad Uncle, Revenge of the Gods by Richard Moverley or Azasu Son of the Hunter by Nico Kofi Adiku. Each of these books has been hand-picked by GHEI staff to be at the appropriate reading level, culturally relevant, and interesting to the students. Copies of the books were dispersed to classrooms, with extras available for the most determined competitors at the GHEI library, and students are now busy preparing for the Quiz Competition next Friday.

Photo by John Schaidler

As part of his role in overseeing the coordination of this event, Dan has been diligently crafting the all-important quiz questions. Beyond their specific projects, he and John spend time learning about education in Ghana and helping out with the Humjbre Community Library and GHEI’s Reading Club and YEP English classes. In conversations with Ghanaian teachers, they point out that no country has a perfect system and everybody still has a lot to learn. Working with educators here, both sides can find ways to make improvements in their classrooms.

No matter how small, these improvements will have a lasting impact. 

To see more pictures from this year’s SSL Literacy Projects, be sure to check our Facebook where they will be posted in the next few days!

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Thank You from an SHS Mom

Toward the end of our weekly education staff meeting, a woman walked into the classroom, introduced herself and said that she wanted to tell us something. She was a little nervous about speaking to the group, but sure of what she had to say. Her feet were firmly planted, arms were tight at her sides and she held her head high.

Her daughter had received a scholarship for senior high school from GHEI about four years ago. She recently graduated, and now her mother was here to show her gratitude.

After her statement, the woman relaxed. She was proud of her daughter, and excited to be in the room with all of us. Warmth radiated from her face as she personally thanked each one of us and shook our hands.

In this woman’s eyes we were miracle workers. We were actually just the education staff and volunteer teachers finishing up a sometimes boring meeting. GHEI is proud to organize our SHS Scholarship Program, but the thanks ought to go to our donors who fund 100% of it. And the woman’s daughter should be congratulated. She worked hard, studied every day and graduated. We just put our trust in her.

As a whole, our scholarship recipients are enormously successful. The program boasts a 98% retention rate and several former scholarship recipients have continued their studies at the tertiary level. There are currently 13 students participating in the program and in total 72 scholarships have been awarded to deserving students in the Humjibre area since the program’s inception in 2005. While GHEI works to help as many students as we can, each year there are many more who unfortunately do not go on to senior high school due to a lack of available funds.

Mother (front right) with the full GHEI Education Staff

The woman’s statement illustrated the powerful effect that these scholarships and GHEI’s work can have. It’s amazing thinking about what unknown impact that extra push may have on our students, their families and the community as a whole.

The Soroano chief last week talked about how he dreamed his children could be more educated than he was. For this woman, those dreams had come true.

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Introducing the Soroano Book Box Project

GHEI is proud to announce that the Soroano Book Box Project is officially in motion! Headed by Summer Serve and Learn 2012 Alumni John Schaidler, this unique pilot program is designed to improve literacy in the GHEI community by targeting young readers.

Yesterday John, Happy and Shantie traveled to Soroano to propose the idea to the Chief. Moving past the regular proceedings, John and Happy explained the plan: conduct an outreach program and then donate a set of carefully chosen books to each primary school classroom. Making culturally-appropriate, high-interest books available will improve students’ reading abilities by keeping them engaged in the material. Once students learn to read, they can read to learn and continue to expand their education.

 The Chief was immediately receptive. “You see for education, I take it as very important in my life. Though I could not go as far as I wanted, I want my children to go even further than is necessary. Without education, no country and no village would be able to develop. With education, you see that the town develops rapidly; so I am very interested.” In Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update, George Psacharopoulus of the World Bank concludes that primary schooling remains “the number one priority.” For each additional year of schooling in developing countries, a student’s lifetime earnings are increased by 12.4% for girls and 11.1% for boys (Psacharopoulos, 1994).

With the Chief’s blessing, we made our way to Soroano’s schools to discuss the project with their teachers. The team explained that the donation would be comprised of all new books- mostly Junior African Writers Series and some useful textbooks. Passing around a few example JAWS books, one teacher admitted that he was so engrossed he had to read the whole thing through.

Soroano Head Teacher and Primary Teachers, John, Soroano Cheif and Elders, Shantie and Happy

JAWS books are unlike many of books that make their way to libraries in rural African villages. Children see themselves in JAWS characters, and can relate to them, their settings and their experiences. There is plenty of research showing that if children can imagine themselves in a book, they are going to spend more time reading it. So, if you want to teach a child to read for pleasure and instill the value of reading, that child needs a book that they can relate to. As John explained afterwards, “If you’re sitting here in Humjibre and everybody is White and drinking tea and playing croquet and doing things that have nothing to do with your life- of course you’re going to feel not engaged and not pay that much attention to that book.” These JAWS books however, will be cherished.

Sorting Some of the Books for Donation

This isn’t a concept that is new to John. You may recall his guest blog “They Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham” about his failed attempt to introduce Dr. Seuss to Humjibre children last summer.

This time around will be a “step forward.” The Book Box Project was created specifically for the Soroano Community and they are excited about it. At the end of the presentation for Soroano’s schools, the one question the head teacher asked was “So when can we begin?”

“Monday.” The pilot will begin with a baseline survey to assess students’ current literacy levels and an outreach program using songs and other activities to teach them about proper ways to use and care for books. Once this has been completed, the book boxes will formally be presented to classrooms and the evaluation phase of the project will begin.

Be sure to check back in a few weeks to see the presentation ceremony!

Sources:

Psacharopoulos, G. (1994). Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update. World Development, 22(9), 1325-1343. Retrieved June 7, 2013, from http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1222150.files/Session%207/PsacharopoulosGlobalUpdate.pdf

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