Empower A Student In Ghana Through Education

Hello GEC Supporters! We so appreciate you and your support.  We wanted to share a few quick updates from our team who was on the ground with our scholars this month in Ghana!

Students- We have wonderful news- Prince won a school-wide award at his Graduation for being first in his class! We are very proud of him and all his hard work!

Partners- We have a new partnership in WAPCA-https://www.wapca.org/. They put together an on-site visit for our kids on where they will be learning about ecosystems, endangered species, and wildlife preservation. This is one of the sites where they will volunteer during the 19-20 school year.  Everyone had an amazing time at programming. We partnered with the West African Primate Conservation Action (WAPCA)  to teach our students about ecosystems, endangered species, deforestation and the 17 global goals for sustainable development.  We met with WAPCA's Director Nuria who we co-designed the program with. The students were able to participate in experiential learning meeting the primates and other wildlife at the zoo hands-on while also having a discussion and completing two different activities to better understand sustainable development, deforestation, and endangered species.  Our students will now be able to volunteer at WAPCA throughout the year. It is our hope to make more partners like WAPCA that we can co-design learning programs. Derrick said that this was one of our best programs yet and could not believe that this was right here in Accra the whole time. 

Alumni Connections-We had all of our alumni who are in the country at our larger GEC event.  Can you believe that three of them are teachers now (Baafi, Ruth, and Akpene)? We are so proud of them and their commitment to Ghanaian children and community through being teachers and inspiring the next generation.  Godwin started his summer internship which is located on a cocoa plant and aligns to his major and interested post-university. Derrick graduated from University and we are so proud! He will then embark on his year of service being a Teaching Assistant at The University of Legon.  William graduated from Michigan State University this past May and is now working in research at Harvard. We cannot express enough our pride with these incredible scholars! Way to set the bar high GEC Alumni students!

Field Day

We participated in Circuit 21 and Circuit 22's field day on Friday.  Our schools are all in Circuit 22 (UStaff, Bawaleshie 1 and Bawaleshie 2).  It was great to meet more of the heads of schools from Circuit 21 and 22 at the event and have them learn more about GEC.  Of course, now we have lots more schools hoping that we will work with them. We made clear though that for now, three school partners are all that we have funding for- but who knows what the future holds. We also had some teachers interested in learning how they could help out and be a part.  A lot of positive GEC press to say the least. Also, amazing news Prince and Sheila both participated in the 4 person relay races and Prince's team won for the primary out of all of the schools!

US +GH- Next Generation Saturday

The next generation of GEC leadership got to spend some quality time on a Saturday filled with adventure and traveling.  Derrick, Godwin (GEC Alumni) and Megan (GEC Youth Board- US member) had an entire day with just the three of them bonding and building connections.  They went to Makola (an outdoor market), the seashore, Arts Centre on a trot-tro and then went to dinner. The three of them let our team know that GEC will continue into the future for a very long time.  

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And... thank you... this work is possible because of great people like YOU who support us. 

Many thanks to YOU, our generous donors who have made such a difference in the lives of Ghanaian youth. Through your funding we were able to help our students attending school, complete their entrance exams for high school and support them in become future leaders through our Changemaker Program. We would like to highlight our 3 students who got into their top choice high schools!  Only 16% of Ghanaian students graduate with a university degree and you just helped these students get one step closer to reaching their dreams.  They could not have done it without you!

Emmanuel will be attending Pope John Boy’s Seminary School in the Eastern region. It is ranked #10 of all secondary schools in Ghana!  Read a little about the school- HERE.  Amatu will be attending Krobo Girls Senior High School in the Eastern Region- Read more about the school-HERE. And Priscilla will be attending the Accra Girls Senior High School in the Great Accra Region. It was rated the best senior high in Accra, Ghana in 2015.  Read more about the school HERE.

Our students also were given the opportunity, as part of GEC’s 2019 Changemaker Program, to learn about famous figures past and present, about historically significant events, as well as community events and movements throughout Ghana. This helps the students reflect on an ever changing society and their roles within it. In honor of Black History Month the students attended the launch of Black History Month in Accra with the African American Association.

The attendees were: Derrick (Program Coordinator), Baafi (Alumni), Sadik (Class 6), Linda (Class 6), Shelia (Class 6). This experience allowed the students to learn about the history of the hardships and challenge of the transatlantic slave trade and about the reasoning behind the 400 years of return celebration taking place in Ghana during 2019.  The program spoke to the role of African Americans in developing the world through innovations in Science, Math, Technology and the Arts. The program also allowed the students to learn what is being done in Ghana to embraces those returning to the diaspora in love and harmony. The students are crafting their own reflection papers from the event.

We hope to share these reflections with you in our next report so you can see the impact you have made on these future young leaders!