BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF VILLAGES
Nyobok-Nkunzesi is located in the Talensi-Nabdam District in the Upper East Region of Ghana. There are approximately 600 people living in this village. Although the entire northern Ghana is economically deprived in comparison to the other parts of the country, this village is the most deprived and women are hit harder in the midst of their struggles to care for themselves and their families because of their lack of resources and economic independence. Women's access to health care and education is very much limited for economic and cultural reasons.
BACKROUND OF THE PROJECT
Project GROW: Ghana Rural Opportunities for Women is a community development project started by students, staff, and faculty at UBC Okanagan, Canada in 2007 to support economically marginalized group of women in Nyobok-Nkunzesi in Ghana to achieve economic independence in order to improve their quality of life. The women have collectively identified their needs and determined the program’s design and objectives. Every household is represented in Project GROW.
Although they do not have formal education, the women of GROW have skills and knowledge that can lead to a better life; they just lack the resources. When prompted, they set out a list of simple, achievable fundraising objectives such as donkeys and carts, goats, mosquito nets, grinding mill, and a plough. With these basic resources, the women felt they could develop income-generating activities based on their skills, build economic capacity in the region, and improve the health and educational opportunities for themselves and their children.
Project GROW was born of research conducted by Vida Yakong, a Master of Science in Nursing student at UBCO and a native of Nyobok-Nkunzesi in Ghana, regarding women's barriers to seeking reproductive health care in particular in rural Ghana. When this rare opportunity to learn more about the important links between high maternal mortality rates in rural Ghana and economic independence of women presented itself, a group of concerned and committed students, faculty and staff got together to generate fundraising ideas to support these women generate income. The budget for this project is based on the women's self identified needs. Donations to this project are delivered directly to the women without any administrative cost.
VISION: To promote gender equality and equity through creating opportunities for women’s economic independence and empowerment.
MISION: To facilitate women’s access to basic needs for quality family life in a more dignified way.
GOAL
To establish, facilitate and sustain economic opportunities for the economically marginalized rural women in northern Ghana.
OBJECTIVES
1) Facilitate empowerment in women
2) Increase access to health care
3) Decrease incidences of malaria in the entire community
4) Decrease malnutrition in children and women
5) Decrease maternal mortality and morbidity rates
6) Decrease infant mortality and morbidity rates
7) Increase girls' access to education and
8) Promote gender equality, equity and build peace in families.
FUNDRASING STRATEGIES
Some of the strategies for creating awareness about the project and raising funds include sale of greetings cards during special occasions such as Christmas and Valentine day to both the campus and outside community, presentations to organized groups, friends and intensive proposal writing. Your donation to this project is in the right direction to making a difference in the entire region.
Thanks for taking off your time to vote for this project to make a differences.
Vida Yakong
Email: vidayakong@yahoo.ca
Phone #: 250-859-0869, Canada