Ghana Community Pathways, a nonprofit organization, based in Oregon, was established in 2016. It currently works with villages and communities in Northern Ghana. We work hand-in-hand with international organizations, government bodies, community based organizations, co-operatives, churches and schools to fulfill our project goals. We strive to ensure that our projects are directed by local communities which insures long-lasting impact while promoting personal ownership of the end result. Our projects to date focus around offering greater access to education such as scholarships, building libraries and community computer labs AND helping families address basic human needs such as housing, access to clean water and food security.
We at Ghana Community Pathways accomplish our mission by:
1) Collaborating with village leaders, youth, and district governments to provide:
a) direct services in small enterprise development
b) fostering community through low tech utilities,
c) constructing educational facilities, and/or
d) increasing educational capacity via scholarships & community projects.
2) Providing opportunities for locals and foreign visitors to share ideas, technology, study skills, friendship and culture. We endeavor to foster participation in sustainable, cooperative projects that help to build connections to other like-minded organizations around the world. This develops young people's individual strengths, encourages returning volunteers and moves our donors and friends to become community change agents through a cooperative model.
3) Raising funds through collected donations and grants that can be used to further our mission.
The concept for a nonprofit was first imagined when Kirstin Green and Linda Atwater completed their Peace Corps service and began working within the Talensi Community of northeastern Ghana. There they began developing projects and looking for funding to complete what local community leaders proposed as beneficial to all surrounding villages. The following is a timeline of some accomplishments by Community Wings and Ghana Community Pathways to date:
The issues Ghana Community Pathways Seeks to Address
Our West African population is centered in the Upper East region of Ghana. The villages primarily depend on subsistence farming and petty trading. The youth we service there are primary grades through high school and some through university. We help both boys and girls and recognize the importance of girl-child education and community support of young women completing school. Some students are orphans and others with absentee parents. Without scholarships, the students we sponsor would be unable to attend school. Statistically, these children would otherwise be far more likely to experience deep poverty and hardship.
The parents of these youth are, for the most part, illiterate, disenfranchised and impoverished. Our efforts within the general population and community at large, center around small enterprise development and infrastructure improvements to continually improve the quality of life.
GCP bridges the gap between underprivileged youth and higher education. Youth of this part of Ghana have little access to books, reliable electricity and other learning resources. Many hit an educational and occupational dead end after junior high school graduation and this is where we focus much of our attention. We realize the potential in these youth, in the future of Ghana and in the future of our multicultural world. Our goal is to give them a hand up to help find equity within the system. GCP's work in education in Northern Ghana is necessary to bolster the potential of these youth. Our future depends on educating these bright, hard working young people and building capacity for this beautiful, connected Talensi community. Although education is often seen as the “way out”, most young people of this area that make it to the university level profess a strong desire to return to their home communities to affect change. We simply try to make that journey possible with the support we offer through books, scholarships and access to computers and other modern technology.
Related Programs and Accomplishments (with Ghana Community Pathways projects in bold)
We at Ghana Community Pathways accomplish our mission by:
1) Collaborating with village leaders, youth, and district governments to provide:
a) direct services in small enterprise development
b) fostering community through low tech utilities,
c) constructing educational facilities, and/or
d) increasing educational capacity via scholarships & community projects.
2) Providing opportunities for locals and foreign visitors to share ideas, technology, study skills, friendship and culture. We endeavor to foster participation in sustainable, cooperative projects that help to build connections to other like-minded organizations around the world. This develops young people's individual strengths, encourages returning volunteers and moves our donors and friends to become community change agents through a cooperative model.
3) Raising funds through collected donations and grants that can be used to further our mission.
The concept for a nonprofit was first imagined when Kirstin Green and Linda Atwater completed their Peace Corps service and began working within the Talensi Community of northeastern Ghana. There they began developing projects and looking for funding to complete what local community leaders proposed as beneficial to all surrounding villages. The following is a timeline of some accomplishments by Community Wings and Ghana Community Pathways to date:
- 2001-2004
Linda served in the Peace Corps Ghana teaching at a school for the deaf and engaging in additional development projects. - 2002-2004
Kirstin served in the Peace Corps Ghana as a Water & Sanitation volunteer, meanwhile educating people about HIV/AIDS. - 2005
Kirstin and Linda brought their first group of students to Ghana on a chaperoned service adventure engaging them in small-scale development projects. In addition, Kirstin focused on organizing local stakeholders into a CBO (Community Based Organization) Peal Deng, to give them a legal voice. Linda worked with local women, teaching soap making and securing capital for shea butter production. She served as board member for TAWODEP a local women’s Co-operative and NGO offering literacy, small enterprise development and micro-credit financing. - 2006
We organized funds to help support our first scholarship student and thus started the Ghana Scholarship Fund. - 2007
Linda, Kirstin and Ryan Allmandinger collaborated with the Coronado Rotary Club, the local Ghanaian Rotary chapter in Tamale, and other key community members in the Talensi Nabdam district to complete a $17,000 borehole and dam dredging project. Linda coordinated the efforts in Ghana to complete a clean water project that resulted in a village water pump and dam repairs. - 2012
Kirstin Green and Ryan register Community Wings as an NGO. - 2015
Linda becomes part of Community Wings and adds the Ghana Scholarship program to the nonprofit. Community Wings raises funds to create a learning center (library and computer lab) for the underserved population of the Talensi Nabdam district. - 2016
Linda, David Kmetovic, Drew Racine and Janice Dahnke register Ghana Community Pathways as a nonprofit to continue supporting youth in an ever growing scholarship fund. The fund serves 33 junior high, high school and university students in Ghana. College level students promise to return to their home community to serve when they graduate. - 2017 A very significant year for GCP! We completed construction on the Remedy Library and three classrooms that form the beginnings of the Oasis Pathways Academy - our new school. With teachers Suzie and Jennifer leading over 30 eager students, our school has become a reality.
The issues Ghana Community Pathways Seeks to Address
Our West African population is centered in the Upper East region of Ghana. The villages primarily depend on subsistence farming and petty trading. The youth we service there are primary grades through high school and some through university. We help both boys and girls and recognize the importance of girl-child education and community support of young women completing school. Some students are orphans and others with absentee parents. Without scholarships, the students we sponsor would be unable to attend school. Statistically, these children would otherwise be far more likely to experience deep poverty and hardship.
The parents of these youth are, for the most part, illiterate, disenfranchised and impoverished. Our efforts within the general population and community at large, center around small enterprise development and infrastructure improvements to continually improve the quality of life.
GCP bridges the gap between underprivileged youth and higher education. Youth of this part of Ghana have little access to books, reliable electricity and other learning resources. Many hit an educational and occupational dead end after junior high school graduation and this is where we focus much of our attention. We realize the potential in these youth, in the future of Ghana and in the future of our multicultural world. Our goal is to give them a hand up to help find equity within the system. GCP's work in education in Northern Ghana is necessary to bolster the potential of these youth. Our future depends on educating these bright, hard working young people and building capacity for this beautiful, connected Talensi community. Although education is often seen as the “way out”, most young people of this area that make it to the university level profess a strong desire to return to their home communities to affect change. We simply try to make that journey possible with the support we offer through books, scholarships and access to computers and other modern technology.
Related Programs and Accomplishments (with Ghana Community Pathways projects in bold)
- Creation of Peal Deng Community Based Organization in the Talensi catchment area
- Soap making co-operative
- Shea butter production group
- Beds constructed for local deaf school children
- Desks constructed for primary school classrooms
- Project facilitation of Village Bicycle Project, providing hundreds of bicycles and bicycle maintenance training for men and women of the Talensi area
- Worked with Namelteng, a local NGO to provide solar lanterns to the community
- Board member for TAWADEP a women’s co-operative, micro-credit NGO
- Project management with Rotary Club International for dam repair of two livestock watering ponds
- Borehole water pump serving 4 villages
- Dam dredging and tree planting
- Athletic programs in soccer and volleyball
- Computer lab for St. Joseph primary school
- Renovation of 5 classrooms
- Establishment of Peal Deng/Community Wings Learning Center
- Book and laptop drive for Peal Deng/Community Wings Learning Center
- Ongoing scholarship fund
- Designed and built library and first three classrooms of Oasis Community Academy.
- Developed curriculum, hired teachers, began classes in Fall 2017.
- Five service adventures to date, bringing 25 Americans to Ghana to complete service work and engage in cultural exchange on an intimate and unique level.