Creating Transformative Change with Service
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi.
This is the quote that truly connects with our gender empowerment programs.
In an academic year, our girls (in Girls LEAP) and boys (in BPC) develop leadership skills. The first term (September to December) they work with a Program Associate to learn about leadership skills and identifying social structures that create gender norms. In the second term (January - April) they share these ideas and new knowledge with younger students in Junior High School. Then in the third term (May - July) students identify issues in their communities and create a service project to address this.
This service portion is what pushes our gender empowerment programs to the next level. Create change makers in our students for life.
We are happy to share with you the projects they worked on this year!
Antoa SHS Girls LEAP students created a role play to show ways students can say no to drugs.
Our Girls LEAP chapter at Antoa SHS identified drug abuse as a major challenge in their school community. They invited a resource person from Governance Watch, an NGO who is into fighting drug abuse and providing services for drug addicts, to give the entire school a talk on the negative effects associated with drug abuse and the need to prevent it now. The members in the Girls LEAP club also used role play to educate their fellow students on the causes of drug abuse being peer pressure, broken homes etc. and the negative outcome associated with them.
Ejisuman SHS Girls LEAP students participated in a radio broadcast to speak out against road accidents.
At the Ejisuman SHS chapter of the Girls LEAP club, students saw road accidents as a slayer in the country. Through a speech and presentations delivered by the students on a community radio at the Ejisu central market, they made it clear that we are only in the half of the year and road accident has claimed hundreds of lives in the Asante region of Ghana. they also echoed on how accidents is making some students drop out of school because their guardians are disabled and as a result they have to stop schooling and even assist them, some of them have become orphans and some students even die on their way to school and back home as a result. The day being a market day, many people were touched by the plea of the students and appreciated their effort. They thought them to recognize road safety rules and signs. They also spoke one on one with drivers, passengers, pedestrians and traders in the market who also gave their consent about the whole issue.
A speaker form the Department of Community Development addresses the students at Asanteman SHS.
BPC at Asanteman SHSrecognized poor sanitation as a bigger challenge in their school. Waste management is something the school has been dealing with for years and these boys in their own small way decided to organize the entire students to listen to educational talk from personnel’s from the Department of Community Development under the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly(KMA) who were invited by the BPC club. They delivered a very nice talk and distributed some flyers which carries a message on proper waste management and personal hygiene.
The Girls LEAP club at Asanteman decided to talk about deviant behaviours precisely on sexual immorality and theft which has become a rampant behaviour of some students in the school. The girls also invited the senior house mistress and a counselor to address this issue. According to the girls these behaviour end some of the perpetrators in school dropout and teenage pregnancies which prevent them from reaching a height on the academic ladder.
Congratulations everyone! You had an amazing year :)
