Sustainable Development & Modes of Empowerment
in Northern Ghana
SUMMER QUARTER IN GHANA
2007
July 30 - August 31, 2007
APPLICATION DEADLINE APRIL 16th
An Interdisciplinary
UW Program sponsored by
H. M. Jackson School of International
Studies, and African Studies
University of
Washington - Rural Aid Action Programme, Ghana Exchange Program
Program
Description
 The
Upper West Region of Ghana, in the Savanna region of West Africa, is the
home of the Dagaaba and Sissala people. Renowned for their unique
xylophone traditions which are markers of community and clan identity,
they farm and manage lands that are alternately extremely dry or wet.
Even though the potential for local resource development is strong,
eight out of ten people live below the poverty line, due to limited and
variable access to resources. The long, hot dry season encourages
seasonal southward migration by men, which further affects the stability
of community human resources. Women, children and elderly people make up
the stable population of this area and they have become the focus for
new community-based sustainable development projects and programs.
This summer, 2007, with sponsorship
from the Jackson School of International Studies, a new UW intensive
five week program in Ghana’s remote Upper West Region provides students
an opportunity to get hands-on exposure to community-based sustainable
development projects that are on the leading edge of international
development practices. Hosted by a local Ghanaian grassroots NGO, Rural
Aid Action Programme (RAAP) in Hain, students will participate in
workshops and learn about the culture and society of Upper West Region
and development in Ghana from the local RAAP staff members and Ghanaian
lecturers from University of Development Studies. Students will also
learn about the relationship of local NGOs to larger international aid
organizations, through discussions about funding sources and
micro-financing. Visits to RAAP project sites throughout the area will
enable students to learn about culturally sensitive approaches, project
cycles, including implementation processes, community leadership, and
participatory learning and analysis. Students will learn how existing
beliefs, practices and performance are also being tapped as new sources
of empowerment.
In the second part of the program,
students will be paired with specific communities to take a more direct
role in local projects which will include opportunities for village home
stays. The RAAP projects focus holistically on health, education, and
livelihood security, as well as gender advocacy and human rights.
Projects include sustainable HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention programs,
adolescent reproductive health care, working with traditional birth
attendants, livestock management, adult non-formal education, nursery
school education, gender sensitivity training and community leadership.
UW students will be expected to volunteer as interns at selected sites
in partnership with Ghanaian youth and community leaders, and to help
cultivate ideas for ongoing future sustainable collaborative efforts
that they can continue to participate in once they have returned to the
UW campus. In addition, students may choose to take a new autumn quarter
course (CHID 498), specifically designed to help students continue to
build or expand ideas and projects learned through international service
learning. Students may also apply to do an extended internship with RAAP
following the end of this program.
This spring and summer, UW students and
program participants will help raise remaining construction funds for
the existing Ping Nursery/Daycare Project initiated in 2005 by UW
students and faculty, and which is now receiving coordination assistance
from RAAP. 180 children have already pre-enrolled for the school. This
summer, UW Ghana Program students will also have an opportunity to work
with children at the nursery in the xylophone village of Ping!
To learn
more about the Ping Project, visit:
http://jsis.washington.edu/advise/Ping/Ping.htm
Satellite View of Ping and Hain
(Han):
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/GH/0/Piri.html
Accommodation:
Housing for students will be provided by a local
grassroots NGO, Rural Aid Action Programme (RAAP) and at the Leadership
Development Center LEADEC in Hain, Jirapa Lambussie District, in the
Upper West Region. The LEADEC center where students are housed is clean,
with beds, mattresses and screened windows. It has a borehole pump with
safe drinking water, pit toilets, and shared bath. Students will be two
to a room. Food for the program will be served at the LEADEC facility,
and is Ghanaian cuisine (starchy yam/cassava or corn meal base with
vegetable or fish or meat soups, rice and beans. The village of Hain, 2
km. South of LEADEC, has a clinic, electricity, bus service, cold
drinks, and shops, and computers are available at the RAAP Regional
Office. Although cell phone coverage with OneTouch is available in most
areas of Upper West (including LEADEC and other areas that have no
electricity), internet access is only sporadically available in Jirapa,
which is 40 min. drive by motor vehicle from Hain.
UW Credit:
Students in the program will
maintain their UW residency and any financial aid eligibility already
established. Credits earned will be recorded on the students’ UW
transcripts and apply directly to UW graduation requirements. Credits
earned in the program may be used toward the International Studies major
tracks in development, global health, or human rights and toward the
African Studies minor, or other departments upon approval. Twelve UW
quarter credits may be earned.
An online application is available at:
http://jsis.washington.edu/advise/catalog/ghanaapp07.html
For more information about RAAP:
http://www.raapghana.org/
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/where_we_work/ghana/integrated_approach/index.htm
Student Report of 2005 Ghana Program by Glorya Cho:
http://abroadviewmagazine.com/?p=281 |
