>>Community Based human Service and outreach program
Education Development and Book Drive Program
Overview
One of the objectives of Solutions International Inc. (SII) as a non-profit organization is to improve the quality of education of the less fortunate children in Akim District and the Northern regions of Ghana. The organization seeks to improve elementary and high schools in the rural village of Akim District and the northern regions of Ghana through Book Drive and Computer Literacy Program.
The Learning Environment in Akim District and the Northern Districts of Ghana
Akim District and the Northern Regions of Ghana comprise very small villages that struggle to obtain educational assistance from federal, state and local governments. In most cases, only the big city schools are privileged to these resources these leaves the small towns and villages to fend for resources to support education. The villages have few convenient stores, but none sold school supplies and stationary. The students travel miles into the next city to purchase needed school supplies. Growing up in this village as a child, the concept of a library was a luxury since there was none available in my village. The students in these villages and other rural villages see books like gold and it is frustrating to be deprived of very simple learning tools.
This remained a distant dream for me even though I was privileged enough to have developed a keen interest in reading from my Catholic school education. Today there is still very little change. There are three elementary schools, but still no library and schools need to be stocked with the resources needed to benefit children in the community.
SII is born out of the desire to give back to my community and help another child imagine the possibilities beyond that small village in Ghana. The problems with the students are social and financial issues and have nothing to do with lack of interest or hard work needed for the students to succeed.
The students living in these villages do not have text books or stationary and even when they do, books are outdated or in short supply. These are children with so much potential but limited resources to harness these potentials due to poor learning condition and environment. The teachers in these villages also have to teach with limited resources that are characterized by no school supplies, learning under a scotch sun and always under trees in summer and out of school in the spring.
SII believes that knowledge is power and helping these children reach their highest potential starts with addressing their basic needs – providing books, stationary, improve class room conditions and to provide a center that teaches skill that can help them in future.
Book Drive Project
SII book drive project is aimed at promoting reading, writing and communication skills in elementary and high schools. In Akim District and Northern Region of Ghana, school supplies such as text books, writing materials, reading desk, lockers and all resources that make class room an avenue for learning are limited and in some cases lacking in these communities. The little resources available are distributed within the regional capital schools, while the village schools are left with no resources. Classrooms are skeletal images compared to what is considered substandard schools in developed nations. Students study under the tree in summer and out of school in spring because of dilapidated class rooms.
It is our mission to collect, through donations; many used text books in math, sciences, English, Grammar, and novels, other miscellaneous items such as note books, pens and pencils, backpacks, etc for students in primary and secondary to be distributed to these schools. And to provide assistance through committee self help initiative to renovate schools.
SII Computer Literacy Center Project
In a world where communication and computer literacy evolves at an increasingly high speed, children in Akim District and the northern regions of Ghana schools are light years away from understanding the basic concept of computer, data processing and the internet. SII’s plans to establish a computer literacy and communication center for the Akim District and the northern regions of Ghana youths.
The objective of the center is to create a learning center that will educate and train primary and secondary school students on basic computer applications and operations. The knowledge acquired through computer skill center will serve as building block towards skill acquisition in information technology environment.
This center will be an opportunity for all members of the community by providing computer education to those who cannot afford computers at their homes, and those who seek to pursue careers in information technology. SII will partner with IT Students volunteers from the State universities to facilitate computer classes. SII will partner with local communities towards the construction of this center.
The center will be sustainable through training fees. By serving students from different economic backgrounds and having fees on a differential scale, it will ensure that the needy children of Akim District and the Northern Regions of Ghana can receive a quality basic computer training at a low or no cost.
SII recognizes that education and computer literacy are necessary steps in the elimination of poverty in Akim District and Northern Regions of Ghana.