Monthly Archives: December 2011

One Month in Ghana

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The Global Youth Video Project (GYVP) has now been in Ghana for a month. In the last week we have been filming in Ejura in the Ashanti region of Ghana. It takes roughly 10 hours to get from Busua to Ejura through a series of shared taxis, bus and tro-tro’s (tro-tro’s are private minibus vehicles and normally if you can fit in you can get on). It was definitely a worthwhile trip. GYVP partnered up with the Integrated Rural Education for Change (IREC) organisation who helped us to film with two of the local schools. IREC now has a new facebook page to link its volunteers and supporters so please go to facebook, search: Integrated Rural Education for Change, and “like” their page to give them support. We also worked with IREC to help address the sustainability of their projects. IREC is focusing on two main projects, one is a women’s project that works to help women to earn a living wage and the second is a HIV/AIDS peer education project currently running in the local schools. However, they are chronically underfunded. We want to wish them success with the funding that they are hoping to find in the future and we will be continuing to help look for better funding streams.

Weather:

As appose to the colder climates in the world, the Ghanaian climate is hot with temperatures around 37 degrees Celsius during the day. This is in stark contrast to the news stories we keep seeing about sub-zero temperatures elsewhere. In the last week it feels like there has been an influx of holidaymakers to the area as many people are gearing up for a sunny Christmas.

Busua Youth Club raises over ¢350

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IIn the weeks before working with the Integrated Rural Education for Change organisation the Global Youth Video Project (GYVP) was working with Black Star Development Projects in Busua, Ghana. In particular GYVP had been (and is still) working with the Busua Youth Club project to help them improve their sustainability and access to funds. The Busua Youth Club is a self-organised group of local young people who wish to improve their town and have been doing this successfully for a number of months. GYVP worked with the Busua Youth Club to help them put together two proposals for funding and organise a bucket collection at the Asabaako music festival where the whole group organised clean up activities. From the proposals and the bucket collection we have managed to raise over ¢350 and are now working to put in place a sustainable action plan to ensure that the club continues. Here’s more about the Busua Youth Club:

Busua Youth Club Mission

To improve the lives of people living in, and visiting, Busua through improving the environment, community, economic situation and health of local residents.

Objectives

  1. To improve the cleanliness of the town by removing rubbish and educating local residents on managing their waste.
  2. To train local residents to bring skills back to the community to develop tourism in Busua and promote economic growth.
  3. To support vulnerable people in the community including people who are sick, orphaned or unable to find work.
  4. To provide a voice for young people in the community.

Current Activities of BYC

  • Organizing regular clean ups of the town
  • Running keep fit session in the community for young people
  • Helping to build the Busua Tourism Center
  • Planning environmental activities for the yearly Busua festival – Asabaako
  • Regular meetings of young people to forward the aims of the BYC

If you are looking for a conscientious volunteer placement that has a focus on sustainability and eco-tourism, as well as good opportunities to socialise, this is most definitely the place for you. There are not many people in Busua that don’t extend their stay!

Integrated Rural Education for Change

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This week, in a change of programme, the Global Youth Video Project is working with Integrated Rural Education for Change in Kumasi, Ghana. We will be joining a rural HIV/AIDS project to volunteer and to continue the making of new films to answer your cultural questions. Videos from Nigeria are still being edited and will be uploaded Jan/Feb.

If you have more questions to ask click here to go to the questions page or to see some of the videos done already go to the videos section.