Category Archives: Village Development

The millions of uneducated children in Africa, particularly girls, represent a huge untapped resource for global change, although mothers will tell you that their greatest desire is to provide education for their daughters. In Ghana, only 59% of the total population (over 15 yrs) is literate. The story in Kenya is a bit better — 80% of women over 15 are literate, but that term applies to only the most basic of education.

The primary reason for these statistics is that families depend greatly on their girls to help run the house and their mothers’ businesses. They generally fetch water (sometimes a several-hour trip) before and after school, take care of younger siblings, and help sell products on the street. If a girl does manage to stay in school through junior secondary school (9th grade), she often has no help preparing for senior secondary school entrance exams and applications. Scholarships for tuition, books and uniforms are the starting point for helping these girls. The Village Net also provides tutors when needed, and has emergency stipends for families facing adversity that would keep their daughters home.

Because many of the village women are illiterate and innumerate, The Village Net offers literacy classes. TVN’s definition of literacy is broad.. It not only encompasses language, but financial, health and civic literacy as well. The first goal may be to help borrowers sign their names (about 75% of the applications are now signed with a thumbprint) and do the basic arithmetic that will allow them to track expenses and revenues. Financial literacy, including the concepts of saving and budgeting, is critical. Health literacy will incorporate any programs related to health initiatives and implementing healthy lifestyles. For example, malaria nets may be misused or not used at all if recipients are not educated about their necessity. Civic literacy is often overlooked, but no less important. It is a mandate of The Village Net that borrowers learn to utilize the resources at hand to effect change. That includes the very basic responsibility of understanding the local process for change and voting.

One difficulty with education is that the women (and often girls) feel that they have little time for classes. The Village Net will incorporate education with other activities, such as loan repayment days or association meetings, to take advantage of time commitments the women have already made and are keeping. TVN respects the life priorities set by the borrowers, and will work within their constraints. While educational initiatives may be made prerequisite for borrowing, they will be offered in a way that does not complicate the women’s desire to learn. The Village Net is also working to implement a mentorship program utilizing accomplished women from nearby Accra to exemplify the many life paths that may be taken by the girls.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 96 out of 1,000 Ghanaian infants will die. In Kenya, 80 infants will die. Life expectancy in Ghana is 47 years; in Kenya it is 49 years.

Community Health nurses, if they are supplied by the government, are often undertrained and overwhelmed. The villages are located near hospitals, but transportation in an emergency situation is difficult, and villagers are often unable to pay for their care. Due to the exceptional generosity of one WomensTrust donor, The Village Net is able to provide health insurance for its borrowers in Ghana. We do not yet know how much this insurance will be utlitized, and under what conditions. We have heard anecdotally that the insurance may actually impede a hospital’s ability to treat the most critically ill patients, as those who receive the insurance may use the hospital for minor conditions (as happens in the United States, by the way).

Diseases such as HIV/AIDs, malaria, typhoid, dengue fever, and many more have been targeted as critical situations in Africa. Some private companies and non-governmental organizations are making vaccines, malaria nets and other medical tools available in the effort. But the need is enormous and the efforts have reached few of those who need help. The Village Net model involves partnering with the organizations that have tools to fight these diseases, and helping to implement the education programs and distribution systems to make the tools availabe to the villages.

WomensTrust has implemented a volunteer program in Pokuase, in which members of the New Hampshire Nurse Practitioner Association donate their time twice a year to serve the villagers. They conduct blood pressure and anemia screenings, both of which have a dire impact on the village women. They work with the government-employed community nurse to provide training and supplies. The volunteers have collected excellent data that will help increast the impact of their services.

We are looking for a similar group of health care professionals who would be willing to come and work in Ofankor. Ofankor does not have a community nurse, but we believe that the use of our volunteers would help build the case for significant need to have one supplied by the government.

We are also interested in involving naturopaths and similar practitioners of homeopathic medicine. There are many local remedies in use, but we don’t know exactly what plants are used, in what doses, and how they are obtained.

The Village Net can help secure donated supplies. The volunteers would need to pay their own travel expenses.

This is care at its most basic. Come and practice medicine as it was practiced many generations ago. See the direct results of your work and know how much your contribution matters to this community.