On my first day in the ATE Ramsbury office, Sarah and Leela asked if I would like to visit Lawra in May of next year. Without hesitating I said yes. I love travelling and this will be my first trip to West Africa. Reading about all of Action Through Enterprise’s projects has been great but the opportunity to see these projects in practise and meet all the team members, consultants and people of Lawra will be fantastic.
The primary purpose of the trip in May will be to assist Operations and Fundraising Officer, Leela Shanti, in carrying out an evaluation of EducATE; ATE’s school feeding programme.
EducATE started in January 2013 and now serves three schools providing free meals to over 850 school children with a fourth school being added in January. EducATE operates in one of the poorest areas in Ghana with a high level of food insecurity. This means that children often skip school in order to forage for food in the bush or going to the market to sell or buy food to supplement what they have. The school feeding programme incentivises these children to attend school, providing them with the opportunity to access the free government education that is available to them. Since EducATE has been in operation school attendance has increased, teachers have reported improved concentration in class, and previously conducted ATE evaluations have recorded an increase in the size and weight of children. All in all it is a fantastic programme and in order for it to keep expanding, running efficiently and remain in keeping with the interests of the local community, evaluations such as the one Leela and myself will perform in May 2017, are vital.
Like all ATE visitors to Ghana, I will be fundraising the costs of my trip. All donations will go towards the expenses of my trip and any additional funds will go straight into the charity. I will be holding some fundraising evenings, such as raffles or auctions, as well as taking part in some sponsored activities so please visit my BT MyDonate page to help me reach my target amount to get to Ghana and to keep up-to-date with all the latest details of my fundraising endeavours.
By Sarah Livesey