From Atlanta, Georgia to Agogo, Ghana
Posted by NEED Staff on May 6th 2008 in Organizations, Photo Essays
Photo | Thomas LeeAkosua Boateng, Co-founder of the Youth Institute of Science & Technology, contributed this story about a school in Ghana that is empowering girls. Photos are courtesy of Thomas Lee.
Tucked away in a small, remote village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, something exciting is taking place at the Youth Institute of Science & Technology.
It’s been seventeen months since The Girls Institute of Science & Technology (GIST) School opened its doors for the youth of Agogo, Ghana. I remember the day clearly. It was the middle of October and the National Teachers Association of Ghana had launched a teacher’s strike throughout the country. Frank Boateng and I had spent an entire week arguing with carpenters in Kumasi about finishing the children’s tables and chairs on time. Despite the strike and the delayed completion of the school furniture, GIST started school with 23 students and two teachers.
GIST is dedicated to decreasing the acute gender disparities in the retention and completion rates of girls in schooling. Through community partnerships, GIST provides opportunities for girls in Ghana to explore science, mathematics and technology. Girls are often seen as nothing more than potential wives waiting to blossom and be priced away, and their education has long been taken for granted.
During the initial registration phase, because villagers brought their male children to enroll GIST, both genders were allowed to register and attend. In January 2008, GIST changed its name to the Youth Institute of Science & Technology-Agogo, Ghana, at the request of the Parents and Teachers Association. As a compromise, it was agreed that YIST would retain a female majority of students at all times and keep the Girls Institute of Science & Technology as a signature program of the school.
The first question people often ask is, “Where do you get your funding?” I simply respond with the truth, “We don’t”. The second question is usually, “How do you manage?”
YIST struggles to keep its doors open. Thus far, we have received donations from individuals, small businesses, organizations and churches. For example, Bethlehem Disciples of Christ, a small church located in Clinton, North Carolina, donated $3,000 USD. This donation allowed YIST to install a septic tank that could manage a five toilet bathroom facility. The labor was donated courtesy of Charles Huddleston of Economical Builders of Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, completion of the five-toilet bathroom facility is in progress.
Another act of random kindness included a woman named Jean Benjamin. At a graduation ceremony, she walked up to me and said that she was inspired by the work I was doing in Africa. She placed a $100 dollar bill in my hand. With her donation, YIST was able to accept an invitation for a field trip by Mr. Alfred Acquah of Garden City University College-Kenyase. The random act of kindness spread when I met Gwen Gyabi, Registrar of GCUC. Gwen organized a day of sponsored activities whereby students audited classes, and visited the college’s library, nursing department, computer laboratories. The visit to GCUC sparked a unique desire within some students to change their goals from working in the marketplace to working in hospitals as nurses and doctors.
Mouse-over thumbnails to view enlarged images.
Seventeen months later, the school has changed and grown. Now called The Youth Institute of Science & Technology, YIST has 57 students, five teachers and an administrative assistant. YIST is registered as an accredited school with the Ghana Education Service. The students have taken their first field trip to Garden City University College-Kenyase, began, playing volleyball, took their first round of Math & Science Assessments, conducted their first sleepover with students from Atlanta, Georgia, and exchanged their first set of pen pal letters with American youth.
Akosua Boateng, Co-founder of the Youth of Institute of Science & Technology
For more information about YIST, contact Akosua Boateng at 404-246-8991, or visit the section about YIST on the African American Homeschoolers Network website established by Akosua.
February 20th, 2010 at 4:20 am
The school in Agogo in Ghana is poorly equipped with the compound very dusty.There are no computer labs. During break the children are seen idling with no games to play. I wonder if its an NGO at all because the fees paid is more than whats paid at the other school. I suggest they sit up.