Our Projects

Project Access to Clean Water for Agyementi (ACWA) is an undertaking of the African Development Initiative, aiming to do our part to help everyone have access to clean drinking water. By empowering this village to sustain an improved water supply, implement their own hygiene and sanitation education programs, and build household latrines, we hope to help the people of Agyementi create the change they want to see in their community.

The Problem: In 2008, Agyementi lacked sufficient water quality and quantity. Their water source was able to provide no more than 300 people with the WHO minimum of 15 liters per day but 2,000 people were using this source. The spring water in the village had sanitation issues as well, causing high levels of diarrhea, trachoma, guinea worm, skin disease, and other preventable water borne illnesses.

The Solution: Through collaboration between the African Development Initiative, Water Aid Ghana, the Akuapem Community Development Programme, the Ghanaian Ministry of Water Resources, and the people of Agyementi, we successfully built a covered borehole with a pump (picture on left), household latrines, and are working to establish a long-term program to promote proper water storage, sanitation, and hygiene.

To volunteer to join the Project ACWA team, please e-mail us at acwa@africandi.com for more information of how you can help with spreading awareness, fundraising, project logistics, and many other volunteer opportunities.

Updates:

Read the February 2011 Project ACWA Report in our Online Viewer

Email: acwa@africandi.com

Project Rural Irrigation System for Ekumdipe (Project RISE), an African Development Initiative sponsored project, was created with the goal of helping Ekumdipe and its surrounding communities overcome poverty and its extreme effects by providing the citizens of the township with a rural irrigation system to overcome idleness during the unproductive dry season and substantially improve income. Project RISE is taking the ADI approach to the issue of poverty that is hindering Africa by taking the mentality of helping others help themselves. We feel that the members of Ekumdipe will be able to rise to the occasion and will be energized to take more control of their respective situations with some assistance from others.

The Problem: There is a dire problem that exists in relation to the two seasons. During dry season, the amount of rain in the area severely reduces. Because of this lack of rain, many farmers in Ekumdipe are forced to remain idle during the entirety of this season and lose a substantial amount of potential income for doing so. The idleness that is prevalent during this time period is one of the main reasons the community is impoverished.

As of now, the people of Ekumdipe are completely dependent upon the crop yield from the wet season. Although this is typically sufficient for survival, it does not produce surplus food to be sold at the market, thereby stifling the local economy.

The Solution: The solution to this problem includes utilizing the nearby Daka River to create a thorough water irrigation system that will allow the citizens of Ekumdipe to farm year round.

Crops grown in the area are typical tropical sub-Saharan African types like Corn (maize), Millet, Sorghum and Rice, as staple cereal crops. These are currently grown seasonally but can be cultivated throughout the year with proper irrigation. There are also typical vegetables such as tomatoes, okra, assorted bean types, peppers, cabbages, carrots, and many others not known to the western world. These vegetables can also be grown through the year with adequate water supply. These crops are continually in high demand at the nearby urban city of Tamale and the ability to produce them all year would allow the people of Ekumdipe to improve their incomes, thus drastically reducing poverty.

Adam Demayukor explains the Project RISE process.


(click here to watch on youtube)

To volunteer to join the Project RISE team, please e-mail us at rise@africandi.com for more information of how you can help with spreading awareness, fundraising, project logistics, and many other volunteer opportunities.

Updates:

Read the October 2010 Project RISE Report in our Online Viewer

Email: rise@africandi.com

Visit the Project Unveil website at www.projectunveilnigeria.com.

Project Unveil, a Harvard African Development Initiative, which is comprised of two outreach programs: Viva Summer Camp and Viva After-School Program, seeks to empower and educate Nigerian children from very low-income backgrounds. Our goal is to promote and encourage a passion for learning among underprivileged children, who are interested in the film and entertainment industry, by providing them with a holistic educational experience, which incorporates the performing arts into a traditional academic curriculum. Gender discrimination is still prevalent in many low-income communities in Nigeria. Some are of the school of thought that a woman's place is in the home and in the kitchen; hence adequate priority is not placed on educating female children. As we aim to address this gender-inequality head-on, we have currently dedicated our entire resources to focusing on Nigerian female children in Oyo State. However, as this project continues to expand, we hope to open our doors to all Nigerian children, irrespective of gender. Project Unveil currently supports 43 girls. These girls participated in the 2009 Viva Summer Camp, 2009 Viva Winter Retreat, and the 2010 Viva Winter Retreat and are currently enrolled in the Viva After School Program

The Problem

The Nigerian government currently provides free education to all children via the public school system. However, many Nigerian children from low-income families remain uneducated. This is largely because the severity of present-day economic hardships compels many children in such communities to drop out of school and pursue menial jobs in order to raise money for themselves and their families.

During an exploratory research project, we interviewed a random selection of 354 children (177 boys and 177 girls) from low-income backgrounds in Ibadan and we discovered that the female children were 5 times more likely to drop out of secondary school than their male counterparts. Poverty, parental and societal pressures were noted as the main reasons why many young girls were dropping out of school. Approximately 40% of the 177 girls interviewed were dropouts. Over 75% of these dropouts were working as house girls. 80% of these female dropouts were interested in eventually pursuing careers in the Nigerian film and entertainment industries. Many of these girls believed that they did not need a secondary school education to succeed in the Nigerian film and entertainment industries.

The Solution

As the increasing rate of female dropouts coincides with the boom and growth of the Nigerian film and entertainment industries, it is becoming gradually more important to ensure that Nigerian children, especially female children, are given the opportunity to develop their performing art skills as they further their education.

Project Unveil aims to empower and encourage Nigerian girls from low-income families to develop a passion for learning by buttressing the education that they are receiving in the public school system, whilst training them in the performing arts.

How Do I Get Involved?

There are a wide variety of volunteer opportunities available. If you would like to learn more about how you can get involved, please email unveil@africandi.com for more information.

E-mail: unveil@africandi.com Website: www.projectunveilnigeria.com