BRAVEAURORA ORGANIZES ICT TRAINING FOR TEACHERS

 As part of BRAVEAURORA’S Comprehensive Teacher Incentives Program (TIP), BRAVEAURORA offered a 2-day intensive ICT training to the teachers of St. Michael’s Primary School and Junior High School. The ICT training was provided by the Walewale Computer Lab.

The number of ICT trainings each term depends on how well the teachers perform within the term. The better their evaluations at the end of the term, the more training days they earn. Each term, the Educational Coordinator calculates how many days of ICT training have been earned. To do so, the coordinator uses the following key as a guide:

                                        FINAL GROUP TERM RATING

1.       NO TRAINING – Termly average performance of teachers below 69%  
2.       SMALL TRAINING (one day) Termly average performances between 70%-79%
3.       MEDIUM TRAINING (two days) Termly average performances between 80%-89%
4.       LARGE TRAINING (three days) Termly average performances between 90%-100%
                   The trainings took place on Saturday and Sunday, 18^th and 19^th June, 2016.

CROSS SECTION OF TEACHERS AT ICT TRAINING

ENTHUSIASTIC TEACHERS AT ICT TRAINING

 

Donation of Trashcans to Guabuliga

BA, on Wednesday the 18^th of May, in a small ceremony donated 12 trashcans to the people of Guabuliga. The donation of the bins was planned to coincide with the monthly sanitation committee meeting. This ensured that all stakeholders and opinion leaders in the community were duly represented to receive insights on the work of the committee. Because of the quintessence of the donation, it took place at Guabuliga Chief’s palace; drumming the presence of sectional leaders, committee members, staff of BA, community elders, and the Chief himself. BA seized the opportunity to rehash the importance of sanitation to participants. The platform was also used to reward Nayiri Fong (A section of the community) for their impressive performance during the sanitation inspections. Receiving the reward and donation on behalf of Nayiri Fong and the community respectively, Chief M.S.Tampuri commended BA for the excellent projects and assured his unflinching support to the work of the organization. He also reechoed the importance of sanitation and tasked the various sections to ensure the safety and efficient use of the bins. Participants and the sectional heads also made pledges to foster sanitation both at the household and community levels as they aspire to create a model community in the district. 

A panoramic view of participants  

Participants discussing the state of sanitation in Guabuliga

Chief M.S. Tampuri receiving the trashcans for the community 

Sanitation Committee members posing for the camera with staff of BA

Cleaning Guabuliga

There's one bugging issue all over Ghana:  the trash! Committed to supporting community development, Braveaurora started a program to clean Guabuliga. We have readied ourselves to fight against this problem in two ways. The first is, changing the mentality of the villagers. For that we go through the various sections of the community to motivate the people to clean their areas with us. Since Monday the 2nd of May, we started  cleanup exercises with the community. From Monday to Saturday, we visit the different sections; one section per day with our motivated team and a band of drummers for the exercise. The second way we try to clean Guabuliga is by buying trashcans for the streets. The community do not have an effective waste disposal system so it is no surprise that everyone throws trash on the ground. Just a few days ago, 12 metal trashcans arrived in Guabuliga to help solve the issue. The next step is to distribute these to the village. The result of the sanitation program until now is that, it was very hard to mobilize the people to help because of their missing interest in environmental pollution- we are making steady progress. We will keep on cleaning and see where it brings us :)  

Compiled by Roman.

Wrapping up on a cleanup exercise; Roman, Ziblim and some kids

Madam Suzie showcasing some of the trashcans

Cleanup underway

CONSTRUCTION OF GARDEN WALL

Construction of a 10,000ft² garden wall is currently underway in Guabuliga. The garden project, which is under the broad umbrella of BRAVEAURORA’s Livelihood Promotion Programme is constructed by local experts using indigenous tools and materials. To foster a sense of ownership, individuals from the various sections of the community lend their support to the construction process. Once complete, the garden is envisaged to serve as a training field for locals interested in extending their knowledge in organic farming- twelve budding local farmers have already been selected to undergo the training. As a year-round project, the garden will also be a demonstration farm to locals who want to learn about off-season farming and the different varieties of crops suitable for the area. The training will be led by a team of professionals from the Asiribisi Self Help Initiative who have amassed years of experience in organic farming techniques. Construction is in the final stage and the training has been slated to start in the coming month. Shots of the construction are shared below: 

Masons at work.

A view of the wall

Preparing mud for the construction

Preparing the ground

A mason at work whilst a trainee looks on

SECOND ROUND OF THE VILLAGE MICROCREDIT DISBURSEMENT STARTS

BRAVEAURORA has commenced the disbursement of funds to the twenty-eight (28) beneficiaries who made the final cut of microcredit applicants. Eight (8) out of the twenty-eight, including one group of three (3) have so far received the funds. They are expected to use the low interest loans to jumpstart their innovative businesses and for most, expand their existing ventures. Offering local entrepreneurs with these loans triggers a multiplier effect both at the household and community levels; ensuring that families live well above the poverty line. Monitoring and support visits are offered to beneficiaries to certify that their businesses are on track and to offer them with basic skills required for the businesses to blossom. Snapshots of the disbursement are shared here:    

Madam Susana receiving microcredit from BA project manager

Madam Sirina receiving microcredit to expand her dressmaking business 

Madam Akuyoma Atanga receiving microcredit to expand her Pito (local wine) business

Chief witnessing the disbursement of microcredit to Joseph Gumah

 

CARPENTRY PROGRAMME INTRODUCED AT THE GUABULIGA VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE

BRAVEAURORA has introduced an all-new carpentry programme into the Guabuliga Vocational Training Centre. This follows the successful introduction of the weaving and baking programmes at the beginning of the 2015/2016 academic year. In sum, fifteen energetic trainees are taking part in the programme. This highly impactful training is scheduled to run for 13 months.  Mr. Michael Bayara, a native of Guabuliga is the master trainer. He brings on board years of experience in carpentry and joinery. The trainees are very excited about the opportunity to learn and they hope to redefine sector opportunity after completion. The training will propel them to newer economic heights; lifting them and their families out of poverty. Below are some pictures from the training:  

Energetic and highly motivated carpentry trainees at work

carpenters busy at work

Trainees taking instructions from their master trainer

carpenters at work

Football match: Braveaurora vs local village people

Nearly every day pupils of the Guabuliga schools play football on the field behind the school. Melanie had the idea to organize a football match with the local village people. At the Braveaurora meeting, Melanie mentioned the idea to the BA members. Everybody was delighted and looked forward to play against the home team. The idea was interesting to staff as some of them hadn´t played football for ages. :-)
The team of Braveaurora included some members of BA, the volunteers and some of the former orphanage children. The team was well dressed and had a great time :-)
Melanie organized water, a referee, 2 assistant referees , a whistle and a ball....let the match begin!!!
The match started at 5.00pm on thursday, 11th february. Everybody was motivated to win this match. Lots of spectators cheered for their favorite teams. The first goal was for the BA team, but unfortunately the local village people won 3:2......we did very well!
At the end everybody enjoyed the match, maybe there will be a return match to get a chance to beat the local village players :-)

Melanie & Jasmin