Cover Africa was founded in December 2006 because we felt that Cornell University,
a premier university dedicated to producing globally conscious students, needed
to take a more active role in prevention of a disease that takes the life of one
African child every thirty seconds. Our goals are threefold: working to increase
malaria awareness on campus and in Ithaca, strategizing to help prevent malaria,
and distributing bed nets to those most in need.
We have hosted education events, such as documentary screenings, and have lead
awareness campaigns, such as national Africa Malaria Day ribbon distributions,
and malaria poster campaigns. We have started a Cover Africa chapter at Ithaca
High School which is helping to educate the greater Ithaca community. We are fundraising
for insecticide treated bed nets to distribute in Humjibre, Ghana. This year,
we have expanded to offer this new service learning course. We have partnered
with Ghana Health and Education Initiative.
For more information please look at our website at www.rso.cornell.edu/coverafrica
About Ghana Health and Education Initiative:
GHEI is a grassroots nongovernmental organization located in a rural village
of 4,000 people in western Ghana. The village is approximately 2 hours from the
nearest city of Kumasi. The organization was founded by professional students
at the University of Maryland in 2001. It focuses on creating sustainable programs
around English literacy and health education. Long term interns manage GHEI’s
projects in Ghana under the direction of the organization’s Ghanaian Program Director,
Clement Donkor.
Cover Africa has partnered with GHEI to offer short term volunteer projects to
enable those interested in international volunteer work to gain the experience
they desire and to help the community. The community of Humjibre will enjoy our
new energy and
focus, as will the members of GHEI located in the village. GHEI also hopes that
by participating, short term volunteers will develop an interest in the program
and in the developing world in general. This is an opportunity for you to explore
development work and get a sense of how you can be the force of change in the
future, no matter where you end up. GHEI offers a unique experience to discover
how much a small group of people can do to strengthen a community, particularly
in the fight against malaria.
For more information please look at GHEI’s website at www.ghei.org.
About our Program:
In order to take action to help prevent malaria we have created a service learning
trip and course which are directly in line with our Cover Africa goals. This will
be the first year of the program. Our mission is to accomplish the following:
• Educate students
• Serve in Ghana, and conduct research in Ghana
• Evaluate our intervention and research
1. Education: The class will be conducted as a seminar class, with guest lecturers
each week. The class coordinator is Professor Laura Harrington. During the fall
semester, the course will provide the background on malaria and an introduction
to Ghanaian culture. It will also serve as planning time for our trip and intervention.
Example topics that will be studied include traditional African medicine, the
current international aid strategies in Ghana, data collection to minimize bias,
and the most common language spoken in Ghana: Twi.
2. Service and Research: The second part of the course will be a two and a half
week service trip to Humjibre, Ghana in December and January. Humjibre is a village
of 4,000 people located in the Western Region. The most common cause of malaria
in this area is falciparum malaria, which is also the most lethal. We will be
working in partnership with a local NGO called the Ghana Health and Education
Initiative (GHEI). This organization has been in Humjibre for four years and has
been hosting volunteers each summer. GHEI has built a volunteer house in the community
where we will be staying (which has locking doors and mosquito bed nets). They
will provide clean drinking water, imported from the city, and safe food. Having
worked in Humjibre previously we have witnessed the incredible work that GHEI
has done, including building a community center, a library, a computer center,
creating an English Language program, a health peer educator program, providing
scholarships to promising students and many other outreach programs. They have
worked on malaria in the village through distribution of nets, malaria education,
and holding annual malaria days, but they need support to increase programming
and net distribution. We will provide this support through our partnership.
During our trip we will be creating a malaria needs indicator which we will use
each year to evaluate the presence of malaria and the progress of our intervention.
We will take a random sample of six areas in the village and visit a total of
360 households to gain information about living conditions, prevention mechanisms
currently in use, incidence of malaria and other poverty measures.
We will also be planning malaria education programs for the community, planning
a bed net treatment day (to soak the nets in Permethrin which kills mosquitoes
on contact, greatly increasing the efficiency of the prevention), and distributing
bed nets. Our goal is to distribute at least 500 bed nets, and to retreat at least
200 bed nets.
We will be living in the village, along side the people of Humjibre, eating traditional Ghanaian food and getting to know the local Sefwi culture. We will also have cultural opportunities such as drumming lessons, hair braiding, fabric making and Twi lessons.
3. Analysis and Evaluation: The third part of our class will take place in the
spring. It will serve as an evaluation period in which we will analyze the results
of our survey. We will also evaluate our own work and our preparation to see if
we can make the project even more effective next year. Using the same survey each
year will let us measure the progress of our intervention over time. If our data
analysis shows effective intervention, it could be used as a model for other villages
in the Western Region.
I hope that you share our excitement in the launch of this service learning course
and trip that was created in true Cornell spirit.
What we are looking for in applicants:
1. Maturity and respect for other cultures.
2. Dedication to helping people in need.
3. Commitment to the class and to the program
4. Ability to work as part of a team (alongside fellow foreign volunteers and
Ghanaians).
5. An open mind and adventurous spirit.
6. Potential for helping Cover Africa and GHEI through long-term volunteering
or other involvement.
Other Things to Consider:
1. Sustainability
The project must be approached as one temporarily involving foreign intervention.
It is very difficult to let others do what you feel you could do better, but empowerment
is key.
2. Privacy
This is one of the largest frustrations that volunteers face. Westerners are
used to large
amounts of time alone. In Humjibre, this is almost nonexistent for two reasons:
their culture and the fact that you are foreign. Ghanaians who live in rural areas
don’t see our kind every day (well, except for the past few years), so you are
worth looking at and following around all day. Although most volunteers feel that
the closeness of village life is a nice change, it can be difficult to deal with
sometimes.
3. Time
Ghanaians operate on “African time” and are often untimely. Be patient.
4. Climate
Ghana is generally very hot. Sometimes it becomes a challenge to be active during
the middle of the day, but just make sure to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen/hats/sunglasses.
5. Your health
Malaria is a huge problem (as you know- that is what our project is all about!)
Westerners protect themselves by taking pills for prophylaxis, using bednets and
insect repellents and seeking medical treatment immediately. You will be required
to take these precautions while in Ghana.
Motor vehicle accidents are common throughout the developing world and Ghana.
It is okay to ask taxi drivers to slow down.
Diarrhea is common and uncomfortable, but generally easily treated.
6. Safety
In Humjibre, volunteers are generally very safe. Ghanaian cities are also relatively
safe, but if you do not look like a Ghanaian, you are assumed to be (and are by
comparison) rich. Theft is uncommon, but can happen, especially as a rich target.
Common sense is crucial to avoiding dangerous situations.
7. Your desire to help
We have a no gift policy while in Humjibre. It hurts to tell a child that you
won’t buy him a pencil that costs 10 cents. However, GHEI’s interns and volunteers
must not ever give anything away: personal possessions, money, school fees etc.
It hinders GHEI’s progress toward enabling the community and “plays favorites”
by helping only a
few selected individuals. Gifts can be made to GHEI, and GHEI will distribute
them appropriately.
8. Costs
The cost of the trip per person is about $3000 (the flight to Ghana is very expensive),
however, we will be doing a great deal of fundraising in an attempt to diminish
the personal cost of the trip. You will be responsible in helping to fundraise
and apply for grants both for the trip expenses and for bed nets. Please do not
be discouraged from applying for financial reasons.
9. Time commitment
You will be expected to be in Ghana for the entire duration of the program (either
session one or session two -two and a half weeks total). You will also be expected
to participate in a two credit s/u? seminar class. We will meet once a week for
an hour and a half, and you will be expected to complete readings, reflections
and other assignments. You will finally be expected to help with fundraising
for the group.
10. Dates
a. Session I: December 18th – January 3rd
b. Session II : January 3rd- January 18th
We look forward to receiving your application. Acceptance is rolling, but spaces
will fill very quickly. We will start reviewing applications on Septmber 1st,
2007, so please aim to have your application submitted by then.
