The Villages

Yaw Tenkorang

Yaw Tenkorang is a small, rural village about thirty minutes from Abetifi, the capital town of the Kwahu East district in Ghana’s Eastern Region.

As with other rural villages in Ghana, the people of Yaw Tenkorang rely mostly on subsistence farming as their primary source of income. The life of a subsistence farmer is one wrought with tremendous challenge often for very little reward. For many, it is the only life they know or can imagine and the only life their children can dream for.

Education might serve as a means for young people of these villages to depart from the generational cycle of poverty that is so prevalent. After elementary school, the children of Yaw Tenkorang attend a state-run junior high school, known as a JSS, but because the state provides free instruction only through middle school, many never have the opportunity to receive the further education necessary to truly transform their lives.

With their remote locations, rural village like Yaw Tenkorang, also face the challenges of inaccessibility. Roads are scarce, and if passable at all, are often treacherous. These and other lapses in infrastructure make it tragically difficult for the people of these villages to avail themselves of necessities like regular healthcare services and clean water.

Adopt One Village focuses on these areas of education, healthcare and infrastructure to improve the quality of life for people in villages like Yaw Tenkorang.

Atta ne Atta

In line with AOV’s vision to use Yaw Tenkorang as a model to serve other villages in the Abetifi region, we expanded efforts to Atta ne Atta, a small village about 4.3 miles from Yaw Tenkorang.

Unlike Yaw Tenkorang, Atta ne Atta had no state-run JSS junior high school. Instead, the children of Atta ne Atta attend school in a four-room schoolhouse that serves students from Kindergarten through sixth grade. Because of limited space, students of differing grade levels are forced to receive instruction in the same room or in smaller, mud and stick buildings with dirt floors nearby.

In January 2017, a team of AOV volunteers from Hunterdon County, NJ traveled to Atta ne Atta to begin work in transforming the school. They began building a new school building that will serve all the students at every level. We completed this project in 2019!  We will officially dedicate the building (which is currently in use) in January 2020.

The school serves two surrounding, smaller communities known as Atarekan and Brifa Nyimso. Both of these villages are “up for adoption” if your community, company or large group would like to get involved on a much more personal level.

All three villages have water challenges in various states.

Atta ne Atta: The wells were repaired a number of times and a new well has been dug at village center. It should go live in late 2019 or early 2020 as it is a government owned well. We have built a water catchment system that is now located right off the main school building. It collects clean, safe water each time it rains. Electricity has been wired to all major structures and now the kids can work on homework in the early AM or late PM hours. Basic healthcare is supplied by the medical center we built just about 4 miles away.

Atarekan: The wells were in decent condition. The kids walk a mile to the Atta ne Atta school and receive clean water from the catchment system as well as awesome training from the teachers. Electricity has been wired to all major structures and now the kids can work on homework in the early AM or late PM hours. Basic healthcare is supplied by the medical center we built just about 5 miles away.

Brifa Nyimso: This community is in the most desperate need for some services. The wells were repaired a number of times and a new well has been dug at village center by us. It should go live a few months after electricity is offered to this village as it’s a very deep well for the area at nearly 500′ and yet has a very low yield. We will install a water catchment system and slowly refill it with an electric pump 24/7 as needed. Electricity has not yet been offered to this village but we hope to see that change in late 2019 or early 2020 as we work to make this happen. Basic healthcare is supplied by the medical center we built just about 6.5 miles away – a 35 minute car trip down a rough road. The kids make use of the Atta ne Atta school and water catchment system sporadically as they travel by foot about 2.5 miles each way to school.