Introduction to The Ausar Auset Society’s African Initiatives

The Ausar Auset Society has for the past 25 years been working with our brothers and sisters in Ghana to assist with its development. Over the years we have initiated and cooperated with various initiatives towards that end. Currently we are assisting with the construction of the Agogo Community Library in Agogo, Ghana, providing scholarships for children from Agogo to attend school, constructing a facility and sponsoring vocational training for 24 youth in the Nkonya Traditional Area, establishing a technology program while renovating, equipping, and supplying the health clinic in the Nkonya Area, assisting with the gathering of equipment and supplies for the newly opened Medical School in Agogo, and seeking assistance with the establishment of two Songhai Centers (one in Agogo and the other in Nkonya) in the West African nation.

The Agogo Community Library is a two building complex which is currently under construction. The estimated cost of the complex is $100,000, of which we have currently raised $20,000. The Administration building is complete up to the roof and is only stalled as we raise additional funds. When the complex is complete it will represent only the 2^nd public library in Ghana and will service the Agogo area (approx. 350,000 pop.) and the Teachers Training College, the Hospital, the Medical School, and the elementary and secondary schools in the area.

The scholarship program is coordinated with the Aid to Girl-Child Education Program headquartered in Accra, Ghana. The Program Director, Ms. Suzzy Abaidoo receives our contributions and disburses the funds to the institution in which the recipient is enrolled. She also maintains communication with teachers/administrators at the various institutions to ensure that the students receiving the assistance are in fact maintaining the scholastic standards required to continue receiving aid. She then periodically forwards reports on the children’s performance, which are used as the basis for evaluating continued participation.

The vocational education program, also known as The Ausar Auset Society Nkonya Traditional Council Institute for Cultural Studies, is designed to provide skills training for young people in a trade, which will include preparation for taking the exam for the National Vocational Training Instruction certificate, basic computer training, and instruction on the culture and traditions of the area. In addition to the training, which is provided free of charge, each student is under a contractual obligation to: (1) train two additional persons as they were trained, (2) remain in the community for a specified period of time, and (3) if they do not satisfactorily meet obligations 1 and 2, they and the members of the community who cosigned their contract are responsible to pay the program the monies necessary to train the two persons stipulated in obligation number 1. The construction of the Kente weaving facility is complete. That program along with the Dressmaking and Tailoring programs began in Nov. 2007. In order to facilitate the information technology-training component of the program, we donated 10 computers and supplied equipment to connect those computers to the internet during our Rebuild Africa Tour 07. On Sat. Dec. 1, 2007, history was made when Nkonya was connected to the World Wide Web for the first time!

In the area of health, we are endeavoring to renovate, equip and supply a Clinic. We are also assisting toward securing the materials needed to train the students of a Medical School opened by the Presbyterian Church. The Clinic is in the Nkonya area and is truly a “clinic” in name only. A nurse who has practically no equipment and no supplies staffs it. Worse yet, the building is in need of renovation as the rafters are infested with bats and their waste stains the ceilings. During our Rebuild Africa Tour 07 we donated approx. $1000 of equipment and supplies. A member of the Tour, Dr. Lester Wright, agreed to see patients at the Clinic and was greeted by nearly 500 people, many of whom started lining up as early as 3am for medical attention. Dr. Wright saw nearly 50 patients, most of whom were experiencing complications from Malaria. As a result we are initiating a campaign to combat and defeat the ravages of Malaria and other diseases in Africa. The Medical School in Agogo opened this fall and has 55 students registered in its Nursing Program (the Physician Training Program begins Fall 2008). Although it is open, there is a significant shortage of books, instructional materials and supplies. During our Rebuild Africa Tour 07 we literally saved the program from being closed. The Head of the Nurses certification program in Ghana was about to close down the program as all instruction was only theoretical since there was no “hands on” equipment to assist with training the students. Our donation of two anatomical skeletons (Kojo and Kwabena, as they were “born” on Monday and Tuesday respectively), two blood pressure cups, and a laptop computer brought the program into compliance, albeit temporarily.

Additionally, we have been asked to assist the Aprade Community in the Eastern Region with water issues as well as the Paramount King of Assin Manso, Barima Kwame Nkyi, with completing a complex honoring the victims of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The citizens of Aprade are seeking assistance with raising $10,000 to run a water pipeline from a mile away into their village. The pipeline will eliminate the necessity of having to walk the long distance down and then back up a very steep hill just to gather and carry water from a spring, which cannot always be relied upon. In Assin Manso, which is in the Cape Coast area, Barima Nkyi is seeking assistance with building a wax museum devoted to preserving the memory of the Atlantic Slave Trade. The museum will serve as a perfect complement to the memorial park, which has the remains of two repatriated descendants of Africa, a mural depicting the story of this human tragedy, and the point along the river where those who had been captured received their last bath before reaching the slave dungeons to be shipped out.

Last but far from least, in the year 2000 we embarked on a campaign which, when completed, will have a lasting and empowering effect on not only the targeted areas but the whole of Ghana as well. In the West African country of Benin, there’s a diamond which when polished will cast a brilliant light on not only Africa, but the world at large. Answering the global call for sustainability is the Songhai Center (www.songhai.org, also Google video “Songhai Center”). We have developed a campaign to train 20 Ghanaians for three months at the Benin Songhai Center at a total cost of $80,000 and are developing a campaign to raise the resources needed to establish two additional centers in Ghana (in the Nkonya and Agogo Traditional Areas). The Songhai program answers the call for many of the challenges facing Africa. Songhai Center generates and uses sustainable energy, cleans and promotes responsible use of water resources, promotes reusable resource technologies including waste management, produces tons of organically grown food, manufactures machinery used by the program, and provides meaningful training and work for rural youth thus keeping them in the villages and away from already overcrowded cities where they often end up jobless or “hawking” on the streets or even homeless.

During our Rebuild Africa Tour 07, our goal was brought one giant step closer to fruition. While visiting Songhai Center, the Director, Father Godfrey Nzamujo, announced to the Tour that he is to shortly sign an agreement with the United Nations which will establish Songhai Centers in eleven African Countries including Ghana.

If you or anyone you know are interested, willing and/or able to assist with any of these projects please contact:

Ur Aua Hehimetu Ra Enkamit

Ausar Auset Society

6224 3^rd St. NW

Washington, DC 20011

http://www.ra-aas.com/

The following is taken from the Songhai Website:

In the early 1980's, a small group of people led by Father Godfrey Nzamujo determined that the level of development in Africa was grossly insufficient and sought to restore dignity to the African people. The result was the creation of the Songhai Center. Named after the famed 15th-century Malian empire, Songhai is a center for training, for production, research and development of sustainable agricultural practices. The movement seeks to augment the standard of living of Africa's populations using the following methods for the creation of viable agricultural enterprises:

· Through the use of local resources, traditional and modern methods;

· Through the hybridization of traditional and modern agricultural practices;

· Through the instruction and implementation of effective management;

· Through the encouragement of individual and communal responsibility and initiatives;

· Through the inclusion of diverse opinions.

The ambition of Songhai is to foster an environment of creativity and innovation and as a result, reestablish a stable African society. Songhai draws inspiration from "the Timbuktu effect" - Pride, progress and effective result-, by clearly emphasizing all the advantages Africa offers. Citizens can therefore benefit from globalization rather than be excluded from it or solely bear the weight of its effects.”

Funds are collected from the sale of Songhai's own products as well as grants from various partners. Most of Songhai's resources are used to finance production activities while a small portion is allocated to administrative expenses. The ongoing objective is to attain 100% financial independence.

Songhai is an institution which seeks to exist via its own efforts and which finances its programs primarily from revenues generated by its own activities. In addition to the internally generated funds, several partners support many of Songhai's investment projects.

SONGHAI SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

· More than 400 students in training in the centers located in Porto Novo, Savalou, Parakou, and Kinwedji for an 18-month training period.

· More than 250 farms established in all the regions and managed by the young people trained in Benin; are brought together under a Network involving local coordinating units.

· More than 300 participants from various countries and from all walks of life take part each year in short-term training programs

· More than 150 permanent staff, facilitators, technicians and administrators

· More than 4,000 visitors every year.

· More than 40 partners from public and private institutions, NGOs, associations, universities, and international institutions like USAID and UNDP