Grants/Rural Peace Project
Describe the project you are proposing as clearly as possible in just five sentences.
The aims project at instilling a sense of peacebuilding among rural inhabitants in selected rural districts in Ghana whilst assisting with teaching and learning activities in Junior High and Senior High Schools in the deprived districts in Ghana. The project will tap the resources of just graduated students (volunteers) in Ghana who are members of Peace Fellowship Network International (PFI) - a youth wing the AFCOPB. As on the field as voluntary teachers, they will embark on community door-to-door and mass peace campaign. The volunteer will also help the students to form the Peace Fellowship Networks in the participated institution. The volunteers would be posted to rural areas outside their home regions-this is to enable the volunteers learn about other people's culture hence regional tolerance.
Detail the tangible project output (e.g., paper, blog post, written materials, video/film, etc.; this would be in addition to the final written report that successful grant recipients will be expected to deliver to CC at the conclusion of the project).
It is expected that at the end of the programme: 1. Beneficiary Students might have acquired academic benefit from the volunteers 2. Peace Fellow Networks would be formed in the beneficiary schools 3. Volunteers would acquired experience in rural and voluntary service 4. Students and the entire people in these communities might have understood the significant of peace building 5. The volunteers will acquire skills on peace education 6. Promote inter-cultural exchanges as volunteers would be posted away from their home region to live and lean about other cultures.
Describe the community you are targeting. How would the project benefit the community?
The beneficiary communities are rural areas which lack teachers. Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta regions have over the year been hit by series of tribal and chieftaincy conflicts leading to loss of lives and properties. Currently Northern Region is experiencing sporadic tribal and chieftaincy conflicts which the youth play a key role. Preliminary researches conducted by the Centre indicate that the conflict situation in rural communities in the region is further deepening the unwillingness of teachers to go to these areas. This is also resulting to poor academic performance of the students in the affected areas.
The project will help improve academic performance of the students in these areas and also help create awareness of the significance of peace among the rural inhabitants especially the youth. This at the long run will contribute to sustainable peace in the beneficiary communities.br />
The project is currently being piloted in some schools in Volta and Northern Regions where we had the chance to interact with stakeholders in the communities to know their problem and how best to tackle the issues. Based on this we have had the chance to access the future impact the project and our organization will have on these communities.
Our approach is developing the currently generation (the youth-major actors in destructive conflicts in the area) to know what constitution peace and its importance through the formation and monitoring of our youth wings (Peace Fellowship Network) in the areas.
Above all we are non-political, non-religious and non-tribal organization who is ready to help solve problems.
How will you measure and evaluate your project’s impact - on your main participants? Other contributors? On the larger community?
The project will be evaluated to document and inform funders and partners how the funds provided were spent. It is also to inform other partners on how the project was successfully implemented and the challenges uncounted. The District Assemblies, Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Security Agencies, Heads of Institutions, Ghana Education Service and other partners will be the key players in the evaluation.
Objective 1: 50 just graduated students from Peace Fellowship Networks across the country will be successfully trained and resourced as peace educators Indicators: i. The number of potential volunteers who will successfully be trained and resourced as peace educators ii. The number of students who were able to embark on the peace education program iii. The number of students who were able to successfully form Peace Fellowships in the various localities
Objective 2: The trained peace educators are able to educate the local inhabitants in the selected districts to help raise their awareness on causes and effects of conflicts in our communities Indicators: i. Improved knowledge of causes and effect of conflict among local inhabitants The project will be evaluated to document and inform funders and partners how the funds provided were spent. It is also to inform other partners how the project was successfully implemented and the challenges uncounted. The District Assemblies, Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Security Agencies, Heads of Institutions, Ghana Education Service and other partners will be the key players in the evaluation. Indicators of Achievement
Objective 3: The trained educators able to improve teaching and learning in the various institutions Indicators: i. Improved teaching of subjects that lack teachers in the various schools ii. Improved knowledge of taught students in those subjects after the project
How many participants do you expect to be involved in your project? How will you seek and sustain their involvement?
Fifty (50) volunteers will be recruited and successfully trained and resourced as peace educators. In sustaining the participants involvement, they would be given certificate of participation, feeding, accommodation and stipend at the end of every project season-(usually three months).
Aside that that for any member to qualify and crowned by the Centre as a Peace Fellow, one has to participate in any of our voluntary programmes in addition to any of the courses (Conflicts Analysis, Mediation Skill etc) we organize member of our youth wings.
During the long vacation, member of the Peace Fellowship Networks (undergraduate students) will continue the project.
The targeted communities would be adopted for threes for the project. This would help us best access the impact of the project.
Describe how your project will benefit Creative Commons' mission to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in "the commons".
Our project is purely education and exchange of culture. Volunteers would also be undertaking scientific research whiles on the field. A platform would be created on our website and on other social networks for our volunteers to discuss their field experiences. As we grow, opportunities will be created for foreigners would wants to volunteer their service in this regards.
Describe what technologies and tools your project will use. What kinds of technical skills and expertise do you bring to the project? What are your technical needs?
As part of our community peace campaigns, video of conflict situations in Africa would be shown to the rural inhabitants in on some major evening and telecast live on our website. By this we would use laptops, modems, LCD s, cameras etc. Video documentary of the entire project would also be uploaded onto our website and on other social networks. The documentary will also be telecast on some of the TV stations in the country.
We bring experience project managers, conflict managers and analysts, educationists, anthropologists and ICT experts on board for the successful implementation of the project.
Our technical needs 1. Equipment – training materials, modems, laptops, cameras, LCD's, T-shirts 2. Feeding, accommodation and stipends for volunteers 3. Allowances for project team/trainers/resources persons 4. Transportation for volunteers/coordinators
What challenges do you expect to face, and how do you plan to overcome them?
1. Financing the project is our major challenge due to the nature and scope of the work. We hope to overcome this through our fund raising strategies (writing of proposals to international donors, local companies, and appeal to some individuals for assistance) 2. Lack of cooperation from some community leader: We hope to overcome this by holding a stakeholders meeting with the leader to explain the importance of the project to their communities. We would also get them involved in dome of the decision makings regarding the monitoring and implementation of the project.
How do you plan to sustain your project after the Creative Commons funding has ended? Detail specific plans. How do you plan to raise revenue to continue your efforts in the future?
1. We would write to other donor organizations 2. We would solicit for sponsorship form local companies 3. We would organize fund raising programmes through out the country 4. Sales of the organizations souvenirs 5. we would call on individual philanthropies 6. our regional Peace Fellowship Network Coordinators will monitor and the activities of the chapter Fellowships established by the volunteers.
How can this project be scalable, or have a scalable impact?
Through proper implementation, coordination and financial management. More Volunteers would also be recruited for its expansion and tackling or correcting shortfalls that we might identifies in piloted seasons.
Coordination will be done by involving of the District Assemblies, Community Leaders, Heads of educational institution, and Regional and Chapter Coordinators of the Peace Fellowship Networks.
This project is achievable if implemented on a large scope and will field positive result.
What resources and support do you expect Creative Commons to provide to your project to ensure its success (if any)?
Grants to enable us provide transportation, hardware, workshop expenses, stipend for our volunteers and allowances for coordinators.
Describe how your organization currently communicates with its community members and network partners. (100 words)
Via letter writing, mobile phone calls, Internet and road transport.
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