Projects

THEMATIC AREAS OF INTERVENTIONS

Alp Hands

Accelerated Learning Program
The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) began in 2005 and is generously supported by Ibis-West Africa. The ALP is a primary school for children between the ages of eight and 17, who have never been to school and/or have dropped out. Because it is the only completely free primary school at Buduburam Refugee Settlement, the 213 children enrolled in the ALP mostly come from very poor refugee families. The ALP provides numeracy and literacy skills as a complementary approach to basic primary education; promotes HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and care; and supports the empowerment of teachers and HIV/AIDS Peer Educators through trainings and supervision. The ALP aims to support the transition of out-of-school children into a formal school system within a three-year period instead of the conventional six years.

Adult Literacy

Functional Adult Literacy
To promote adult literacy, SHIFSD uses the Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques (REFLECT), and has provided literacy and numeracy skills to over 279 Liberian Refugee Women. REFLECT is a new approach that does not use preprinted materials - instead relying on the participants to develop their own materials using local products, thereby reflecting the local reality. This method, with empowerment as its goal, has led to local action and a strong link between the literacy program and other development activities. Action Aid International Ghana initiated the REFLECT Program through SHIFSD in December of 2004 at the Buduburam Refugee Settlement. Seven graduates of the program were awarded vocations scholarships by SHIFSD to acquire sewing skills, and will be the first to benefit from the new “Micro-credit with Education” program.

School Lunch Program
An exciting supplement to the Accelerated Learning Program is SHIFSD’s new School Lunch Program, which will provide ALP schoolchildren with one hot meal during each school day. Generously funded by Africa Aid, the program is meant to contribute to the attendance levels and retention rate of the students. Nutritional content will be prioritized in designing the menu, and mothers of the children have been hired as cooks, in order to bring much-needed income to women in the community. The program will also contain an educational aspect, with a daily lesson on nutrition and health topics. SHIFSD is constructing its own kitchen for the project, in order to maximize control over the meals and enhance its own capacity for future projects.

Peace building and conflict resolution
Conflict resolution and peace education is the most exciting component SHIFSD is incorporating into its education programs. Teachers are currently in the midst of undergoing conflict resolution training that they will then integrate in the classroom for the benefit of both ALP and adult literacy students. The program will yield a peace-focused student publication and student-run peer mediation program.