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Student involvement is a fundamental part of the Ayele Foundation.The foundation was first conceived of as an organization of students who, through their combined efforts, could bring about a fundamental change in literacy and education in Ghana. As we grow, we plan to remain true to that early dream as much as possible. We are currently working with three universities both on their campuses and through study/teach abroad programs and also through fund-raising and awareness campaigns on their own campuses:

The foundation has the ability to assist schools in rural Ghana in two specific ways: construction of new school buildings and providing curriculum and supplemental materials so that the students can utilize their new educational environments to the fullest capacity possible. Some of the things that our sponsor schools are doing include:

• Coordinated media days: students distribute flyers in main campus, send out press releases to garner media attention, make guest stints on radio shows, make half-time presentations– anything and everything to flood the student body with an awareness of the needs of students and the good that the Ayele Foundation can accomplish.

• Book and supply drives: imagine a brand-new school. The desks and chairs are shiny. The chalkboards are new and fresh. But there are a few things missing, like books to put on the shelves, pencils and paper to write on, chalk to fill the chalkboard with lessons. And each student needs their own backpacks and other essentials like textbooks. Helping to supply these necessary supplies can be a fun way to develop school spirit. Why not have a competition between grades and classes, or neighboring schools, to see who can make the biggest piles of things to send on to an Ayele school?

• Fundraising events: the opportunities are endless for creating events where money and awareness can be raised. Backpack filling events from donations, cultural nights featuring members of local African populations presenting food or goods made, pageants (a twist on the contestants involving guys instead of girls has been a huge hit at one school), a competitive sports event with tickets benefitting the foundation, even food nights like a pasta feed or pancake breakfast can raise much more money than you could ever anticipate.

• One-for-one school adoption: we are working to generate a program in which schools can adopt the construction of a Ghanian school. It’s surprising what can be done when a group of dedicated, single-minded youth can come together to accomplish a goal. And when you take into account that the cost for the entire construction of a Ghanian school, complete with desks and instructional materials, is only about $30,000 the dream becomes much more attainable. And as we continue to move into new and exciting venues of educational development, the opportunities will increase exponentially.