Welcome to the Future Home of
WingSpan International USA
MISSION
"Through Mindfulness, we can heal ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. What we do for our human family benefits us first. We reclaim our souls, which reflect our inner beauty."
- Adjoa Acquaah-Harrison, founder WingSpan International USA
The Mission of WingSpan International USA is to reduce illiteracy in the poor villages of the Central and Western Regions of Ghana, West Africa. WingSpan is giving voices to girls from the rural areas through the award of full academic scholarships to attend boarding schools since 2003. The WingSpan Village Libraries System will deliver early literacy interventions to rural communities and enable preschool village children to learn to read, write, and grasp math skills that will set the foundations for academic lives that will not be impeded by poverty.
VISION
"When you educate a man, you have educated an individual… When you educate a woman, you have educated a Nation."
- Dr. James Emmanuel Kwegyir-Aggrey, mentor of the Hon. Kwame Nkrumah, first President of Ghana
It is 2009 and Ghana is still one of the poorest countries in the world, with 40% of its population considered functionally illiterate. Under these conditions, girls suffer the worse fate. It is imperative to educate village girls who continue to be most vulnerable especially in this age HIV/AIDS in Africa. WingSpan scholarships help to narrow the gender disparities in education in Ghana.
Of the 850 million illiterate people in the world, 2/3 are women. Rural girls are doomed to illiteracy, early marriages with too many children, emotional and physical subordination to her husband and extended families, and poor health. The uneducated girl passes the baton of a doomed life to her children, Through the informal educational processes of WingSpan workshops and village gatherings, we hope to incrementally deliver a model of learning opportunities that raise the consciousness of rural parents in their understandings and support of their children's education, health, social responsibility, and ways in which older illiterate members of the family are able to interact with their younger members whose lives are increasingly changing through education. The WingSpan model of formal and informal educational interventions of rural families are designed to succeed through the important lenses of preventive health, immunization, TB, iodine deficiency, ADHD and hygiene, as well as issues related to HIV/AIDS, cancers, cardiac care and women's health.
WingSpan's ultimate impact will be manifested in sustainable development that influences government policies on health and education in Ghana. Government legislation and enforcement of health and education policies will benefit economic development because of a reduction in illiteracy and increase in the raising of social capital for nation-building.
Founding Executive Director
WingSpan International USA
info@wingspanvillage.org
Copyright © 2008-2009 WingSpan International USA
Support of this website is made possible by the Western Union Foundation, and the Simmonds/Scharffenberger family of San Francisco, CA
WingSpan International USA, is an independent, non-political, non-partisan, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization
operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with no affiliations to any political ideology, religious organization,
or interest group. Our educational programs benefit rural girls and children in Ghana.