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 Project Location
Bawena
The village of Bawena can be found on the eastern boarder of Mole National Park approximately 1km from the boundary in the Northern Region of Ghana.
The village is 40 miles from the nearest large town of Damongo and 36 miles from the Mole hotel and it is a 2 hour drive. The road is in bad condition and impassable during the peak of the rainy season, which lasts for 2 months of the year. However, there are plans to improve the condition of the road in the future, although no date has been set. It takes 15 hours to drive to Bawena from Ghana's capital Accra.
Project Aim
Our aim is to accommodate gap year students, voluntary workers, school expeditions and responsible tourists within the community. The traveller/s will then engage in a wide range of community development and wildlife conservation initiatives.
 Our community development programme will centre its attention on water and solar power provisions, as well as improving and constructing classrooms, and a medical centre. All our projects will be staffed and supplied by the local community creating employment, which would benefit the local economy over a long and sustainable period. We hope our wildlife conservation projects will create an awareness within the local communities of the benefits in protecting wildlife and wildlife areas for future generations.
Our proposed wildlife conservation projects will focus on promoting conservation, education and awareness of wildlife and researching wildlife numbers within the national parks. We aim to develop hides and viewing platforms at known wildlife hotspots.
Project Objectives
School and Community Development programme
WATER
- We aim to provide additional bore holes in beneficial locations around the community, whilst repairing and maintaining existing ones.
- We will assess and implement the best methods of collecting and storing rain water, which can be used to benefit the farming community during the long dry season.
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Organise community workshops on how we can collectively use water sparingly to help with the prevention of water wastage.
Power
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The provision of solar panels producing free and environmentally friendly power supply would initially be for the medical centre, and school classrooms. This is to enable students to study in the evenings. We plan to eventually expand the provision to the community homes.
- To provide training for the local community on the maintenance, repair and future instillation of these solar units.
Medical
- Maintenance and upgrading of the current small medical centre, fixing solar units, improving medical supplies and arranging regular cleaning.
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Organising workshops on family planning, health, hygiene and the prevention of illness through our daily activities.
- To provide basic medical training to community members.
- The supply of treated mosquito nets for the prevention of malaria to all high risk members of the community, which would initially be children under 5 years of age.
- Working with voluntary medical organisations in bringing qualified dentists, ophthalmologists, and other medical experts to the local area to asses and treat Bawena and the surrounding communities. Establishing excellent relations between the community and the voluntary programme to build foundations for continued support.
Schools
- Complete renovation of the existing school block.
- The construction of additional classrooms at the current primary school building. This would reduce the class sizes dramatically, once new teachers have been instated.
- Construction of junior secondary school buildings to serve the local community and eventually the surrounding villages.
- Construction of accommodation for teachers in anticipation of an increase in classrooms.
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Construction of sports facilities and rehabilitation of the current sports ground.
- Construction of a school ablution block.
- Renovation of current and construction of new classroom desks, chairs and benches.
- The construction and placement of an adequate number of bins in the school grounds.
- Establishing partnerships with charitable organisations that can help with the supply of school and sports equipment.
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Installation of adequate guttering and storage tanks for the collection and storage of rain water.
- The replanting of naturally occurring indigenous savannah woodland trees around the school grounds. This will create an awareness of the natural environment for students, which would enable them to take responsibility for conserving their natural resources.
Environmental
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Construction and placement of adequate number of bins in and around the local community.
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Planting of fast growing trees which can be used for construction poles, timber, charcoal and fire wood. This would relieve the pressure on indigenous hard woods.
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Restore a healthy number of slower growing indigenous hardwood tree species.
- Instillation of adequate storage tanks and guttering in community homesteads for the collection of rain water to be used during the dry season.
Culture
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Construction of traditional pottery, carving and cloth making workshops where community members can produce goods for general sale.
- Community members can benefit from teaching gap year students, voluntary workers, responsible tourists and school expeditions traditional pottery, carving and cloth making. The proceeds earned will go back into the community.
- Construction of a village shop for the sale of all traditional goods and souvenirs for visitors to the village. The proceeds will go back into the community.
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Community members organising traditional African drumming and dance lessons.
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Community members organising traditional cooking lessons for guests to the village. Lessons in the traditional making and brewing of soft and alcoholic drinks can also be incorporated.
Orphanage
One of our long term goals is the construction of a community orphanage.
Wildlife conservation programme
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Visiting schools in other villages around the boundary of Mole National Park to discuss the importance and benefits of protecting and conserving the wildlife and wildlife habitats for present and future generations.
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Organising school trips into Mole National Park enabling the local children to learn more about wildlife and their habitats, whilst experiencing their natural beauty.
- Meeting with community elders and chiefs to discuss how we can work together with the communities in the prevention of bush meat hunting and poaching.
- Working with the Ghana wildlife department in researching and monitoring wildlife populations within Mole National Park.
- Construction and continued maintenance of hides and viewing platforms at wildlife hotspots within the park. This would enable visitors the opportunity to see wildlife and the more secretive species.
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Construction of an artificial watering hole to provide a sustainable water supply to help attract wildlife to the area.
Financing the projects
Ashanti African Trust
The Ashanti African Trust will be a charitable trust dedicated to supporting long term sustainable community development and wildlife conservation initiatives. The projects supported by the Trust are focused at Bawena village and the surrounding communities in the Northern Region of Ghana. By establishing the Trust, all donations would be exempt from any taxes and will be used entirely to fund the above mentioned projects. The Trust will also act as a vehicle for the funds we donate from Ashanti Gap Year Breaks, Ashanti Life Experiences, Ashanti School Exhibitions, Ashanti and Bawena Eco Tourism Project, and Ashanti Standard Tours.
Ashanti Gap Year Breaks
Every time someone books an Ashanti Gap Year Breaks we will donate a proportion of the money to fund these projects. Gap year breaks do not need to be a whole year the majority of gapers now fit their gap year travel into a period of between 1 and 3 months. Millions of students worldwide want a life changing experience that will enhance their own life, whilst helping to create a better life for others. Ashanti Gap Year Breaks gives gapers this opportunity, whilst working with the indigenous peoples of Ghana, contributing to the implementation of long term sustainable community and wildlife initiatives.
Ashanti Life Experiences
Every time someone books an Ashanti Life Experience we will donate a proportion of the money to fund these projects. Our Ashanti Life Experience trips are designed for families and responsible tourists. More individual and family travellers are looking for rewarding challenges from holidays that enhance their own life whilst helping create a better life for others. Working with the indigenous peoples in remote villages on community and wildlife projects as a family or an individual is an extraordinary and educational experience that will live with you forever.
Ashanti School Expeditions
Every time someone books an Ashanti School Expedition we will donate a proportion of the money to fund these projects. Our Ashanti School Expeditions are designed for 16 to 18 year olds wanting to take on a real challenge. We hope to give them the opportunity to develop as an individual within a team environment, and enhance their life skills during the expedition. The key areas of development would be responsibility, teamwork, education, leadership and communication. This will give the individual a real sense of achievement at the end of the expedition that will live with them forever, and benefit them immensely in their future life plans.
Ashanti & Bawena Eco Tourism Project
 Ashanti and Bawena hope to establish a community eco tourism project where tourists to Ghana can visit the community and stay in traditional homesteads. A fee will be paid by the guest, upon entering the community. They can choose to pay additionally for a village tour, or lessons in traditional cooking, pottery, woodcraft, cloth making, and African drumming and dance.
There would also be the option to camp within Mole National Park at areas seldom visited by tourists, and stay overnight in one of the hides or viewing platforms constructed by the project. Bawena and Ashanti are passionate about responsible low impact tourism; as such visitor numbers will be restricted as not to negatively affect the environment and local community. All proceeds from the eco tourism project will go back into the local community.
Ashanti African Standard Tours
Currently a proportion of profits from Ashanti's standard and tailor made eco, cultural, wildlife safari, West African history and birdwatching tours are donated to the community development and wildlife conservation projects. This is to establish traditional, yet comfortable accommodation, washroom and kitchen facilities for the housing of our guests. These projects cannot start until the facilities are in place to make our guests' environment as comfortable as possible during their time in Bawena.
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