Overview of Individual Projects
As for Jamaica, group leaders Shawna Kay Williams and Lecia Brown, will be working on establishing a school library at the Moores Primary and Junior High. They are also hoping to establish a local community clinic in the future. However, in the interim, the group has been hosting tutorial sessions for a number of high school students in the Moores community. Additionally, these students and those from the primary school have also been engaged in one-on-one health rap sessions after school to widen awareness on various health topics. Members of the US Bridge Kids group will be working on starting an after-school tutorial programme for under-privileged children.
Representatives from Senegal were very vocal about their various projects to enhance their community. Chief among these is their mission to get the Talibe children off the streets of Senegal. According to Bamba Ndiaye, chief advisor of the Bridge Kids group in Senegal, the Talibe children come from ‘non-radical’ Muslim homes with parents, who by virtue of their own religious practices, abandon them on the streets to beg money for themselves. The group will therefore be assisting with the expansion of a mosque in Sanar, in order to accommodate more of these homeless Talibe children. In addition to this, they will be starting a tutorial programme to teach these children a second language in English, since most of them are only able to speak French, their mother tongue.
Ghana and Rwanda
The Ghanaian and Rwandan Bridge Kids groups will be focusing on economic development. Both groups have decided to channel natural resources in their home communities into commercially viable products.
According to Amshawu, leader of the Ghanaian group, the natural Ghanaian environment is rich with shea nuts. As such, they will be harvesting the shea nuts and for the time being, manually manufacture them into the production of shea butter. The group also hopes that with future partnerships with commercial entities they may be able to locate external markets for their product and then use the income generated from such to buy various sewing equipment and material for a small skill-training school soon to be opened for high school drop-outs and pregnant teenagers in their immediate community.
The Rwandan group will also be turning to their natural resources in advancing their product. Group leader Baraka Paulette said that they will be using banana leaves to make various designs on postcards. Like the Ghanaian group, they also hope to market their product and use the funds in establishing an internet café to provide computer classes and research opportunities for persons within their community.
