We recently introduced our partnership with the village of Tsipasi. At the time of our introduction we were just beginning to cultivate what we hoped to be a lasting partnership with the community. Since then we have created a strong bond which has allowed us to come alongside the people of Tsipasi and link arms in the work to eliminate poverty, one project at a time.
Tsipasi is primarily a farming community with a population of about 2,915. The community relies on crops of okra, peppers, tomatoes, maize, and cassava for their sustenance and economic well being. They also raise livestock such as cattle, turkey, goat, guinea fowl, and sheep, also on a small scale.
Water in the Ewe language (one of the original languages spoken in the area) is “Tsi’ - Tsipasi means an area where water is in abundance.
It is ironically tragic that the name of the village means an area where water is in abundance, yet prior to the well being installed they did not have access to clean water.
We changed that!
They USED TO draw their water from a "nearby" stream, which did not provide safe drinking water. The stream is about 500 meters, or one third of a mile from the village.
Prior to the installation of the well, the local children had to travel for water in the mornings before school. Because the community is a farming village, their dwellings are very scattered. Many children have had inconsistent access to education due to the distance some of these children lived from both the school and well.
There are also neighboring villages that now have access to clean water thanks to the newly installed well.
The impact of just one well has been tremendous!
In January we made our first trip to Tsipasi to see the completed well and meet the villagers and community leaders, continuing to form lasting relationships. Our vision is to establish deep roots in the communities we serve, standing with them for as long as it takes. We are about empowerment through partnerships, not dropping in, patting ourselves on the back, and leaving.
We have two next steps which we consider to be immediate needs.
First, we need to continue with our purification work to remove salt from the well water. Tsipasi sits relatively close to the ocean and because of this there are traces of salt in the ground water. We have already begun the work necessary to remove the salt and provide the community and its neighbors fresh and good tasting drinking water. If you'd like to partner with us in our on going water projects, you can do so by signing up for either our Indoor Water Ride at the Indianola YMCA on April 11th, or our signature Outdoor Water Ride which will be held on Saturday, May 16th.
As with all our Water Rides, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to funding our ongoing water projects.
Secondly, Tsipasi has a desperate educational need. Currently, the community has roughly 167 school aged children in need of a formal education. We believe that education is a vital path to combating poverty and providing a way to improve the future. To that end, The Move Project is pleased to announce the founding of The Move Project Academy!
Our Academy will serve the children of Tsipasi and surrounding communities by providing them quality education that will enable them for future success. As you can imagine, this is a tremendous undertaking and we're asking for you to partner with us through this endeavor.
In our last blog post, we introduced our new campaign which we've called The Move Advocates. The commitment of becoming a Move Advocate is to donate $100 per month. This contribution will be used to ensure sustainability and success of this and other projects, and will allow The Move Project to increase the scope of our poverty eliminating work.
Click HERE to become and Advocate today. It's as easy as setting up a recurring donation.
In the coming weeks, we will begin to outline the costs we anticipate to begin building The Move Project Academy as well as the costs associated with the daily operations. Our initial plan is to staff the Academy with five teachers which will provide one teacher per classroom plus a Head Master to oversee the daily operations.
We can't do it alone, but we can do it together. Partner with is to revolutionize the future of our friends and neighbors in Tsipasi.
The next move is yours!
