International Literacy Day

Today we celebrate International Literacy day! Our team is hard at work doing our part to make sure the children of Tsipasi receive the best literacy education possible. Through the rigorous curriculum available to TMP Academy, we are working everyday to help support the life long endeavor of learning.

Prior to TMP Academy opening in January 2018 there was no formal education available to the community. Unless students had the means to travel away from the community for school, education was not accessible to them. Since opening, our student population has grown to 127 students and there are even more children in the community waiting to get in once we are able to expand.

While the problem of illiteracy is massive on a global scale, we are so proud of our TMP Academy staff making an impact in Tsipasi and increasing literacy rates in the community. It is through efforts like this, one community at a time, that literacy rates will grow across the globe.

You can support this educational effort by becoming a monthly education sponsor. Together we will do our part in disrupting the education gap! Become a recurring donor in just a few simple click on our website (www.themoveproject.org/donate).

Did you know -

• 773 million adults and young people lack basic literacy skills globally

• 617 children and adolescents are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and math

Check out more about International Literacy Day by visiting the United Nations website.

Hitting the Trails With Us?

Saturday is quickly approaching, which means we're excited to see you on the trails for our "choose your own adventure" Water Ride 2020.

On August 29, we’re asking you to join us on a bike ride of your choice. We’ve got a designated route you can take or you can “choose your own adventure” and know that your $25 ticket is going directly to clean water + education in Tsipasi, Ghana.

This year we are specifically using the funds raised from this ride to offset the cost of a water project which allows us to lay water pipes and connect them to the main water line that was recently installed by the government. This will create access to running water at the school and kitchen.

This community's commitment to this ride over the years has allowed us to build three water wells, build a school, fund teachers, and create many other micro projects in Tsipasi.

Will you commit to hopping on your bike on August 29 to continue this important work?

Because we are not going to be seeing you like we normally do, we're offering a slightly different way of getting shirts as well through the Side Garage's program, Ignition Ink. Those will ship post-ride, but you definitely want one! Thanks to 818 Design for designing these incredible tees for this year's ride.

Buy your shirt right here. (NOTE: Sales end 8/30)

Academic Year Comes to a Close

FROM THE DESK OF THE HEADMASTER - TMP ACADEMY

As the 2019/2020 academic year comes to a close, we wanted to thank those who continue to support The Move Project Academy by way of your generous contributions to The Move Project. Without your support, we wouldn’t be able to provide the high-quality education that the children of Tsipasi are now receiving.

The teachers and staff of TMP Academy were instrumental in our ability to respond appropriately to the COVID-19 pandemic while continuing to provide educational support to the students. Quickly after the pandemic began to spread, Ghana officially closed the schools and the staff began to implement the school’s support plan. This included providing take home exercises for all students regardless of classroom assignment. The older students began their out-of-class experience by reviewing the previous terms exam questions and from there moved into material directly from the textbooks. Our younger students continued where they left off with work directly from the textbooks. Student participation remained strong until the end of the academic year. As the year came to a close the students began working on their family farms and the school began preparing for next year. As of now, we plan on following the Ghana Education Service timeline for opening which will occur in September.

The support plan also included daily meals for all students. We realize that a key part of attendance at TMP Academy is daily access to food. Without TMP Academy, daily meals are not a guarantee for most of our students and our cooking staff never missed a day!

While on lockdown, TMP Academy hosted local area health workers who provided socially distance workshops on hand washing, social distancing practices, and other topics to help ensure the community remained as healthy as possible while limiting the spread of the coronavirus.

The students at TMP Academy continue to show great growth and development in their studies and we eagerly anticipate continued advancement into new grades. As our students continue to advance, new classroom facilities will be needed. We look forward to the coming school year and thank you again for your continued support.

-Mr. Clemente Owusu Ansah

Assistant Headmaster, TMP Academy

Water Ride 2020 - Shifting Gears

We’re shifting gears.

Covid-19 has presented challenges with hosting a physical event and instead of asking 200+ people to show up at Confluence on the same day, at the same time, we’ve got a new plan and we hope you’re on board!

On August 29, we’re asking you to join us on a bike ride of your choice. We’ve got a designated route you can take or you can “choose your own adventure” and know that your $25 ticket is going directly to clean water + education in Tsipasi, Ghana.

This annual event is our biggest fundraiser and allows us to make a huge impact!

This year we are specifically using the funds raised from this ride to offset the cost of a water project which allows us to lay water pipes and connect them to the main water line that was recently installed by the government. This will create access to running water at the school and kitchen.

This community's commitment to this ride over the years has allowed us to build three water wells, build a school, fund teachers, and create many other micro projects in Tsipasi.

Will you commit to hopping on your bike on August 29 to continue this important work?

We're still offering pretty awesome tees this year and will be shipping to anyone who chooses to order. Check it out + add one to your order!

Behind the Scenes - The TroTro

We talk a lot about education at TMP Academy in the usual ways but there is so much that goes on behind the scenes to ensure the students and staff are supported in meaningful ways. One way we do this our bus.

We learned early on that our staff members didn’t have adequate nor safe transportation. Daily, each staff member had to catch a motorcycle taxi to get to TMP Academy and return home. The motorcycle taxi is the cheapest method of transportation but it is very unsafe, especially when the teachers were carrying their school supplies or the cooks were having to transport cooking supplies. Most all of our staff live outside of Tsipasi in neighboring towns so safe and economical transportation is necessary.

To remedy this issue, we considered numerous options with the guidance of our team on the ground. The solution that was most effective was to purchase a used bus (trotro). Purchasing the trotro and hiring a local driver achieved three things; We were able to address the immediate need of our staff by providing safe and economical transportation to school each day. Another job was created as we hired a driver and he draws a salary as a bus driver by picking up each staff member in the morning and providing a return ride home at the end of the day. He also uses the trotro as a taxi on the weekends to bring in a little extra revenue for the school. Lastly, this bus benefits TMP by allowing us to have our own method of transportation for in-country visits, project needs, hauling materials, without having to rent a vehicle every time one is needed.

Your monthly support helps with these vital pieces that are part of our regular operations but not widely called out. It’s these pieces that are integral to ensuring a high quality education is delivered to our students. If you haven’t yet set up your monthly donation, you can do it in a few quick & safe clicks on our website - www.themoveproject.org/donate

Educating While Closed

Since Ghana closed all schools on March 16th, our TMP Academy team has been developing ways to continue distance learning without the benefit of electricity or internet access. Coming up with ways to ensure our students are able to continue on their educational journey has been difficult but our staff has been up to the challenge!

We started by ensuring we had enough food provisions to continue our daily meal program. This was, and remains, our top priority as nearly all of our students rely on the meals served at TMP Academy for their daily food. While we were working to obtain a three month supply of food provisions, we were also quickly lining up training and demonstrations to stay healthy during the pandemic emergency time.

With all of that, the teachers at TMP Academy have also been working through another significant challenge. Educating students without the luxury of electricity and internet has been a significant obstacle to overcome. The team has done such an incredible job of preparing lesson sheets for their classes and we are now preparing safe delivery of the school work.

We’ve seen inspiring stories of educators across the world stepping up to the challenges they are facing and we continue to be inspired by the care each educator has for their students. It is truly remarkable!

One more thing before we go - if you are able to join us to ensure quality education, meals, and community support continue in Tsipasi, sign up today to give $30/month. That is the cost per month to do EVERYTHING we are doing currently in Tsipasi.

Sponsor a desk today for just $30/month. You can get set up in just a few click at www.themoveproject.org/donate

Lunch

There is a lot going on right now in the world but in the middle of this crisis The Move Project continues our work in Tsipasi, Ghana. The main thing right now is continuing to provide meals for The Move Project Academy students as well as families within the community who are in need during this crisis.

Food insecurity is a big problem in Tsipasi and the COVID-19 pandemic is making it worse. But, TMP is there serving great meals each and every day.

The Move Project has been able to secure food supplies that will enable us to continue food distribution for at least the next three months! Thank you to our generous donors who have been supporting this work, enabling us to be prepared! Our current monthly meal budget is about $600. We expect this cost to increase as we are seeing a rise in prices within the markets coupled with decreasing access to food supplies. The longer this pandemic goes on, the more need there will be.

If you are able to donate to sustain this work, we invite you to give at www.themoveproject.org/donate

Check out our website for all the information about our work in Ghana and our COVID-19 response.

Thanks!

Nick,

Co-founder, President

The Move Project

COVID-19 Response Training

Last week we posted a blog that outlined our response to COVID-19 in Tsipasi. We had to act quickly as the community doesn’t have access to electricity and because of that, weren’t receiving information directly about COVID-19 and its spread in Ghana. The community in Tsipasi is very vulnerable to outbreaks such as COVID-19 and we worked quickly to disseminate information.

We are pleased to report that due to the incredible work by our team on the ground, on Friday, March 27th we held twelve community meetings.

Over 800 community members came to our COVID-19 informational sessions! To disperse the crowd we had six staging locations on the TMP Academy grounds and six more locations spread out throughout the village. During each session we had a nurse from the Ghana Health Service in our District demonstrate proper hand washing technique while answering questions. The training was followed by distribution of literature and hand sanitizer.

Thanks to the quick actions taken by our team on the ground, TMP was able to secure over 600 bottles of hand sanitizer that we were then able to distribute to the community. As you can imagine, these supplies are difficult to obtain and we were fortunate to partner with a distillery in Accra who had converted their operations to begin making hand sanitizer.

Beyond the training and ongoing information distribution, we also announced to the impacted families that TMP Academy will continue to serve daily meals. We know that our food service is critical to the health and wellbeing of our students and their families. For this reason, even though we were forced to close TMP Academy until this pandemic subsides, we have plans in place to safely continue serving meals.

We want to take a moment and thank our TMP Crew - those who give monthly in support of our work in Tsipasi - as well as those who have already given to support our COVID-19 work! Without the ongoing support of generous people like you, none of this would be possible.

If you’d like to give specifically in support of our COVID-19 response work, click HERE.

If you’d like to join the TMP Crew and give a monthly donation, click HERE.

Stay safe and healthy,

Nick M.

COVID-19

COVID-19 is now active in Ghana and in the past week, all schools have been ordered to close. As we’ve seen across the globe, this virus continues to impact daily living and this now includes Ghana. In compliance with the Ghana Ministry of Health we have closed TMP Academy for the foreseeable future. At this time, we do not know when schools will be allowed to re-open.

The staff of TMP Academy will continue to receive their full pay during this time. All staff is taking proper safety steps to stay as healthy as possible and we feel that ensuring they continue to receive pay is the right thing to do through this pandemic.

Our meal program at TMP Academy is the main meal for many children in Tsipasi and they rely on this food to stay healthy and full. Because of this, we will continue preparing meals for the children and their families. Early reports have suggested that food supplies will be in high demand and there are also possible restrictions coming barring group gatherings. TMP Academy has measures in place to ensure we have enough food for at least the next three months, ensuring those we care for do not go hungry.

Another issue that presents itself in Tsipasi is no electricity. This problem limits the flow of information within the community to ensure all safety measures recommended by the government are received. In order to ensure all are aware, TMP is taking the following steps in support of Tsipasi;

• Printing and distributing over 200 informational pamphlets on COVID-19

• Purchasing over 500 bottles of hand sanitizer for community distribution

• Partnering with the local Director of Health for health & safety demonstrations

We will remain in Tsipasi and continue to work with the community through this crisis.

All of this work is enabled by generous people all over the world. If you currently donate monthly we are so grateful and it is because of your gifts that we are able act in this moment of need.

If you would like to give in support of our response to the COVID-19 crisis, we invite you to use the link below. 100% of your donations will be used to fight this pandemic in Tsipasi, Ghana. Donate below.

Our 'Why'

We have written before about why we launched TMP Academy but I want to share a little bit more with you on why TMP exists as a whole.

The Move Project became an official non-profit organization in 2010 and our moonshot goal was, and still remains, not to exist at all. Until we aren’t needed any longer, we will remain steadfast in our mission to disrupt poverty while instilling a hope that no matter where you were born, you can achieve greatness.

Another guidepost for TMP is to help without causing harm. This may sound like a common sense approach and fairly easy to pull off, but in fact, it is very difficult to do in practice. It is for this, among other reasons, that we have Ghanaians leading the effort at every level of the organization. Our work in Tsipasi goes through a rigorous planning process and no project is done without full consent, approval, and partnership with the community of Tsipasi. We don’t take the partnership with Tsipasi lightly and we are constantly striving to serve in a way that benefits Tsipasi without disrupting their culture, way of life, and way of being. Ultimately, we desire to hand over all we have started to the community when they are willing and able to begin management. As we noted above, we hope to serve our selves out of being needed.

We specifically partnered with Tsipasi because they were the first community to have a clear focus on what a partnership with The Move Project would look like, how it would benefit the entire community (not just those in power), and how they would participate from day one. Our joint endeavor began in 2016 and has continued to mature and flourish each year. Tsipasi laid out their vision and the top three priorities are as follows:

• Access to clean water

• Education

• Economic sustainability assistance

As you can see, these are some pretty significant goals.

Our first project milestone was the installation of a water well which provided access to clean water for the entire village. We have now taken the step of connecting to a brand new water line that was recently installed near the community. By connecting to this water main, the school and community will have even greater access to clean water!

In 2018 we opened the doors of TMP Academy to begin the second major work. We are currently educating 127 students across six grades. TMP Academy currently employs nine full-time staff while providing meals to both students and families in need.

• Over the past decade, only 73% of children in Ghana have had access to primary school. In Tsipasi, the percentage is much smaller.

• In that same time-frame, approximately 34% of Ghana's children experienced child labor

We believe that through education, the children will be empowered to shine and TMP Academy is a place where they can learn, grow, and meet their personal goals. Tsipasi has supported this work from day 1 and we are so grateful for their partnership in making education succeed in the community.

I’ll leave you with our TMP Manifesto:

We believe that everyone is worth it.

We refuse to believe a statistic is a statistic, because we know there are names and birthdays. There are children and brothers and sisters. 

We believe that light will overcome the darkness and we won't rest until light shines through.

We will show up.

We will continue the fight even when the opposition is greater and the fight against us is winning.

We will slog,

we will walk, 

we will run.

We believe that living in freedom, having food and drink, and living under a roof are human rights.

Rights that are to be enjoyed by all mankind, not just a select few. 

Whether you are part of the haves or the have-nots, we will stand arm in arm calling you to action because we believe the worst thing anyone can do is nothing at all. 

If you’d like to join us and support this work, you can give easily and securely here.

First Term Recap

The first term of the 2019-2020 academic year began on September 10th and closed following the end of term exams on December 11th. The TMP Academy leadership team was very pleased with the performance of both the staff and students. Through constant attention to the needs of the students and their families, we saw tremendous progress and ended the term very encouraged by the student’s growth and development.

The school had eleven weeks of teaching, one week for revision and two weeks for examination. The end of term exams began on December 5th and concluded on December 11th. The students did impressively well and it is clear that they have come such a long way from when they first arrived at the school.

The level of English fluency in school has increased greatly along with overall student attendance. English fluency and attendance were two key areas of focus. Due to the lack of access to school, most of the children were working on their family farm or doing other jobs around the community. As we’ve noted before, we spent a year prior to the school opening, working with families and students to understand the importance of education and the necessity of them attending class. We are so thrilled with how the community has embraced education and allowed their children to attend.

Our second term began on January 8th and we look forward to sharing exciting updates!

The major way we sustain TMP Academy and the services we provide within the community is through recurring giving by donors. It costs $30 per student per month to fully operate TMP Academy. Will you sign up today to give $30 per month? You give give safely and securely on our website.

2019 Comes to a Close

As we close the book on 2019 and look forward to what 2020 will bring, we at TMP pause to reflect on all that transpired over the last 12 months.

TMP officially began our work in 2010 and although we’ve been building slowly but surely, it is now clear that 2019 was our biggest and fastest advancement so far. A few quick highlights:

• We saw our largest donor engagement ever

• TMP Academy solidified it’s place in the community of Tsipasi

• Education work grew in both quality and reach

• We added more staff in Ghana than we’ve ever had before

While on-site at TMP Academy in June, our Board of Directors was honored to meet and be hosted by the Paramount Chief of the region. We had the opportunity to provide updates to our work and the impact it is having in Tsipasi and surrounding areas. The Chief expressed his thanks and gratefulness for our work and how we operate in Ghana.

We approach our work with Ghanaian-led efforts and engagement as we stand in the background. It was very nice to see our in-country Directors receive honor from the Paramount Chief for all their hard work.

We would like to extend our thanks to all who engaged with our work this past year, especially those that chose to give financially to our work in Ghana. There is no TMP without generous people like you! We look forward to an exciting 2020 and we hope you’ll join us along the way.

2019 - A Year In Review:

• 71 unique donors - 207 donations

• Opened new toilet & washroom facility providing safe and secure facilities for students and staff

• Funded new water connection into the brand new water main providing consistent safe and clean water access to Tsipasi

• Made improvements to TMP Academy to ensure safe and secure learning spaces

• Improved TMP Academy kitchen and cafeteria facility

• Implemented our first community farm which will provide jobs to local residents along with food for TMP Academy’s meal program

• Delivered continuing education modules for staff at TMP Academy and other educators from the region in partnership with Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa)

• Invited by the Ghana Education Service to host educational training for the second year in a row

• Began offering Classes 3 & 4 (U.S. equivalent of 3rd and 4th grade)

• Increased TMP Academy enrollment to 127 students

• Provided scholarship for 5 area students to attend Sr. High

• Provided meal program from TMP Academy to adults in need within the Tsipasi community

• Purchased 3 hand washing stations for use at TMP Academy

• Provided summer school classes for students of TMP Academy

New Staff at TMP Academy

We are now just beyond two months into the first term of the 2019/2020 academic year and TMP Academy has experienced some wonderful growth and maturing as a school. Part of that growth includes welcoming two more teachers to our staff. We are pleased to introduce Clement Owusu and Rita Dejogbefu to TMP Academy, both joined the team in September. The additions of Clement and Rita are an indication of how our work at TMP Academy is growing and speaks to the development of the school both within the community of Tsipasi and the surrounding region. TMP Academy is recognized as a school that provides high quality education and because of that, we are being asked by more and more parents to enroll their children.

Clement joins our staff as the Class 3 & 4 teacher, which are new class offerings at TMP Academy this academic year. Since our founding, we have been hard at work helping students get to their appropriate grade level and with the start of this new academic year we are pleased to have promoted a total of 27 students into new grade levels. You can read more about the promotions in a previous blog post here. Clement is a graduate of Methodist University College in Accra, Ghana. He joins us from Badukrom Methodist International School where he taught various subjects including Math and English.

Rita has joined our staff as the Class 2 teacher, replacing Matilda.Rita comes to TMP Academy with a diploma from University of Cape Coast and 3+ years of classroom teaching experience. We are thrilled to have Rita join our team and continue the wonderful in-class work that has begun in Class 2.

With the growth of TMP Academy, we’re fortunate enough to welcome new students to the school along with our two new staff members. The mission of TMP Academy is to become the gold standard for education in Ghana and we are well on our way to achieving that goal! TMP Academy currently employs a total of ten staff members; seven teachers, two cooks, and one program director. All in all, our operating budget is just over $35,000 annually which breaks down to about $3,000 per month.

The monthly cost noted above covers teachers salaries, meals for students and staff and community members in need, school uniforms, teacher supplies, textbooks and curriculum, and other general maintenance.

This operating expense breaks down to about $30 per month per student. Currently, we have 57 people providing sponsorship of $30 per month. Given our student population of 127, we are in need of 63 more sponsors (or the equivalent of) to ensure we can fully fund the school for 2020.

If you haven’t joined us yet, please do so today. You can sign up to give a recurring, or one-time, gift in just a few click on our website at www.themoveproject.org/donate

Progress!

September was a very busy month at TMP Academy. The biggest piece of news is that we finished our #1 priority project which was the building of our new toilet facility and washroom! With the completion of this project, our students and staff now have a safe and sanitary restroom facility which includes a new washroom. The new toilet facility was our top priority as we had a good faith agreement with the Ghana Education Service to build this in order to be a certified school.

Our second major project that we started was working with the government water company to connect into the main water line that was recently extended into the area of Tsipasi. Through a very generous donor, we were able to secure the funds necessary to hire a local contractor who will dig our water line, lay the piping, connect to the main water line, and finish by securing that connection at TMP Academy. This will greatly expand the school’s access to clean water! We will also make this water available to the community which will provide them with greater access to clean water as well.

Other projects we completed in September and October include; making kitchen improvements at TMP Academy, securing the kitchen’s storeroom, purchasing 60 pairs of new shoes for students in need, repairing all uniforms, completing our land survey to formally document TMP Academy school and farm land (donated to us by the community), securing items at the lunchroom.

The first term of the 2019/2020 school year officially began as well! We were so excited to get back to the classroom and we welcomed 27 new students to TMP Academy! This marks the first year we have had capacity to bring in a new round of students to the school. Our students made tremendous progress last year and because of their success they were promoted into new grade levels! This opened up spots in our other classrooms and we couldn’t be more proud of our students. Along with the class promotions we hired two new teachers! One teacher will replace an existing position that was vacant and our second new hire will teach our brand new class 3 and 4 which will start as a combined classroom.

As you can see, things are really progressing nicely at TMP Academy and we are making huge strides toward our goals. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.

2018/2019 School Year

In July, TMP Academy wrapped up our first every full academic year! TMP Academy opened its doors in January 2018 and since that day, we have seen some pretty incredible growth and development happening within the school. One of the main issues we experienced upon opening was getting kids to come to classes daily. Our staff worked diligently with the students and families to help increase attendance and we are now at a place where we are seeing wonderful attendance and students progress is growing accordingly.

At the close of the 2018-2019 academic year, our students take an annual exam for their grade administered by the Ghana Education Service. This standardized test is used to measure academic proficiency in Ghana and serves as our litmus test within the school to gauge how our students are doing overall. The test performance also determines grade level advancement for the next term. We are so thrilled to report that EVERY student met or exceeded the benchmark set for by the Ghana Education Service! Needless to say, the TMP Academy staff was so excited! We had five students promote two grade levels, with 25 more students moving up one grade level.

Recently we have begun enrolling new students to TMP Academy due to the academic growth of our current student population. This is yet another success in the school’s development and we look forward to welcoming new students to the Academy.

International Literacy Day

Every 8th of September, the world celebrates International Literacy Day. We are so proud to be taking part in the daily quest to eliminate illiteracy all over the world. TMP Academy is doing this work in the small village of Tsipasi, Ghana. Currently, we serve 110 children that prior to the Academy’s launch, didn’t have consistent access to quality education. Through TMP Academy, we are working very diligently to increase the literacy rate within the community.

We have some very big goals for TMP Academy, and increasing the literacy rate of our students is one of the major milestones. To that end, our latest end of term testing results were fantastic and each student finished at or above their grade level standards! For the 2019/2020 academic school year, we are promoting 25 students into Class 3-4, which marks a first for TMP Academy. This means a new staff member will soon be joining TMP Academy to ensure our school continues to grow along with the needs of the students. TMP Academy will also be accepting new students this year in our Creche and KG classrooms due to the student promotions. This marks another first for the Academy!

These are exciting times and we can’t wait to watch our students continue their educational development throughout this year.

As you know, this work doesn’t happen for free and we’re asking for you to pitch in what you can. Our monthly budget to run the Academy (everything from meals, to books, salaries, uniforms, and supplies) is $2,500 each month. Some donors choose to support education through sponsoring a seat at $30/month while others choose to make a lump sum donation. We welcome whatever amount you can contribute to ensure these children have access to a high quality education for years to come.

Donate quickly and securely on our website - www.themoveproject.org/donate

Ghana Trip Recap

This past June, we were in Ghana for two weeks. The first week we co-hosted a team from Drake University (Des Moines, IA) and the second week was for TMP’s Board to come together onsite for the first time as a group. The Board spent time in the community meeting with stakeholders, TMP Academy staff, and the leadership of Tsipasi. Future plans were reviewed and as a group, we continued to put details to the larger vision that has been cast. As we’ve stated before, moving forward hand in hand with the community is what we’re all about. Without Tsipasi leading the way, we don’t move.

Staying true to this, we held multiple meetings to ensure we stay in step with the community’s expectations and our previously agreed upon approach. The great partnership we have with Tsipasi can’t be overstated and we are very grateful to work with such wonderful people. While we were discussing future development plans, the village leadership took us for a walk. Unbeknownst to us, they had already decided as a group to donate land to TMP for our organization to use for community development purposes. We are excited to begin making plans for the use of the land which will enable us to build teacher housing, raise chickens and goats for TMP Academy, and other projects that will provide jobs to the community along with job skill training. There is a lot to look forward to.

This year, TMP partnered with Acts in Afrika to provide a free onsite medical clinic, using TMP Academy as the gathering place. It was part of our vision for the school to be used for community events such as this and it was great to see that come to fruition. Over the course of the clinic, we served over 200 people from the community, providing basic medical care and medications for free. Each student of TMP Academy was included in this clinic and all of them received medication to ensure the basic issues they face, such as malaria, are treated appropriately. This clinic was made available by some very generous donors to TMP and we are grateful for those that get involved to make work like this a reality.

The trip was concluded with time spent with our in-country staff and team. Without our wonderful group, the work we set out to do wouldn’t be nearly as effective as it is with them. This group oversees all of our daily operations, hires staff at TMP Academy, and manages all projects we do in Tsipasi. We really enjoyed our time discussing plans, celebrating, and planning for the future. We truly have a great group.

As we look forward we have a lot of work to do, chiefly, that work consists of education efforts at TMP Academy. We are in need of your support to continue to provide high quality education for the children in Tsipasi. If you give currently, we thank you! If you haven’t yet made that commitment, we’d ask you to consider either a one-time or recurring gift. Your contribution goes directly the work you hear about. So, if you’d help us meet our goal of funding our 2020 budget we’d be grateful. In order to fully fund our annual budget, we need to raise $34,000.

Will you help us?

You can donate at www.themoveproject.org/donate

Education Partnership with Drake University

In June, TMP and Drake University spent a week in Ghana together working with educators and experiencing Ghanaian culture. This year marked the second annual professional learning sessions which have proven to be valuable for everyone involved. Each session is created based on topics educators in Ghana are interested in or seek further development on.

Due to last year’s success of the program, we were invited by the Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in our district to expand the reach of our professional development work. GES hosted us this year and invited educators within TMP Academy’s district to partake in this one-day event. There were 39 educators in attendance this year and the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive.

Each group rotated through all sessions and it was wonderful to see the collaboration between the entire group with discussion, activities, and Q&A.

The development sessions included topics ranging from math games to engage students, social emotional learning, to student centered learning. Participating in the development of teachers in and around the district we serve has been part of the vision before TMP Academy launched and to see it happening successfully is seriously the greatest!

Record Setting Ride!

We just wrapped up our 7th annual Water Ride benefiting our clean water and educational projects in Ghana.

2019 was a record setting ride in both number of riders and money raised!

We were joined by 143 riders who made their way through Des Moines, stopping at local sponsor locations on the route.

In total we raised $5,822.54, every penny of which will be allocated to our work in Ghana.

Before we start to plan for the 2020 ride, we wanted to take a moment and celebrate with YOU!

It’s because of our generous sponsors that we were able to cover all overhead costs.

It’s because of the riders who came out to join us that we were abel to break the attendance record.

It’s also because of those who even though they weren’t able to join us but donated to help the cause, that we were able to break our fundraising goal.

And because of all of this, we are able to fund all current projects!!

We’ll have some exciting updates to share about this, but know that we’re doing great things together. And the lives of those in the Tsipasi community are forever changed because of it.

Looking forward!

The Water Ride Team

TMP Academy - Community Farm

Our primary goal in our work in Tsipasi is to be an integrated community partner, serving the needs the community identifies. This helps us to empower the community to break the cycle of poverty rather than enable the cycle to continue.

The community leaders have responded to this approach, and a strong partnership has been developed. With each project we complete together, the partnership is strengthened. Evidence of this are the completed projects the community is sustaining, as well as our decision to partner together on a community farm

The community farm is a new project we are excited to take on as funds allow.

Here’s an overview of the project:

• The community of Tsipasi has donated 2 acres of land for a community farm that will benefit TMP Academy’s meal program.

• Members of the community have committed to joining with TMP Academy in planting, weeding, harvesting, and other general maintenance of the land to benefit the school’s meal program.

• All produce that is in excess of what TMP Academy meal program needs will be given to those that participate for their personal use and needs.

• The farm will serve as the starting point for other, larger community development programs and projects TMP and Tsipasi will use jointly in the years to come.

While we are funding and working our projects in order of priority to the community, you can join us in funding our current project list by giving HERE.