As our mother organization, Yakote Women Farmers, prepares for 2 work trips in 2018, here are some thoughts that we couldn’t agree with more. This speech by the president of the World Bank mirrors our thoughts and observations as we work with Nabdam communities in northern Ghana. These are words that inspire us to feed more children, help with more college fees, and to raise $10,000 for a new project – building a primary school in the community of Piitanga. Please let us know if you can help. Lisa and David
From a speech by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Washington, DC, October 16, 2016:
“It is hard to overstate the urgency of making more and more effective investment in people. I believe it will determine the very future of nations.
This is especially true in considering the importance of investing in the early years. Millions of young children do not reach their full potential because of inadequate nutrition, lack of early stimulation and learning opportunities, and exposure to stressful environments.
Making investments in the earliest part of people’s lives will make a big difference in countries’ ability to compete. The cost of falling short in equipping children with foundational skills is unacceptably high, and the evidence supporting this conclusion grows every day.
Governments that do not invest early in a skilled, healthy, productive workforce are undermining their current and future economic growth.
The scale of this problem is massive. One quarter of children under age five worldwide – 159 million children – are stunted – meaning that they literally do not have the same number of neuronal connections as their non-stunted age-mates. The proportion in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is higher than 36 percent. Even in countries that have done relatively well in terms of economic growth – such as Indonesia, Ethiopia and Guatemala – over one-third of children remain stunted. And nearly half of all three- to six-year-olds do not have access to pre-primary education.” Jim Yong Kim, 2016
The type of cement block school building we hope to build.
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