We are a community based social business enterprise and a charity foundation established in Ghana. We are based in northern Ghana and our town is Bolgatanga, located in the upper east region, near the Sahara country of Burkina Faso
The establishment of Nongre craft and culture came about after the realization that many northern Ghanaian school children after being enrolled in school dropout because their parents are not able to fund for their educational needs. Most of the areas affected are poverty stricken and deprived basket weaving communities in northern Ghana, whose main source of livelihood is farming. They engage in basket weaving during the dry season, which is a source of income generation and a way of keeping a subsistence livelihood.
The overall aim for this foundation is to bring about development and positive social change to the people and the communities where we operate.e.g. Basket weaving communities, etc. We understand that, in the area of human development for rural communities in sub-Sahara Africa, we trust that the focus areas should be placed on education, cultural awareness, climate compensation, social innovation, women and youth empowerment through self-create initiatives, which are all paramount to achieving some of the developmental goals in rural Africa.
Nongre Foundation at the center of Education
Welcome to Nongre Crafts and Culture Charity Foundation, a center for poverty reduction, youth empowerment and a center where simple and practical alternative livelihoods as well as sustainable development initiatives are taught to the youth. Our foundation aims to provide access to educational materials and sponsorship for children in the upper east region of Ghana, especially those youths whose parents are not able to provide for their educational needs.
Education play a major role in developing a society. Education is often understood as a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality and acquiring wealth and status for all. Hence, education is also often perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potentials, with the purpose of developing every individual to their full potential. For this reason,we find Vocational education a subtle sector that will possibly empower technically and economically. Identifying the potentials of our youths and women in diverse avenues of income generation prompted our efforts towards this initiative.
Nongre Vocational Training and Youth empowerment Center
This is a livelihood sustainability initiative directed towards harnessing the untapped abilities of youths and women in various vocational programs.
Among these programs include:
Youths(Partiularly teenage mothers) Fabric(Tye&Dye) Works
Youths/Women in Straw baskets weaving
Youth/women in Shea Butter oil production.
There are other subtle activities coupled with the training center that stand to impact the lives of our communities. Among them are:
Scholarships aimed at needy but brilliant Pupils.
Provision of various learning materials for pupils.
We vision the provision of infrastruture such as, Libraries, computer laboritory.
Cooperate partnership with individuals(volunteers), stakeholders, NGOs that share a common vision.
Lean morehttp://nongre-craftsandculture.org/%20Aid%20and%20Social%20projects.html
We are grateful to interested persons and philanthropist to join us and come to our aid with more educational materials or clothing, footwear and more. It will enable us to continue to help these children.
Youth Empowerment Teacher
Engage youth in sustainable livelihood through education and vocational training programs or initiatives.
About the Program
"Youth Empowerment Teacher" is a volunteer initiative set-up (by Nongre Crafts & Culture Foundation) to engage individual(s), organizations, co-operate bodies expertise in harnessing the limited resources coupled with potentials of our rural youths towards economic and social empowerment.
The significants of this program come at a time the world, particular Africa is having to face severe poverty and the lack of hope for many youth that have been left vulnerable to many social vices.With the many potentials in arts and crafts, our foundation has seen the need to involve youth(particularly young girls), individual(s) and organizations in this vibrant economic field with the many handmade products from the rural youth and women.
Basically, we're having to face issues of unemployment, high illiteracy, gender inequality and poor educational systems.Over the years, there have been a number of interventions among these were, introducing a number of the youth into professional tour-guiding within the region, the setting up of a arts and crafts gallery shops, a community center, sponsorship of two youth to further their education in tourism, indulging the youth in technical job e.g Carpentering, electrical engineering, Building construction , youth/women groups(Shea Butter oil production and straw baskets weavers) and more significantly Arts and crafts(Straw basket weaving, bead works, fabrics-Tye/dye production).
Our program is that of a social enterprise. therefore, we appreciate a volunteer that has the expertise to support grow the various economic initiatives we have designed.Volunteer(s) shall work with team of young vibrant youth from the foundation with other from the community that are enlighten and experienced about their surroundings.
We expect a significant support and mutual partnership between volunteers, the foundation and community so at the end of the program our mission and vision is attained. Volunteer(s) will not need special equipment.
The volunteer should expect to work with youth with diverse talents and potentials.These are potentials worth economic value hence very lucrative avenues that serve as a long term sustainable livelihood. What our foundation expect from volunteers are they should employ useful solutions to a social enterprise like Nongre Crafts And Culture Foundation. Technical know-how or practical solutions should be impacted on the youth to help them imbibe knowledge that will in the long run help them development their society.
There are various roles to be held by volunteer but basically they will teach(Arts and Crafts) in our community school that most of the kids attend. After schooling hours, volunteers will continue work at the foundation center where they shall be task with finding marketable solutions to help promote various artifacts or products from the foundation youth(mostly baskets weavers, beads works, fabric shoes/bags, Shea butter oil production, Youth In Tourism and artifacts).
The Location
Volunteers will work in a very friendly, hospital and open surrounding that will accommodate them and make it easy to communicate and be protected. They shall work in a community center close to their place of living(its about a minute or two and a biking distance of 10-15 minutes to the central town).
Typical day
Activities varies from day-to-day.
They include:
Teaching at community Primary school
Spend time at the community center
Indulge youth in various handwork's
Offer administrative support to Team
Lobby for organizational support
Source reliable ready market for youth products
Learn to make various handy works and arts
Take part in weekends drumming/dancing
Free-time activities
Hiking on our beautiful land of piled rocks and hills .
Spend time sporting or biking around town.
Private time at residence.
Visit to tourist sites.
Enjoy weekends drumming and dancing.
Learn to weave Straw baskets, Bead work etc
Services
What's included?
Workshops - As part of the volunteer program, workshops will be organized on various managerial programs to enable volunteers and youth have a deeper knowledge sharing encounter. For this to happen, facilities such Venues, resource person, food and drinks, writings materials etc must be provided
Forums
Training programs - This entails an in-depth educational training program that is aimed at vocationally empowering youth in arts and crafts.
Charity work
Foods/Drink
Accommodation
Tour
The volunteer(s) will be given a detailed touring of our region and the country.Opportunity to see various interesting historical sites is a package to give volunteer an unforgettable experience.
Transportation within community and township
Motorbike
Bicycle
Taxi
Internet bills
Available internet connectivity depends on the mobile service packages therefore cost varies
Electricity
Electricity is supplied base on prepaid meter charges
What's NOT included?
Visa, flights, travel insurance or vaccinations are NOT included in the program fees.
No worries, Volunteer World supports you in raising funds, checking your visa regulations and travel insurance. We also assist you in finding the cheapest flights for your journey.
Airport Pickup
From Airport to Guest House
From Guest House to the Bus Terminal
From Bus terminal to Bolgatanga
Accommodation
Single room with a bath/toilet and a kitchen with a porch.
Electricity and Boreholes water available .
Volunteer(s) can live with a host family (Optional).
Food & Beverages
The basis of many Ghanaian dishes is something that looks like a thick porridge or puree. Certain foods that make up the Ghanaian diet vary according to which region of the country people live in. In the north, millet (a type of grain), yams, and corn are eaten most frequently, while the south and west enjoy plantains (similar to bananas), cassava, and cocoyam (a root vegetable).
Fufu is the best known and the most popular type of puree in the south and tuo-zafi mostly popular in the north. Fufu is made from a mix of cooked cassava and plantain, mashing the fufu is an extravagant ritual and hard work. Tuo-zafi is made out of millet flour. Other well known types of puree are kenkey and banku. The later is made from corn. Even rice is something turned into a kind of puree called omo tuo; this dish is considered to be a delicacy. When it comes to soup, foreigners will favour groundnut soup. Other popular dishes are red-red, which is fired plantain with beans, jollof rice (a kind of risotto), and grilled tilapia, a freshwater fish that shouldn’t be overlooked. All of these dishes are usually available in many chop bars (simple Ghanaian eating establishment).
These staple foods are accompanied by thick, well-seasoned stews. Stews come in a variety of flavours, the most popular being okra, fish, bean leaf (or other greens), forowe (a fishy tomato stew), palava sauce (spinach stew with either fish or chicken), and groundnut (peanut), one of the country’s national dishes. The local dishes are eaten without cutlery but with the hand. Food is eaten with the RIGHT hand. There are a number of different types of puree, each with its own name.
In Ghana, food and drink are offered for sale on the street, like roast goats meat, pieces of cleaned sugarcane, roast cobs of corn, coconut, bags and bottles of iced mineral water, oranges and plantain chips. The Ghanaian drink in a spot, an open air bars, usually walled by brightly colored boards. All well-known soft drinks like Fanta, Sprite and Coca Cola are readily available, as are the local beers such as Star, Club, Stone, Castle, milk stout and Guinness. If you want something extra strong, you should try locally prepared drinks, akpeteshie, (local dry gin), distilled palm wine (a real delicacy that’s best when drunk fresh) and pito. The drink favored at local ceremonies and presented to chiefs is schnapps.
SAFETY NOTE: Stay healthy by drinking bottled water or sachets, rather than tap water, and avoiding ice in drinks unless the source is known to be safe water. Bottled water for drinking is readily available throughout Ghana and is recommended. Fresh fruit is readily available. Food that is well cooked and kept hot is safest.
Internet Access
Good access at the project site
Program Fees
What's my money used for?
Costs (Prices in USD)
4 weeks (min. stay)
$500.00
8 weeks
$971.00
16 weeks
$1,739.00
50 weeks (max. stay)
$5,000.00
You can volunteer at the project site in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region/Ghana between 4 weeks and 50 weeks. Please note that the above shown program fees are estimated and subject to exchange rate fluctuations. Nongre C C Foundation will tell you your final price during your application process.
Average Fees
$113/week
Deposit (15%)
The deposit is simply to reserve your volunteer placement. Payments are handled by PayPal, our trusted global payment provider. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can also pay using a credit card.
Final Payment (85%)
Your final payment will be agreed with Nongre C C Foundation during the application process. Common solutions are either via bank transfer or a cash payment at the project site.
Nongre-which means Love- in situated in Poloko three kilometers from Bolgatanga.
Nongre is a very inspiring place, it is a foundation set up by three young people who grew up in this area and made it their mission to bring a change.
Their mission is to bring economic independence of the women, who wave the beautiful baskets, to sell them for fair prizes and to bring economic benefits to the entire community. They will establish this by a few projects:
1 Selling baskets on the local market and to export them world wide.
2 Shea butter.
3 Setting up a Culture dance and drumming group.
4 Tourism-organizing trips in and around Bolgatanga.
5 Fundraising.
6 The team.
7 New initiatives to create more income.
8 Setting up the Nongre empowerment centre.
9 Volunteers.
The founders of Nongre are working for four years on their mission and became a foundation about a year ago.
Their team consists of seven members; three founders and four team members.
1 Baskets:
In the time I was there the Foundation set up The Nongre basket alliance.
We traveled to visit the eight different communities to explain the purpose of the Alliance and about a week later we met with representatives of the communities to talk about the principals of the Alliance, and to indicate the importance and possibilities the Alliance opens for its members. The baskets are sold for fair prices, the weavers will get 60% of the selling 20% goes to the foundation to cover costs as administration, offices expenses and 20% is for setting up new projects to create more income for the community.
The foundation will have to prove their good intentions by finding a market for the baskets domestic and international, at this moment there is contact with an American buyer which is not enough to build a solid market, it is also very important to keep the weavers informed about the any progress made. There is a possibility for the youth to learn the basket weaving and the leather work which is done on the baskets at the centre, this may be a good profession in the future.
This is a very good and important initife/enterprise, it will “keep children of the street” and they are under the responsibility of the Nongre foundation, the foundation cares a lot and the children feel good at the centre as I saw their involvement and caring when the children are at the centre.
It is needed to find a way to decrease the costs of sending the baskets abroad; this opens the possibility of selling baskets on the internet; at the moment sending prizes are too high.
In my time as a volunteer I send several letters to Fair trade world wide shops to sell baskets and then as I learned about the high costs the sending takes I found it necessary to find a way to increase these costs, before finding international markets or selling on the internet.
2 Shea butter:
The foundation has a community which/who produces Shea butter; this is a natural product that is often needed on the cosmetic market . Many people are not aware of the good virtues of the Shea butter. The foundation should explain on their website and at their facebook the potential of the butter and start selling it to create another income, no need to mention that it will be sold for fair prices.
3 Cultural Drumming and Dancing group.
The foundation set up a Dancing and Drumming group for the youth with the intention to participate in cultural exchange programs, children who participate in this program will get an outfit for the dancing and drumming and will be provided with a school uniform (without a uniform you cannot go to school) and learning material, these children also got a health insurance in the past.
At the moment budgets are small/thin in the foundation, the parents of the children never paid anything for their children who participated in the program I strongly suggest to ask for a small payment every month, it will give a kind of commitment both ways and the parents should know that the foundation cannot provide all this for free, it will be a chance for the parents to get more involved and appreciate the foundation.
As the children had their summer holidays we decided to organize a summer camp. The children got a meal every day and we decided to ask a small payment, 60 cedis, from the parents, the team decided after some thinking to ask 30 cedis and the other cedes would be paid by the foundation. I did not agree with this with because of the commitment of parents and children and as the foundation does not have spare funds I did think that it was not the right decision.
The program:
9:00-11:00: classes and various activities, as the children’s age vary from 6 till 16 we divided them up in two groups, one group was studying while the other group was participating in all kinds of activities such as: making a memory game, treasure hunt, weeding at the centre, playing some games, learning about different cultures but also getting to know more about Ghana, the ten regions of Ghana and their capitals, while we were walking around in the area the children had a chance to tell me about the products that are growing in the fields.
11:30-14:00: basket weaving and leather work, an opportunity for the children to learn how to weave baskets and how to sow the leather on the handles and edges of the baskets.
14:00-15:00-lunch, the children got a hot meal every day.
15:30-17:00: the cultural dancing and drumming classes.
Before starting the summer camp we had a meeting with the parents out of 22 children 9 parents attended the meeting., which shows their involment with the centre which is not enough.
4 Tourism-organizing trips in and around Bolgatanga.
The centre does organize trips in this area and in the west regions. It is necessary to promote this aspect of the foundation, as I understood that there used to be more tourist in this area then nowadays, this should not influence the eager to sell trips. An option might be to contact some travel agencies and to promote trough them, also travel agencies abroad. This is a beautiful and special area and instead of going straight to Paga or Molve it must be possible to get tourists to visit.
5 Fundraising.
We also applied to a number of fund organizations to get some funds. Fundraising is not easy and it takes time to get an answer and to get funds. As the intentions of the foundation are pure and for good purposes I certainly believe that there will be coming in some funds. The team does absolutely understand that they have to create a regular income by selling their basket, shea butter and tourist trips but it will be a good start to get some funds to help to fulfill their mission.
6 The team:
The Team has seven members and they all should be committed to their function in the foundation and the vision of Nongre to get to the best results. Some team members are frustrated and feel that not every member is committed/serious enough, the team will not able to function as a team. The team members should trust and respect each other. Each member should know exactly their job in the foundation and for fill it.
There should be meeting’s every month to inform the members about what occurred in the foundation, in all it’s aspects, every team member should know the programs, the progress and the problems and try to help to solve problems and be aware.
If a team member does not want to commit they should leave the team. If there are some disagreements between members they should be solved as soon as possible. A team that is not committed and disagrees won’t be able to make any progress but will be busy with arguing.
7 New initiatives to create more income.
I think it should be possible to create more income, like selling the jewelry and the small recycled statues, the main thought should be not to invest a lot of money at this time but to create income. As there is the thought of opening the Cafeteria in the shop at the market, I think it is a good idea and it should not cost that much, it is possible to start small and to expand in time.
8 Setting up the Nongre empowerment centre.
The empowerment centre is a beautiful initiative but it must be considered that it will take several funds to build it and first the foundation has to create a regular income before even think about setting up the centre. I do not think it will be smart to start if there is not enough money, first there have to be funds in order to start building.
9 Volunteers:
As being the first volunteer I had a wonderful time at Nongre, I was taking care of very good, we made some trips in the area and I had a wonderful time.
I want to advise to have two volunteers, as being at home during the evenings it is good to talk to somebody or to go together to town.
The volunteers should be fitting for the job that has to be done, like students in sales and management, it is very import ”