Written by Ben Hayford

Fathers, A shoulder to lean on –
Happy Father’s Day

On this special occasion where the entire planet is celebrating fathers everywhere, the Move the World Team would like wish all fathers a happy and a joyous father’s day. Our success so far as an organisation could not have been this big without the support and guidance of our fathers and father figures.

As an organisation which is so much interested in the wellbeing of humanity, it is one of core mandate to promote gender equality at all angles. We strongly believe that even as we promote and encourage women empowerment, we will not leave our men behind. We believe that both male and female are supposed to be treated fairly and equally without any discrimination or biases. As stipulated by Julia Gillard, a former Australian Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, the Chair of Global Institute of Women’s Leadership ‘Gender equality is not a women’s issue – it’s good for men too’ .

I therefore call for a balance in the issue of gender across the world. On this note I wish all fathers a Happy Father’s Day.

Written by Hawa Tasala Gariba

We speak and we act it out.
Sustainable development GOAL 6 speaks about CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION. The MTW engages the students it works with and some members of the community it works in to do a clean up exercise in the community to help reduce rubbish in the communities that gets washed into the water bodies by rain which ends up giving us several diseases. Community members have come to understand this and so they no longer litter around, instead they drop the plastic waste into the dustbin or they take it to the recycling companies. Students are made to pledge that they will practice what they’ve learnt in their houses and wherever they find themselves.

I have personally learnt from this that, The water sachet we throw around can actually be used to make beautiful market bags which I am planning to learn how to make. I am very glad that I am a part of the MTW.

MTW is not only about talking but acting it out too.

#Keepyourcommunityclean #Dontlitteraround #Staysafe #Stayhealthy.

Written by Ben Hayford

Move the World as a non-profit making organisation has thrived on the hinges of collaboration and partnership within the Sub Saharan region of Africa, to be precise – Ghana. Since MTW began its operation in Ghana in 2015, it has jointly embarked on several successful projects and training with several other local organisations in Ghana.

One popular Akan proverb stipulates that ‘a three cord string cannot be easily broken.’ Michael Jordan, a popular American basketball player also said and I quote “talent win games, but team work [partnership] and intelligence win championships.”
MTW’s partnership with 1Billion Africa has been one of the successful partnership I have witnessed. Programs like Community Day 2015 and Medie Young Leaders Retreat saw a combination great minds, culture and ideas. The merger saw a great success at the end of the project. A lot of lives were impacted. Stereotypes and prejudices we have about certain cultures changed for the better. Prince Adu-Appiah, the CEO of 1Billion Africa upon a discussion I had with him mentioned that it was a great opportunity getting to work and learn from their perspective.

MTW has also partnered with Dagara Music Centre (DMC) since its inception in Ghana. In fact, the partnership between these two institutions is what I will describe as a very beautiful love relationship. The collaboration between these two great institutions has brought about several developmental projects within the Medie community. MTW together Dagara Music Centre has empowered a lot of people within the Medie community especially the youth and children. Together, they have promoted cultural exchange and tourism. They have created jobs and improved livelihoods in Ghana. I believe both would not have reached this far had it not being their collaboration.

Move the World has also partnered with several schools in Ghana in its GetGlobal Programme. Currently, MTW has engaged about 7 schools in Accra, Ghana to help role out the GetGlobal Programme. A total of about 160 students are being impacted with first six sustainable development goals and still counting. A good number of MTW facilitators has also benefited of which I am a proud member.

Together, we achieve a lot, together we grow bigger.

#Partnershipsfordevelopment #ubuntu #Movetheworld #1BillionAfrica #DagaraMusicCentre #Development #SDGs #CreatingJobs #collaboration

Written by Margaret Osei

Skills training is one of the tools one can have to improve in life. As Lao Tzu stated “Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish and you feed them for a life time”
This shows how effective it is to practically train people to become better by using the skills they have.

In MTW, we do not only train the kids during our school program but we also give them skills they could rely one to live a better life. During these trainings we guide them and encourage them to think critically and to solve problems on their own. Also we introduce them to the world at large and what it’s stands for us.

As a Community Base Organization, we always make sure we give back to community. And that is why we work with community changemakers for them to build capacity of other to create a cycle of change.

My name is Mame (Margaret) and I’m great to be part of this team as a community changemaker and Get Global Facilitator.

Written by Emmanuel Woma

Get Global is a fantastic education programme which is run in schools, through Move the World. This program has impacted much in the life of the students and the community. I believe the Get Global programme is greatly needed, first by imparting knowledge about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the students and also by how the goals are linked together.

Move the World has impacted my life as a facilitator by teaching me more about the SDGs and am also happy to impact that to the students. The SDGs are very important to the students because it helps students understand about the the challenges in their country and community and how they can be solved.

As Move the World we are trying to end some problems in my community as a whole. And this is been impacted into the youth and students who are the future leaders in the community.
I thought I would just mention some project we work with alongside the youth and how they influence the community

1. SDG 1: Business Training through Jewellery making. Students learn how to reduce poverty in the community through creativity and bracelet making.

2. SDG 2: Project Grow a Bean. This project to aims at reducing hunger in the community by teaching students how to grow a bean plant from an empty coconut shell, soil and water.

3. SDG 3: Mindfulness Practice. This practice is taught to encourage the good health and wellbeing of the people in the community through active meditation and breathing techniques. Focusing on our bodies as our instruments of success.

4. SDG 4: Power of Education. Students are taught some wonderful quotes from great personalities throughout history and how they impact todays world. Students also have the opportunity to make a buddy friend with a younger student to foster growth and mentorship.

5. SDG 5: Humans Together. Gender Equality is a challenging subject which we introduce to help the youth understand what equality means and give them an understanding that although we have differences we are all equal.

6. SDG 6: StreetsmART. StreetsmART is a clean up and recycling exercise in the community that focuses on students personal responsibility of their surroundings.

The question you may be asking is ‘how this project influences the community if we only work with students?’
The answer is yes we work alongside students; but the students go out and teach friends and family in the community which helps us influence the community as a whole.

“Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” – Dalia Lama

Written by Ben Hayford

Practicing Healthy Dialoguing is always good. It gives room for diverse points of views and opinions thereby paving way for creativity and innovation. A community with an effective dialoguing on social issues stands the chance to develop faster within the confines of peace and tranquillity.
Move the World (MTW) is one international non for profit organisation that has adopted this strategy in the development of the Medie community in Ghana.

Dialoguing has been one the essentials tools MTW has been employing over years in their quest to improve the lives of people they come across.
At the top management level, decisions are made solely on dialoguing. I have personally witness and participated in most of their dialogues which is mostly academically driven, passion motivated and democratically organised. Such discussions are centred on crucial issues facing the communities in which they working in of which mostly the end results is always productive.

It was once said by Sol Stein that “Dialogue is a lean language in which every word counts” and that is exactly what MTW is meant for. In the scene of dialogue, every word counts, every idea is welcome, no one is wrong and no one is right. This type of atmosphere relegates fear, inferiority complex and other negative attitudes and vibes that inhibits a healthy conversation.

As the whole world preaches democracy, peace and tranquillity, I together with the MTW family make a general appeal to all nations, families, ethnic groups, institutions to adapt to the use of healthy dialogue in dealing with issues since it has proven to us to be an essential tool to development.

Written by Hawa Tasala Gariba

Society teaches the child morals to be able to fit in,
School teaches the child literacy to be able to make good marks and get a respectable job,
MTW teaches the child morals, literacy and Skills to be able to feed themselves in the future even without a white collar job.

MTW goes into the classrooms to educate, to train and to impart.
Looking at Goals 1 and 2 which are “No Poverty and Zero Hunger” respectively, one cannot only facilitate theory but also add some practicals that is why in Goal 1- “No poverty,” we train the children on beads making not to only gain the skill but to be able to create an employment from it in the future because the rate of unemployment in our countries is high.
In Goal 2 – “Zero Hunger,” we teach them how to grow food crops, this is a way to tell the child that even an educated person can be a farmer to feed the world because they believe farming is the work of the illiterate.

MTW is grooming responsible leaders for the future that is why we are not focused on the books only but we also focus on the realities of life before we start our facilitations. The MTW believes that with all these imparted into the child, they won’t only settle for a white collar job but they’ll know how to make money out of the skills they have been given and become responsible someday, this will not only benefit the child but will also benefit the whole world. We entreat parents to support whatever skill their child possess and they will not be disappointed.

#Stayhome #Staysafe #Supportthechild

Written by Michael Kwesi Woma

As a family some thoughts come with the hopes of staying forever and yet circumstances can happen and one has no choice but to say goodbye. Even though life goes on we still believe a little part of them stays with us and this makes us who we are going forward. The experience of workplace varies greatly for different individuals. But for me, it is a source of daily inspiration, teamwork, and value.

To me I see this organization as family that will always be there for me through the good times and the bad. It is about encouragement, understanding, hope, comfort, advice, values, morals, ideals, and faith. These things are all important to me because it makes me feel secure and happy inside regardless of what is going on in my life. This is one of the main reasons why Move The World (MTW) is important in my life.

This family have given me a set of unwritten rules and codes that creates and helps build my perception, vision towards society and many things that I face in my day to day life.

Written by: Ben Hayford

There is an Akan adage that says, “the one who climbs the good tree deserves to be pushed.” Move the World has been that person or organisation that need to be pushed when it comes to community development project in Ghana. Ever since my involvement with MTW, I have seen a lot of developmental initiatives taken by MTW within the Medie community and even beyond. I can count of Street Smart, Trash Tag Challenge, Move the World Quiz and other volunteering works embarked by MTW.

As a Ghanaian young man born and bred in Ghana, I am yet to see or meet a foreign youth based non for profit organisation that is so selfless and committed to developing a community with their limited resources even as a start-up organisation. MTW involvement in the development of the Medie Community has change my mind-set on development as whole.

One does not need to do much but the little he can offer can go a long way to change lives and transform societies.  It has really taught me that one does not need to make millions of dollars before he can touch a life.

The impact of MTW in the Medie community goes beyond mere physical recognition however, it touches the very core fabric of the mental and psychological make-up of the people of Medie, especially the children.
The sense of patriotism, globalisation, and democracy among others has been largely impacted.
Many of the kids who are benefiting from the Get Global Programme are a living testimony. Instead of sitting idle and thinking of what their communities can offer them, they rather think of innovative and creative ways to make their community better.

I, Benjamin Hayford Adu, MTW Facilitator whole heartedly applaud MTW for their good work they are doing for the Medie community and Ghana at large.
I therefore call on individual and international donors to donate towards the activities of MTW since its sole objectives is geared toward human and community development.

Written by Hawa Tasala Gariba

When teaching or facilitating a child, do not only impart in him what is in the books alone but also educate him on the acceptable ways of society and that is what the MTW team does.

When we go into the classrooms, even though our work is to tell them what the sustainable development goals are and how it can help the world, we also take our time to let them know what EMPATHY, SYMPATHY, LOVE, GIVING are so that they will have the heart to give when the need arises. We make them understand that there is nothing wrong with sharing the little you have and we also let them put their selves in each others shoes to know how the person is feeling and that is the only way they can help and understand their friend and that is how I got my beautiful “choker” made for me.

From the empathy and giving skill instilled in them they made me a gift and I am very sure they practice this at home and in the future when they grow the world will be a beautiful place for them to live in.
Let’s not only be facilitator and teachers but let us also be friends to the kids and that is the only way we will know how beautiful their hearts are.