History of the Yamoransa Model
2012
The Yale Alumni Service Corps (YASC) had chosen Ghana as the target country for its annual world volunteer project for 2012. As part of the preparation for their visit to Ghana, YASC contacted AFS Intercultural Exchange Programme (Ghana) to assist in identifying a community where they can work, and in 2011, AFS led and advance team to UCC to explore the possibility of partnering the University for its project. The University’s Management in turn proposed that the Department leads the team to Yamoransa. After learning about the activities of the Department in the town, followed by a visit to the town, the YASC team decided to undertake their 2012 voluntary work at Yamoransa.
Summer of 2012
In the summer of 2012, 150 members of the Yale Alumnae Service Corps (YASC) visited the village of Yamoransa located along the Cape Coast in Ghana for ten days of volunteer work. Some of the volunteers worked alongside local workers on the initial stages of a new two-story building designed to house an Information, Communications and Technology Center (ICT) as well as to serve as a forum for other community activities. The Yamoransa community had raised the capital for the initial stages and YASC volunteers contributed labor and money in support of the project. The ICT Center, as envisioned, would provide the community with access to computers and the internet as well as housing a library, health clinic, and a place for local council meetings. (YASC Yamoransa ICTC Prospectus)
2013-2016, Yamoransa Model Lab 1
The initiative has now taken on a life of its own beyond the original concept. This has become possible with the generous contribution of the Helping Africa Foundation (HAF) led by Dr. Deborah Rose. Through the support of HAF, the building was completed and furnished.
While the YASC returned to Yamoransa in 2013, 2014 and finally in 2016, in those intervening years the ICT Center project evolved from its original vision into what would become the flagship project of the Yamoransa Model for Sustainable Development that culminated in the dedication of the Center on August 13 of 2016 in a ceremony featuring the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P Jackson, members of the YASC including Dr. Deborah Rose as well as Japhet Aryiku Executive Director of the Helping Africa Foundation, Kafui Prebbie, CEO of TECHAiDE and IMPLEMENTERS, Chief Nana Akwa II, Professor Kofie Awusabo-Asare and Comfort Garbrah, one of the few women representatives to the Assembly.
2017, Yamoransa Model Lab 2
After the successful installation of the ICT center in Yamoransa, and during one of her trips to Ghana in 2017, Deborah was visiting the L&A Memorial Academy in Accra that was co-founded by Japhet Aryiku and his sister Grace Asiam in honor of their parents. When she discovered that the computer lab contained a single non-functioning desktop and several junked laptops, she decided to engage TECHAiDE to do a needs assessment with the idea of installing a second ICT Center similar to the one in Yamoransa, which then became Lab 2.
2018, Yamoransa Model Lab 3
This was then followed by another visit to Ghana by Deborah who brought her daughter, Sarah in 2018. Sarah saw a viral posting about an enterprising young computer teacher in Ghana who was drawing Microsoft Menus on a blackboard in the absence of actual computers. Once again TECHAiDE was called on to do a needs assessment and the result was Lab 3 in the Betenase Junior High School, the school where he had been teaching.
It was at this point that Deborah, Japhet and Kafui decided that they should brand their process of working with the communities around the need for ICT Centers in rural Ghana. Once a needs assessment has been completed by TECHAiDE, the community commits to building or renovating the site which, when completed, according to a clearly delineated set of criteria, including 2 classrooms with ASANKA powered ICT computers, a Maker Space, a Community Conference Room, bathrooms, solar panels, and an independent water source. A legal proclamation was signed with the town of Yamoransa granting the right to use the name Yamoransa, and the Yamoransa Model for Sustainable Development was constituted.
October, 2018
In late 2018, Implementers presented a 5 Year Plan to the Helping Africa Foundation outlining a strategy to build at least one Lab in each of the 10 regions in Ghana. When a referendum in December 2018 split Ghana into 16 regions, the plan was modified to include all 16 regions.
May, 2019, Yamoransa Model Lab 4
Following the dedication of Lab 3, Dr. Deborah Rose and Japhet Aryiku met with the Second Lady of Ghana, Mrs Samira Bawumia to brief her on the Yamoransa Model for Sustainable Development. The Second Lady suggested Choggu in the Northern Region as a location for what would become Lab 4. She also suggested that the Lab be equipped with solar panels, which has become a part of the criteria for all Labs. Lab 4 was dedicated on May 27th, 2019
September, 2019, Yamoransa Model Lab 5
In May of 2019, Dr. Deborah Rose and Japhet Aryiku met with the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and briefed him on the Yamoransa Model. They offered to build a Center in a location of his choice, and without hesitation, he chose Kyebi where he was from. What became Lab 5 was completed and dedicated in September 2012
November 2020, Yamoransa Model Lab 6, 7,8
After consulting with their friend and longtime supporter of the Yamoransa Model, Humphrey Ayim-Darke, President of the Association of Ghana Industries, they agreed to locate Lab 6 in his hometown of Peki-Avetile. The Lab was dedicated on November 17th, 2020
The next region on the 5 year plan was the Oti Region and the Implementers team did a needs assessment around and selected a location in Nkonya Ahenkro in the Biakoye District. The Lab was dedicated on November 19th, 2020.
Dr. Deborah Rose and Japhet Aryiku asked the Honorable Barbara Oteng Gyasi if she would agree to be the Promoter for Lab 9 in the Western Region in the town of Bogosa, and the Lab was dedicated on November 24, 2020
2021, Labs GM1, YM 9, YM 10 and YM3.1
Following the dedications of Labs 6, 7 and 8, Sukai Sey, a longtime friend of Dr. Deborah Rose, which she had attended, asked the Helping Africa Foundation if they would consider building a Lab in The Gambia. HAF agreed to her request and the first Lab outside of Ghana was dedicated on July 15th, 2021.
While the Helping Africa Foundation is committed to building a at least one center in each region, it has not ruled out the possibility of additional centers in a region. This is exactly what happened when a friend of the Yamoransa Model, Ms Rona Mogil agreed to collaborate with her good friend, Mr. Charles Amponsah to be Promoters for a new Lab at the Asara Bedlako Senior High School (the only High School in the program) in the Ashanti Region. The Lab was dedicated on October 25th, 2021.
Japhet Aryiku approached a friend of his in NY, who also had a home in the town of Bomaa in the Ahofa Region and asked him if he would agree to be the Promoter for Lab 9, and he agreed. The Lab was officially dedicated on October 27th, 2021
When the Yamoransa Model was looking for a location for an ICT center in the Bono East Region, they turned to Mr. Japhet Aryiku, the Executive Director of the Helping Africa Foundation who had developed a close relationship with the Honorable Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare when she had served as the Minister of Tourism under President John Mahama. The Honorable Elizabeth, who agreed to serve as Promoter, suggested the town of Tuobodom, the capital of the region. The Lab was dedicated on October 29th, 2021.
November, 2022, YM Labs 11, 12
Mr. Alexander Quist, member of Parliament for the Juaboso Constituency agreed to be the Promoter for Lab 11 in the Western North Region. The Lab was officially dedicated on November, 9, 2022
For the Bono Region, after conducting asking Implementers to conduct a needs assessment, the town of Nkrankwanta was selected as the location for Lab 12. The location was on a site that was owned by the Catholic Church and was easily accessible to the beneficiary schools. The Lab was dedicated on November 8, 2022.