ABOUT THE KOPEYIA GHANA SCHOOL FUND

Founded in 1988, the Kopeyia Ghana School Fund is providing a generation of children in the impoverished West African village of Kopeyia with access to the education that will empower them to revitalize their local economy. By combining the hard work of Kopeyia villagers and contributions of the local government with American volunteer assistance and financial support, this non-sectarian 501(c)(3) organization has helped the people of Kopeyia make impressive strides toward a better standard of living and economic self-sufficiency.

The Kopeyia Ghana School Fund (KGSF) emphasizes education as the fundamental building block of economic and community development.

KGSF provides direct financial support and technical assistance to Kopeyia for:

• Building and maintaining a K-9th school for 750 students
• The provision of teachers’ salaries
• Senior Secondary School (SSS) scholarships for Kopeyia
  Junior Secondary School (JSS) graduates
• Full support (books, room and board, transportation, insurance) for one student on university scholarship in the USA

KGSF also provides support to worthy JSS and SSS grads to:

• Become apprentices to tailors, seamstresses, carpenters,
  electricians, or masons
• Attend other tertiary schools such as teacher training college, computer, polytechnic, or driving school

In keeping with its mission, the Fund also plays a vital role in diverse community development and microenterprise activities to help recent graduates implement their education locally. These include:

• Developing the Kopeyia School Management Committee, which
  was emulated and officially instituted by the Ghana Education Service at all schools across the nation in 1997
• Providing training in bicycle repair and discounts on bikes for those who participate - through the Earn-A-Bike program of Village Bicycle Project
• Hiring SSS grads from Kopeyia to teach in the school
• Purchasing utility poles that will result in electricity finally being brought to Kopeyia some day soon

On this side of the Atlantic, the KGSF is also working to bring awareness of Ghanaian culture and issues of international poverty and development to American students in the Northeast. Through live, interactive musical presentations, the KGSF teaches American students about Ghanaian music, helping those less fortunate, and appreciating the rich educational opportunities that are available to them here. Many American schools become involved with Kopeyia by writing pen-pal letters, collecting books, clothes, school supplies and first aid supplies, and by raising money to support the ongoing efforts of the KGSF.

The Kopeyia Ghana School Fund is a private, non-sectarian, volunteer-run nonprofit organization with a 15-member Board of Directors, based in Teaneck, New Jersey. KGSF administers an annual budget of approximately $50,000, mainly of donations from individuals, with help from a couple of foundations and corporations. The Kopeyia Ghana School Fund is currently seeking support in the areas of primary education, scholarships for higher education, adult education, gender development, small business enterprise, and cross-cultural exchange between Kopeyia and students in the USA.

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