The region where we work has been significantly impacted by changing rainfall, rising temperatures, deforestation, and soil degradation. To help communities become more resilient, Engage Globally integrates environmental education into all our programs. Children, youth, and women participate in tree planting, gardening, and outdoor learning, gaining knowledge about soil health, water conservation, and reforestation. Our school curriculum includes environmentally themed books and activities, and we offer resources for broader community engagement in tree planting and sustainable farming.
our impact
400 students engage in environmental education at our community learning centers.
50 native trees planted annually at our schools and by women farmers
School gardens enhance nutrition and sustainability education.
Growing Sustainability, Rooted in Local Knowledge
In northern Ghana, where communities face severe weather and farming challenges, Engage Globally integrates environmental education throughout our programs. Since nearly all adults in this region are subsistence farmers, droughts, soil health decline, deforestation, and temperatures above 110 present serious threats to survival. We are working with our partners to help create alternative employment opportunities but helping adults conserve their land is a key priority.
Each year, students and women farmers plant 50 trees on our school property and on their farms. The trees provide excellent outdoor and hands-on learning opportunities for children and opportunities to discuss sustainable farming with the women.
Children, teachers, and school staff plant 1.5-acre gardens annually. These gardens are used for outdoor play and learning, and also to provide nutritious vegetables to supplement our school lunch foods.
School gardens
Teachers use innovative environmental education activities to teach students literacy and math using place-based resources. For example, on ‘100 day’ students, count 100 leaves.
Environmental education
Our girls and boys clubs help with tree planting as well as plastic clean-up efforts in their communities.
Youth community service
future goals
Establish a local native nursery to grow trees to expand our reforestation work and to provide employment for young adults who were not able to attend school. This project would offer paid jobs to youth who are currently garbage pickers at the regional trash dump.
Educate women about alternative cook stoves and encourage their usage to reduce the amount of local deforestation and to save women time.
Install solar power at all of our facilities.
Provide youth with environmental excursions to see a forest, a regional national park, and to observe wildlife. These trips are transformative as most young people in our communities have never ridden in a car, seen running water/toilets, or left their village. We would enhance this experience by teaching students to take their own photos and to share their stories of wildlife and nature observations.
At our Community Learning Centers, students plant trees, tend to gardens, and study soil, rainfall, and biodiversity. These lessons are vital tools for food security in a region plagued by drought, soil degradation, and very high temperatures. Our women’s farming program focuses on sustainability and works with women to help them learn about soil health, to use only organic fertilizer, to reduce use of and apply pesticides more effectively, to plant trees to reduce erosion, and to utilize other sustainable farming techniques.
We utilize rainwater catchment at all of our facilities and have solar power at one of our schools.
