Stop 295 Teen Girls in Ghana from

Missing School
Summary
Girls in rural Ghana want to earn an education but struggle to
stay in school once they hit puberty. Predatory men offer girls
paltry sums of money so they can afford school or sanitary
supplies, and expect favors in return. Our Teen Girls Club
teaches girls about women's health, ensures girls have access
to menstrual supplies, helps them advocate for themselves and
their education, and trains them in income-generating activities
so they can stay in school and break the cycle of poverty for
good.

Challenge
Girls in rural Ghana want to stay in school, but it's not easy once
puberty strikes. It's a struggle to afford school supplies, let alone
sanitary supplies. Without supplies, they miss a few days of
school each month. Their grades suffer. Men in the village offer
them money but then expect sexual favors. No one has ever
taught the girls about sex or pregnancy, so they comply. Before
long, they're pregnant, kicked out of school; teenage mothers
unable to provide for themselves, let alone a baby.

Solution
Women in 3 villages where we run women's micro-credit
programs asked us to start Teen Girls Clubs to teach their
daughters about reproductive health, work to delay premature
sexual activity, help them advocate for themselves and avoid
disease transmission when they do become sexually active. We
offer after school study support and teach the girls marketable
skills and handicrafts so they'll be able to stay in school, earn
their own spending money, and be less vulnerable to predatory
men.

Long-Term Impact
Helping girls stay in school past puberty creates healthier, more
financially stable families. Girls who stay in school past 7th
grade are less likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth, and
more likely to have healthier and better educated children. Plus,
every additional year of secondary education she completes will
increase her individual earning power by 15 - 25%. The impact of
keeping girls in school today will truly transform future
generations.
 Climate smart agriculture for 500
farmers in Ghana
Summary
More than 70% of the people living in the rural communities,
mostly small scale farmers, in West Africa rely on agriculture for
their livelihood. Climate change has negatively affected the
rainfall pattern, eroded soil nutrients, increase high
temperature-resistant viruses, with minimal harvest that
threatens food security. Biochar technology offers numerous
opportunities to address these challenging situations in
agriculture for sustainable food security.

Challenge
Smallholder farmers in West Africa are faced with severe climate
change impact on crop productivity. The effects of climate
change including drought, soil infertility, lack of minimal soil
nutrient to support crop growth with low output have resulted
in food insecurity. The excessive high heat has produced diverse
high-temperature resistant viruses which are really a big
economic problem in agriculture for smallholder farmers.

Solution
Biochar will be adopted in farming by the small-scale farmers to
address the various climate related challenges. Biochar if
applied to the soil has the potential to increase the soil capacity
to hold nutrients and water over a long period of time, makes
them available to the plants for growth thus allowing for
increased yield. Biochar is a porous material. Its holes enable air
circulation in the soil to improve soil fertility and it also provides
platform for micro-organisms to grow in the soil.
Long-Term Impact
The biochar systems technology has dual climate benefits of
reducing carbon emission at the same time creating carbon
sinks. Biochar is a carbon rich material and if it is buried into the
soil it enhances soil quality and fertility. It serves as a means for
carbon capture and storage into the soil for a long period of
time and can contribute to climate change mitigation.