GCLS Is Now A HIFA2015 Supporting Organization

On behalf of the GCLS board committee, I am delighted to inform all our stakeholders that Gbulung Community Library Service (GCLS) is now a new HIFA2015 Supporting Organisation effective 21st of May, 201.

About HIFA2015

The HIFA2015 campaign was launched in Mombasa, Kenya in October 2006, at the 10th Congress of the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa. Our shared goal is: By 2015, every person worldwide will have access to an informed healthcare provider. People will no longer be dying for lack of knowledge.

Why HIFA2015 is needed?

“Bridging the know-do gap is the foremost challenge and opportunity for public health in the 21st century”
Ariel Pablos-Mendez, Managing Director, Rockefeller Foundation

There is an urgent need to improve the availability and use of healthcare information in developing countries. In 2004 the World Health Organization commissioned a review of the issues, and a short version of this was published in The Lancet by Fiona Godlee et al, under the title ‘Can we achieve health information for all by 2015?’. The authors called for WHO and others to champion the goal of Healthcare Information for All by 2015. The HIFA2015 campaign is a direct response to that challenge.

HACEP and GCLS to source funding in order to iplement project titiled " FEED THE MINDS Of 200 Women With Literacy To Change Lives And Communities"

This was disclose at the end of one week project planning workshop and the launch of final partnership policy document between the two organizations at the Gbulung Community Library Service Office in Tolon/Kumbugu District.

The project came to light when the two organizations conducted the Community Livelihood Improvement Programme survey (CLIP SURVEY) which started in June last year. The project is a demand driven based on the findings of the CLIP SURVEY that was presented in a summary report launched in January this year.

 

SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT

Gbullung Village have a high number of people that are not able to read and write. The majority are ladies who have been denied chance to go to school because of the traditional beliefs that education is mainly for boys. This has resulted into many women to be victims of exploitation, rural urban migrants and gender based violence.

The project will help these women to at least learn to read and write in English including their local language. Ghanaian Government is doing everything possible to put most of important materials in local language so that people have clear understanding of important issues that affects their day to day life. The organization will be working closely with the district Education unit and the Community local Library which is in charge of adult literacy for materials and education facilitators. The project will be a step stone for most of the women folk and it will help reduce the high spread of HIV and AIDS, STIs, Malaria, reduce money lending exploitation and reduce voter apathy and promote civic participation in development.

The project will among other things include simple classroom lessons and distribution of learning materials to the women and other vulnerable groups in the villages. The use of visual aid will make part of the learning process for the women to easily understand issues. The District Education Unit and the Gbullung Community Library Service will be the two most important partners that the project will work closely with in order to achieve the intended results. The project will also train the facilitators for them to effectively undertake their duties that will ultimately help the project to achieve its goals.

Currently  the Library is the only library in the district  but yet it lacks the basic support material to educate the communities, the project will also renovate the library and put computers and print material in the library to enable it serve as a machinery to fuel the development of literacy of the community and beyond.

2012 Damba Festival

As part of GCLS commitment to promote a world of cultural exchange and experience, we are bringing you one of the most renowned festivals celebrated by the people of northern region, "The Damba Festivals"
the video of the 2012 Damba festivals will be live on the GCLS blog next week.

SO STAY TUNED