School: The International Neo-Humanist School in Ejura is located in the heart of the Ashanti Region in Ghana, West Africa. Ejura is a medium sized farming town, surrounded by smaller sized villages. The school currently has around 200 children enrolled from Kindergarten through Junior Secondary School. The number of children is always fluctuating, but has been on the rise the past couple years. Primary school enrollments are especially high. Despite the growing number of children, the collection of school fees remains insufficient. Most of the children come from farming families. Farmers in this area only get paid around harvest time, which is only once or twice a year. The rest of the time, it is a struggle to pay for food and other basic necessities. As a result, most of the families do not have the resources to pay for their children’s education. This directly affects the school, as the teacher’s salary and wages come from these school fees. So, if children are not paying school fees, teachers are not getting paid. This explains the high turnover rate of teachers in the school. Currently, the monthly cost of simply paying all the teachers is around 600 US dollars. This is not including general maintenance of the school. Every month is a struggle to scrape together resources to keep the school up and running. The school also has been a place for international volunteers to come and work at the school for a period of time. The volunteers have improved the learning environment through the giving of resources and educational materials. The school offers art classes and other programs that other schools in the area do not. Despite this progress, the school is still in dire need of assistance. _____________________________________________________________ Master Unit: Located not far from the school on the outskirts of Ejura is around 60 acres of land owned by Ananda Marga. The MU land offers different physical features such as rich, fertile soil, two springs, and plenty of mango and papaya groves. This land was purchased over twenty years ago for the purpose of educational, social, agricultural development. Currently, there has been no such development on the land. Margiis from the area pay dues on the land twice a year, but see no progress being made there. There is also a court battle going on between individuals representing the land, and local farmers who have encroached onto the perimeter of the MU. For a few years now, farmers have seen that nothing has been planted there, so they have extended the borders of their own farms to include portions of this land. This Ejura Master Unit has incredible potential for growth, given the right direction and resources. If utilized properly, it also has the potential to generate an income for the school and provide a space for future growth and development. It simply needs our attention. A group is being formed for individuals who want to take responsibility to improve the Ejura Master Unit and Neo-Humanist School. If you would like to be involved with either or both of these projects, you may contact: Dinakar: dinakaraji@gmail.com 434-409-7117 6416 Esmont Road Keene, Va 22946 Dada Shiveshvarananda: dadashivesh@gmail.com PO Box 90 Ejura, Ashanti Ghana
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