Comfort Akosua Agyeman Wiafe, a communications enthusiast, who also enjoys rendering humanitarian services, has in the past eight years spearheaded various projects geared towards improving menstrual health, general health, hunger, skill training and development, childcare and literacy among others.
She is presently the President and Chief Operations Officer of Arise to Connect Africa and a Project Coordinator with the Restoration Empowerment Project.
She holds a degree in Communication Studies (Journalism option) and a master’s degree in development communication, both from the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
Integrating knowledge from fellowship
By integrating the knowledge from the fellowship program in her workplace and community development work, Akosua intends to do so through the application of innovative approaches, using creative problem-solving and collaborative leadership skills to drive positive change in her organization.
She also hopes to enhance community engagement by developing and implementing community engagement strategies to foster deeper connections with the target people as well as undertake a mentorship and training program, which she says will afford her the opportunity to share her knowledge with colleagues and provide training on community-led initiatives and social justice principles.
Touching on her plans for community development, Akosua has a three-prong approach, which are community empowerment, collaborative partnerships and Advocacy and policy change.
She believes that these would culminate in establishing a community resource center; she plans to establish a community resource center to provide ongoing support and resources, develop a leadership pipeline, which seeks to develop a leadership pipeline to ensure sustainable community growth.
According to Akosua, she will also continuously evaluate and adapt her approaches to ensure they remain effective and responsive to community needs.
“By integrating the knowledge and skills from the fellowship, I aim to create a rippling effect of positive change in my workplace and community, ultimately contributing to a more just and equitable society”, she said.
Proposed plans going forward
Upon completing the 12-month Sora Kaufman Fellowship program, Akosua intends to undertake the following activities:
- Scale up the Bottle Bricks Project: I will apply the knowledge, skills, and networks gained during the fellowship to expand the project’s reach and impact. This includes developing strategic partnerships, securing funding, and establishing a robust operational framework.
- Establish a Sustainable Model: I will focus on creating a sustainable and replicable model for building classrooms using plastic bottles, ensuring that the project can be adapted and implemented in various communities.
- Community Engagement and Empowerment: I will work closely with the beneficiary communities to ensure their active participation and ownership of the project. This includes providing training and capacity-building programs to enable them to maintain and manage the classrooms.
- Advocacy and Policy Influence: I will utilize the knowledge gained during the fellowship to advocate for policy changes and support initiatives that address plastic waste management and sustainable building practices.
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning: I will establish a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to assess the project’s impact, identify areas for improvement, and document best practices for future reference.
- Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing: I will share my experiences and knowledge with other social entrepreneurs, community leaders, and stakeholders to inspire and support innovative solutions addressing similar challenges.
In her view, she would be able to create a lasting impact through the Bottle Bricks Project, providing access to safe and sustainable educational infrastructure for deprived communities while promoting environmental stewardship, all things being equal.
The Bottle Bricks Project, according to Akosua, is an initiative focused on solving sanitation barriers by using plastic bottles as a means of pushing infrastructural development.
“The project seeks to construct classroom blocks with plastic bottles in deprived communities within the country. Many schools in deprived communities observe classes under trees and dilapidated structures and as such, this project will help these communities have relatively better educational structures for their students. This project basically tackles the SDG Goals 4 and 6, Quality Education and Sanitation respectively”, she explained.
Akosua, the entire ACA family is very happy to have you around as a pioneer Fellow. We wish you a fruitful fellowship with the rest of the team during your one-month training ahead of the 12-month project implementation period.
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