The economic situation for the inhabitants deteriorates as a result of fees for school, medical care and expensive building materials like roofing sheets and cement. The people look famished. Frequently they can be seen going to the health centres for treatment. But the cure in many cases is not drugs. The cure is in the ability to produce food, have sufficient nutrients daily and keep the young and strong in the community to do the farming. This and not medicine is needed foremost to keep the doctors away. The cure is also in the ability to know what is a balanced and sufficient diet. Some food can be harvested or found around Kpare. But this does not suffice for the whole year. Bringing that knowledge is where we can make a difference.

Returning to building with mud is another element of our involvement together with the village association Kayda. Using building materials from the area itself that are not only cheaper but provide better living climate in the compound. Using metal roofing and thin concrete walls in the intense heat of Kpare during the day en much lower degrees at night, scarcely compensates the fluctuations in temperature. People with already little resistance against ilnesses because of a poor health wil get sick quicker under these conditions than with clay as basic material which gives better isolation from heat and cold.

It is also important to break down an important psychological hurdle. To the detriment of an autonomous sustainable development there is a strong sense in Kpare that village life is a synonym for poverty. Therefore it will be difficult for some time to ask the people to invest in any group initiative. Our projects aim to change this attitude and give the villagers the feeling that they can and should take their destiny in their own hands. Here again cog building, setting up income generating activities and using the drawing rights of the Kpare agricultural relieve fund come into play.

The relieve fund which is set up early 2002 is meant to support local farmers in their efforts to make the most of their land, even in bad years. With poor harvests seed prices go up rapidly, making it even harder to prepare for the new planting season. Farmers should be offered an chance to buy their seeds at low prices and use the relieve fund temporarily as a buffer so that they can pay back their loans in better circumstances.

Who are we?

A cooperation between Kpare Foundation (Stichting Kpare) and partner of NGO Kayda in Ghana

The independent Foundation Kpare (Kpare Project Autonomy, Agriculture, Rebuilding and Education) was founded op february 4 2002 and duly registered in the trade register of Alkmaar under filenumber 37100677.

The board of the Foundation Kpare:
Ko Uiterwaal (Schellinkhout), chairman
Dr. Cees Hageraats (Venhuizen), secretary
Huub Visser (Schellinkhout), treasurer
Ad Pekaart (Venhuizen), public relations

De private aid organisation Kayda (Kpare Area Youth and Development Association) is registered in Ghana as non-government organization (NGO).

The board of Kayda in Ghana:
Duori Bayuo, Tendana, religious leader
Kan I Wula Gamal, chairman
Bayuo Sombo, secretary
Zaaye Mohammed, treasurer
Batuu Sibiri
Collins Kogdoli Dapilah, registration
Severo Depaalo, project microcredits

Contact Stichting Kpare in The Netherlands:
C. Hageraats, Westeinde 18, 1606CZ, Venhuizen
Email: info@kpare.nl