Tetra Tech Is Helping Build a Sustainable School to Empower Girls Through Education in Ghana
Providing funding and engineering support to the Voices of African Mothers Girls Academy in Sogakope, Ghana, to empower girls through education
Ghana’s Volta Region has the lowest quality of education in the country. Girls are particularly affected by lack of education facilities, with enrollment dropping from 62 percent in primary school to only 8 percent in secondary school. Tetra Tech worked with nongovernmental organization Voices of African Mothers (VAM) and Cornell University Sustainable Design’s Sustainable Education Ghana (SEG) team to create a sustainable school for girls in the Volta Region. The school will create a safe-haven for 240 girls to receive quality education, mentorship, food, water, and shelter.
Tetra Tech supported the project through its 2017 Charity of the Year employee giving campaign and provides ongoing professional and technical mentorship to the SEG student teams.
The design of the project includes highly efficient, modular classroom units that will simplify construction, improve acoustic separation, and allow the buildings to respond to the gently rolling site near the Volta Region. The building also incorporates multiple sustainable features including photovoltaic panels, solar screens, passive ventilation, and a rainwater collection system that will be used for gray water reuse and irrigation.
The first classroom unit is underway with completion targeted for 2019.
