Books for the motherland: alliance celebrates black history month with a campaign for literacy in rural Ghana.Literacy is the beginning of freedom" is the motto of The Digital Literacy digital literacy Informatics The ability to understand computer-based information. See Literacy. Alliance, Inc. (DLA DLA dog leukocyte antigen. ), based in Getzville, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . The DLA, founded by Dr. Pharra DeWindt, who is executive director, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing literacy around the small rural village of Agona Duakwa in the southern part of Ghana, between Cape Coast Cape Coast, town (1984 pop. 57,224), capital of Central Region, S Ghana, on the Gulf of Guinea. Known locally as Gna or Oegna, the town is an export port and fishing center. The town originated as an Ashanti trading center. and Winneba. It's starting with the basics--getting books into the hands of children and adults. So far, Books for Ghana, a project of the DLA, has collected 15,000 books to ship to a library in the target area. As a language arts language arts pl.n. The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. teacher for more than 20 years, Dr. DeWindt promoted literacy and educational technology as a means of investing in the future of children in Buffalo, New York; she is now striving to do the same for her adopted homeland of Ghana. The Books for Ghana drive began in February 2004 as part of a celebration of African American History African American history is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of African slaves held in the United States from 1619 to 1865. month, and it will continue through February 2006. The program will benefit the Yaa Nyarkoa Library on the campus of the Duakwa Vocational and Technology Institute. The books already collected will be shipped to the Yaa Nyarkoa Library this year. "The DLA was an offshoot of my dissertation 'The Agona Duakwa Project: A Case Study,' and it was later founded as a grassroots effort to bring computer and traditional literacy together for the people of Agona Duakwa and the Central Region" says Dr. DeWindt. Through Dr. DeWindt's program, Agona Duakwa and surrounding villages will ultimately have access to digital technology designed to increase educational opportunities in the region. "Books for Ghana was started to provide reading material to the students and young adults in the Agona Duakwa district who have been starved of books" says Kojo Yankah, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Yankah and Associates in Accra, Ghana, who is on the board for the project. The Yaa Nyarkoa Library will serve more than 20,000 people who live in the Agona Duakwa district. Dr. Windt says "gently used" books from any genre and age range are needed. "We are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a major source who would supply the three-thousand-and-five hundred dollars to ship the books once per year," Dr. DeWindt continues. "We figure that a book and one or two dollars sent with each book will build up the funding needed over time to ship twenty-five thousand books twice per year." People interested in donating books or funds for shipping for Books for Ghana may contact: Pharra DeWindt, Ph.D, Executive Director, Digital Literacy Alliance, Inc., 333 Miller Road, Getzville, NY, 14068; http://www.dla-dvti.org; pharra@pharra.com. Pittershawn Palmer is a freelance writer in New York and is working on her first novel. |
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