About the project

Lively Minds was founded by Alison Naftalin in 2008 following her own volunteer experience in Northern Ghana where she spent 2 months. When volunteering she observed the complex challenges keeping children locked in a cycle of poverty. She piloted some practical and cost-effective initiatives to tackle these issues, and then decided to give up her job as a lawyer for the Government and return to Ghana to develop and implement these programmes. Lively Minds has been operating in Ghana since January 2008 in Uganda since July 2008.

The field work is carried out by local staff in Ghana and Uganda. A small team based in the UK supports their work. 

Why do I want to do it?                   

Lively Minds is a truly fulfilling and empowering project.  It is a positive vision and energy turned into action!  School play centres are being set up in most impoverished communities in Ghana enriching the lives of young children and families in need of this support and all this is done through simple PLAY!

Volunteers have a direct contact with these communities, which allows them to plant seeds of lifelong growth and possibility in the minds of local children showing the value of education, whilst bringing immense satisfaction, fulfilment and hope to everyone participating in the scheme. 

I feel that much valuable learning and growth can be acquired through simple acts of love, sharing and connecting with others and this for me without any doubt will be a life changing experience. 

I am incredibly inspired by the project founder, Alison who not only set up the project whilst travelling through Africa, she recently gave up her full time job as a human rights lawyer and is now fully dedicated to the cause!  These simple actions speak volumes; Alison shows that it does not matter what you do daily, the position you hold, or whether you even have a job! There is enough opportunity to share love and kindness; we just have to open ourselves and see others in the world. This will immensely enrich our lives, it will give us purpose and meaning and will serve us well, benefiting our families and communities, hence the world itself.

What will I be doing there?

I will be based in Tamale, in the north part of Ghana for a period of six weeks and on a daily basis will be going into villages (back of a motor bike, all very exciting!) to speak with local people and set up new play centres.  I will be working with two local volunteer coordinators based there conversing in English and using my wonderful miming skills as I do not speak Dagbane or Gonja. 

Play centres provide an excellent way for children aged 3-6 to acquire information, ideas and skills in a stimulating and caring environment.  Usually there are just 4 children to each volunteer so the children really benefit from the individual attention.  It is very likely that I will be the only volunteer representing the charity this time round but of course I will rise to the challenge and the experience will be extremely rewarding! 

The educational games, which I will be teaching are designed to encourage children to think creatively, to solve problems and to question. These are precisely the skills that these communities need to help them come up with solutions to escape poverty. As the games are fun, the children do not even realise they are learning.

The Games

The games in the centres are made from commonplace objects.  Lively Minds also commissions local artisans to make wooden games and the volunteers also make their own games out of local resources. This demonstrates to the communities that there are simple, effective and cheap ways they can help children to learn and develop.

Types of games I will be teaching:

Numeracy games – help children learn to count, recognise numbers and gain basic arithmetical skills

Sensory awareness games – stimulate different senses and help children to recognise colours, sizes and shapes

Construction games – interactive building-type games that help develop imagination, problem solving and motor development

Matching games – help children recognise patterns and shapes, encourage basic literacy, improve memory and concentration

Reading and story-telling – foster an interest in reading, stimulate imagination and build literacy skills

If you want to know more about the organisation follow this link:

http://www.livelyminds.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livelyminds

Twitter: twitter.com/LivelyMinds