OUR PROJECTS

Education, village by village

With an emphasis on locally relevant program development, LeapingStone will begin aid projects at the village level in Dèdèké, Togo. We will then expand into wider Togo, before eventually branching out to other West African communities.

Bridging the gap

LeapingStone believes that education is the foundation on which a rich and successful life begins. Many children in Togo currently lack education facilities of any kind. These villages are in desperate need of outside assistance.

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AID MODEL

Providing a legacy

LeapingStone is committed to making a lasting difference in the educational needs of children in West Africa. To that end, we are introducing a model of aid that we believe will provide a legacy of self-supporting education in perpetuity.

‘We incorporate local communities in the decision-making process …this is their project.’
-Natalie Huberman

How we can achieve this

• Entrepreneurship: LeapingStone is building a “suite” of revenue generating programs that have proved to be successful in developing economies.
• Relevance: We work in cooperation with the individual residents to ensure our programs are locally sustainable and culturally relevant.
• Investment: We incorporate local communities in the decision-making process to ensure that the people we serve know this is their project. Making sure they have a say — as well as contributing time and labor — fosters a culture of ownership and responsibility.

THE VILLAGE OF DÈDÈKÉ

Our first stop

Dèdèké has established a long history of educating its children and the same is true of the culture at large in Togo making this rural place ideal for our school building project.  The  school project is located approximately 50 km north from the capital city of Lome, Togo:

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Made up of approximately 100 families, 530 Adults and 187 school-age children, their main occupation is subsistence farming. This project is only the first leap in a building process that will expand in the future as their community prospers.

The community has inadequate learning facilities (See video here) often having to conduct classes outdoors which means when raining or too hot, educational activities are suspended.  Here are drawings straight off the architects’ draft board that show what a well-built school will look like:

Short term goals

• Enroll all school-age children, and encourage attendance, at the existing school
• Develop a sustainability model for Dèdèké
• Build new classrooms
• Dig a well and create sanitary latrines

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Every donation counts

Please visit our Donate page for detailed information on how you can help make this vision a reality!