In 2009 we had a very successful visit to Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary where we met the scholarship students and visited their schools.  We also saw the opening of a new primary school and took part with Calgary Zoo and others in the Durbar to celebrate 10 years of the Hippo Sanctuary. 

Since our first visit in 2002 there have  been many new developments at Wechiau.  It has been established as a centre of regional government which has brought electricity and mobile phone connection. We are now able to communicate directly with the sanctuary manager for whom we providing a small stipend to assist us administer the scholarship programme.  A further big step forward has been the building of primary schools and in particular we were pleased to see the Heather Graham school. This replaced the tree school at Talawona which was all children and young people had as an education in 2002. 

LATEST NEWS

December 2011

We are now into our 7th year of providing educational scholarships. So far we have funded 15 students and will be funding three more this academic year to go to senior secondary school, and one to go to teaching college.  The students that completed senior secondary school are doing well. Of the first five that graduated, two have now been successful in getting into teaching college, two are tour guides at the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary and one is the assistant caretaker.  So far the scholarships have proved to be very successful in enabling the young people to do something with their lives and they have all stayed at Wechiau. This year’s graduates, as a requirement of the scholarship programme, will all be working as volunteer tour guides or teachers, for 12 months.

 At a recent meeting the minimum sponsorship targets were established for the coming years. They are:

Based on the current outlook sufficient funds won’t be available to meet the targets from 2013. The charity is seeking new income streams. If you would like to support FoW’s  work you can donate through paypal or see more information about donating here

Who we are:

Earthwatch volunteers who visited the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary in November 2002 decided that they wanted to find ways to continue to support the community. We set up a group and called ourselves Friends of Wechiau.  We decided that our aims would be:

"To advance the education and skills of the communities of the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary in Ghana".

The Friends of Wechiau started by previous Earthwatch volunteers donating money to fund educational scholarships. Have you visited or volunteered at Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary and would like to continue your support the project?
We are therefore looking for others who could assist by:

We made our first donations to Wechiau in the summer of 2005 by awarding one scholarship for a Adams Yussif to attend senior secondary school and £100 towards educational material for the school at Talawona.  Yussif has completed his secondary school education and gone on to become a tour guide.

Adams Yussif with his grandmother and his mother (who is holding a photo of her late husband).

(photo thanks to Donna J Sheppard, Sanctuary Advisor, NCRC & Calgary Zoo)

You can find out more about the scholarships by visiting the scholarship page. 
If you would like to support this project send us your donation.

Donate

Wechiau Community Hippos Sanctuary Receive UN Equator Prize

On October 6, 2008, Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary received one of the top 25 initiatives awarded the United Nations Equator Prize for 2008 (with a $5,000 prize) and was among the top five to receive an additional special recognition award from the United Nations (a further $15,000 U.S. prize). The award was received by the Ghanaian traditional leader, Naa Chielinah Bandanaa, Gurunguu Naa and the Calgary Zoo President Dr. Clément Lanthier at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The Equator Prize is awarded biennially to recognize and celebrate outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.  The prize is designed to shine a spotlight on exemplary grassroots efforts in biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.  By celebrating local groups in international forums, the Equator Initiative works to share local best practices, celebrate success, and inform policy.