Action Through Enterprise (ATE)

Who we are

About ATE

ATE has been established for eight years and delivers key initiatives in education, enterprise and social change to improve lives for children and adults in Lawra Municipal, Upper West Region, Ghana.

What makes ATE unique is that we are the only charitable organisation rolling out a holistic combination of programmes in a Hub Model, for rural communities, in this incredibly neglected area of Ghana.

We’ve grown from a small seed and have now established five hubs; we feed almost a 1000 school children each day, support 99 small sustainable businesses, and improve the lives of 170 disabled children and their families.

The context in Lawra

• Lawra is located in the Upper West Region of Ghana

• It is remote and peaceful but neglected in terms of development

• For 5 months of the year many households can only afford one meal per day (UN 2010), or even as little as 4 meals per week (ATE 2016)

• Most people grow their own food to survive

• Climate change is worsening the crops

• Children’s health and education are significantly affected

• Just 19% of the adult population are literate (UN 2010)

What we do

ATE works directly with communities in Upper West Ghana, reducing poverty through education, enterprise and socialchange. ATE does this through working in partnership with the local community and key stakeholders (such as the Municipal Assembly and the Ghana Education Service) on three key programmes of work.

EducATE – Our access to education programme provides free school meals and learning materials, which relieves hunger and provides motivation to children to attend school, to learn and complete their basic education.

BizATE – Our small business development programme kick starts and maintains small sustainable enterprises for motivated people to be able to provide for themselves and their families. This includes support to dry season farmers and an apprenticeship scheme.

SNAP – Our Special Needs Awareness Programme improves inclusion for marginalised
disabled children and their families by providing vital support to overcome isolation, and access healthcare and education.