ApeCoinDAO funded primary school in Ghana

[BojangleGuy]

Still working on this but wanted to post a few updates! I have been in daily contact with John trying to work out government logistics as well as getting an architect to draw up plans for the school so that we can show the DAO what will be built and get a more exact cost/budget put together.

I would love your feedback on this new iteration of this idea! Also please feel free to DM with any questions or if you feel like you could help in any way with this.

ApeSchool: Building a primary school in West Africa (Ghana)

Category: Brand Decision

Submitted By: BojangleGuy

ABSTRACT

Fund the construction of a school building in West Africa (Ghana) to provide a safe, clean and functional learning environment for the future builders of Web3.

TEAM/AUTHOR DESCRIPTION

BojangleGuy (Hunter Crandall): I spent a few years of my life in Ghana (West Africa) doing humanitarian work. It is something that changed my life forever and I am super grateful for the opportunity I had to spend a few years in such an amazing country. I return to Ghana on a regular basis and try to help as much as possible. It is something I will continue to do for the rest of my life. I now spend most of my time running a business with my wife, traveling the world, and taking care of my 2 kids!

John Hounlessodji: I met John while living in Ghana back in 2015. He was one of those people that from the moment I met him I knew we would be lifelong friends. John is a successful businessman and has helped provide for thousands of people through his multiple businesses. He has spent most of his life in construction and has overseen numerous construction projects. He is currently building an apartment complex in Accra. John will be the project manager overseeing this project and ensuring construction is done on time and on budget.

@apboatt (Appiah Boateng): APboat is also a life long friend who lives in Ghana. He is studying software development at the Ghana Institute of Management And Public Administration (GIMPA) and is slowly starting to learn the world of crypto. He will act as our boots on the ground. He is a member of the DAO and will make sure we all feel like we are there every step of the way.

MOTIVATION

One of the biggest issues in Ghana (or any underdeveloped country) is the access to a quality education. Though it may seem insignificant, a basic primary education (typically from age 3-15) will give a child a much greater chance to break the cycle of poverty and keep them from forced labor, teen pregnancy/marriage, and allow them an opportunity to become something great.

There would be no monetary ROI with this AIP. That being said, I think the ROI of giving children a chance to receive an education and the chance to be the next great scientist, engineer, doctor, teacher, astronaut, or anything else they may dream of becoming is worth more than any amount of money.

RATIONALE
COMING SOON

SPECIFICATIONS

Our goal is to build a brand new school in the village of Dzodze. The current school which serves KG, Primary, and JHS students (students ages would range from 3-15) is completely destroyed/non-existent. The reason we chose this location is due to the high population density (it can serve more children than an extremely remote village) and the government’s willingness to donate the current land which saves us from having to buy land and build a school in a new location.

Once funding is received we will immediately start construction. We expect construction to take approximately 4-6 months. (see image of proposed school design) Once construction is complete we will furnish the school and have an official ceremony to turn the school over to the government.

As part of this proposal I am asking for $10,000 (see full budget below) to cover travel expenses to visit the construction site 1x during the construction phase as well as travel expenses for myself and one other member of the DAO (this could be open to all DAO members and voted on or someone nominated by Special Counsel) to attend the hand off ceremony.

STEPS TO IMPLEMENT

1. Determine final location for where the school will be built. (Pending local government approval)
2. Begin construction
3. Complete construction
4. Hand over ceremony from the DAO to the local government

TIMELINE

Once funding is received we will begin construction immediately. After speaking with John (Project Manager) who will oversee this process, we estimate it to take 4-6 months to complete construction of the school. We will then schedule a ceremony to officially open the school and hand it over to the local government. Provided we don’t run into any construction/supply chain issues we expect this project to be finished in ~6 months.

OVERALL COST

$250,000 USD

$210,000 building material costs and labor

$30,000 school fund to buy desks, chalkboards, school supplies, uniforms, tech, books, etc. If there is any left over from this fund it would be saved and used for future supplies.

$10,000 travel reimbursement for DAO representation 1x during construction and 2x for the hand off ceremony.

I will attach a few photos from my recent trip (Nov 2022)

[justzb]

@BojangleGuy I think this is great and I am all for giving back to the society . Would love to see in detail on how do you streamline to the location on the site as convenience and accessibility plays a big role for them

[BojangleGuy]

You are 100% correct that accessibility plays a massive role in school attendance.

The location of the school would be selected with two things in mind, number of kids within walking distance of the location, # of schools currently in the location. We would aim to find a location that has a high number of kids and low # of schools (ideally no schools) to create the biggest impact.

[justzb]

Looking forwards to hear more on this and hopefully the rest of the members get onboard too

[CryptoLogically]

As one who values education above virtually all else, I’m a tremendous fan of the idea of providing quality education for those in need of it. It’s an absolute necessity for any community and I applaud you for raising this topic.

While we’re here, however, we do need to address a few things.

• Funding: startup costs, land acquisition, construction, and other one-time, fixed costs are relatively easy. What’s difficult is to adequately provide for are the resources that will perpetually sustain a school for the long haul. We see countless schools forced to shutter their doors in the US alone simply due to lack of proper funding to maintain the basic curriculum, and that’s even while paying teachers the lowest possible amount. Wages, I’d add, which don’t exactly always attract the best and brightest teaching talent. How might you propose the school sustain itself after the initial phase?

• Pedagogy: who gets to determine the pedagogical framework upon which the instruction is built? Is it to be experiential? Vygotskian? “New age?” Test-oriented? Will it be a pipeline for work placement, general curriculum, or skill-specific (like coding, for example)? I’d hope the locals get to shape the curriculum, but will it lie entirely in their hands?

• Which raises the next question: to what degree is the DAO involved in the operations side of the project? I’d like to see the local staff create their own metrics, standards and desired learning outcomes while collaborating with the DAO, myself, but curious how you see the governance playing out.

Honestly, the funding is my biggest concern. To build a school is relatively easy: to sustain it, especially in a country where tuition would presumably be cheap if not entirely free, is not. I’d love to hear more on this and work on how to possibly make this a reality in the absence of an endowment or other funding stream, because being reliant on the DAO for more money every funding cycle is an improbable ask.

[MocaChief]

I agree with your questioning long term sustainability of an endeavor such as this, a worthwhile partner in this goal of bringing education to the less fortunate corners of the world may be necessary. Open Campus is a new project that’s focused on disrupting the education system… it may not pay for brick and mortar but could provide content and potentially contribute to funding. Love the goal of spreading education, the logistics are difficult IMO without a partner.

[BojangleGuy]

Thanks for the detailed response. And thank you for valuing education!

I will respond to your questions below

@CryptoLogically

• Funding: startup costs, land acquisition, construction, and other one-time, fixed costs are relatively easy. What’s difficult is to adequately provide for are the resources that will perpetually sustain a school for the long haul. We see countless schools forced to shutter their doors in the US alone simply due to lack of proper funding to maintain the basic curriculum, and that’s even while paying teachers the lowest possible amount. Wages, I’d add, which don’t exactly always attract the best and brightest teaching talent. How might you propose the school sustain itself after the initial phase?

This is by far the most complex logistical part of this whole idea. Realistically there are two options. I would propose the first.

Option 1: Primary Education in Ghana is free. It is funded by the government. Costs that often times force kids out of school are transportation, food, school supplies, uniforms, etc. Although it would be ideal if we could find a way to perpetually fund the school, its staff, and all necessary expenses it would be a very difficult task. With option 1 the DAO would essentially fund the costs of building the school and then we would turn it over to the gov to become a public school funded by the government.

Option 2: Obviously the more difficult option, would be to not only fund the building of the school but have the DAO also agree to fund the school itself. This would take probably another $100k a year to do.

@CryptoLogically

• Pedagogy: who gets to determine the pedagogical framework upon which the instruction is built? Is it to be experiential? Vygotskian? “New age?” Test-oriented? Will it be a pipeline for work placement, general curriculum, or skill-specific (like coding, for example)? I’d hope the locals get to shape the curriculum, but will it lie entirely in their hands?

Assuming we do option 1, this would be determined by the locals/government. As in most countries there is a nation wide curriculum that would be instituted. Keep in mind this would be a primary school, meaning students would be aged 5-13 (approximately). Referring back to my original post, if a child doesn’t learn basic educational skills (speaking english, reading, writing, math…) the chances of that child succeeding in life are exponentially less than a child who does have an education. If it were possible I would love to build a coding bootcamp, a nursing school, a polytechnical school, etc. But IMO building a primary school will have the greatest impact.

@CryptoLogically

• Which raises the next question: to what degree is the DAO involved in the operations side of the project? I’d like to see the local staff create their own metrics, standards and desired learning outcomes while collaborating with the DAO, myself, but curious how you see the governance playing out.

Mostly answered this above assuming option 1 is the route taken.

As far as the operations of the actual construction of the school, as mentioned in the original post, I think it would be really fun for the DAO to be as involved as possible. We could look into ideas such as funding a few members to travel to Ghana and volunteer in the construction process. DAO would help name and possibly even design the school. We would film the entire process and could have members of the DAO edit the footage into a mini documentary…

It would be nice to also have some representation at the ceremony of the opening of the school maybe a member of SC or something.

[BojangleGuy]

I have never heard of open campus. I will check it out!

[capetaintrippy]

please message me privately to discuss. I am actively working on this exact thing in Ghana and would love to connect and see if we can align.

[CryptoLogically]

@BojangleGuy

DAO would help name and possibly even design the school. We would film the entire process and could have members of the DAO edit the footage into a mini documentary

I truly hope the logistics of this general project can line up to make sense, with enough smart people on board I’m sure there’s a way a comprehensive proposal can be put forth to help make this happen. What I admit I’m not a fan of, however, are organizations that do a good thing and market the hell out of how good of a thing they’re doing. I’d be in favor of a few photos as the process unfolds for documentation, but to do so in as minimally invasive of a way as possible. The idea of even a mini-doc isn’t one I’m particularly a fan of… I say let the results speak for themselves, and let the people name the school. We can always claim it as an $APE-funded initiative in our ever-growing list of approved AIPs, but I am in favor of as non-invasive of a presence as possible. Just one man’s two ApeCoin.

[BojangleGuy]

We have enough bright minds here in the DAO to make this work! Might take a little time but we will do it.

And I really appreciate all your thoughts on this. I do agree with you about turning this into a “look at all this good we did with all our money” that would absolutely not be the point. But it would be cool to have good documentation even if it is kept private within the DAO.

[apboatt]

I have known BojangleGuy for 5+ years and have helped in the humanitarian work he has done here in Ghana. I am so happy to see this idea being talked about here in the DAO. Excited to see this idea come to life! Ape Coin to the world!

[BojangleGuy]

Ayeee KOBE! I wish everyone could see how amazing your home country is. You will be a big part of bringing this idea to life! Can’t wait to have you on the team!

[apboatt]

Would be an honor to be on the team. Can’t wait

[Lost.Admin]

Hi @BojangleGuy,

Your topic will be moving to the AIP Draft phase in less than 24 hours. Are you content with the feedback received or do you wish to extend community discussion for another 7 days?

If we do not hear from you within 48 hours after your topic closes, your topic will be moved straight to the AIP Draft process.

We look forward to hearing from you.

-@Lost.Admin

[BojangleGuy]

Lets extend it! Give people more time to look it over and see if anyone has any feedback before we go to draft.

[Lost.Admin]

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@BojangleGuy has requested to extend the community discussion period for this AIP idea. This topic will automatically close a further 7 days from now. We encourage the community to continue to engage in thoughtful discussions through constructive criticism, honest feedback, and helpful suggestions.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

@Lost.Admin

[MisterHype]

great call.

What an amazing and thoughtful idea! Providing education to children in underdeveloped countries is a noble cause that can have a huge impact on their lives and communities.

I think this is a great opportunity for the ApeCoin DAO to make a positive impact in the world and show the power of decentralized finance for social good. I would love to see more details and support this proposal.

-Mr. Hype

[BojangleGuy]

I am drafting a final version of this now and can’t wait to share it! It has been great to see so many people exited and on board with this idea!

[MisterHype]

very nice! looking forward