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Help Atsiekpoe-Vume

Together with the Dutch Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation, we are trying to solve the poor sanition and drinking water conditions in the villages Atsiekpoe and Vume.

Sanitation Project

June 2010 is the deadline for the completion of the first 8 durable toilets in the Atsiekpoe community. Funds have been made available through the Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation. The toilets are built through community labour, building materials and transport are sponsored by Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation. The project is coordinated and supervised by Jolinaiko Eco Tours.

Each toilet cost roughly € 175,-. The second phase is the extension of the project to the school and neighbouring village Vume.

Healthy drinking water

The Volta River currently is the main source of (drinking)water for the people in Atsiekpoe. The quality of this water is poor and waterborne diseases (such as bilharzia) are widespread. Students are currently (first six months of 2010) exploring the possibilities of providing the village with clean drinking water, together with Jolinaiko and the Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation.

You can help to get Atsiekpoe toilets and clean drinking water

You can support our goal of hygienic sanitation and clean drinking water in Atsiekpoe, by donating online to Stepping Stones for Africa. All kinds of payment methods like Paypal and creditcard are available. This foundation is a registered Dutch charity with 0% overhead costs. Your contribution is highly appreciated!

The button below will take you directly to the online donation page of Stepping Stones for Africa.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE ONLINE TO STEPPING STONES FOR AFRICA

Construction of the Jolinaiko Eco Lodge

Jolinaiko is building its own the ecolodge on the riverbank in Atsiekpoe. We want to create an extraordinary stay for our visitors, and at the same time create a lot of benefits for the local community. The lodge is not aimed at creating a profit for Jolinaiko Eco Tours. We hope that the local initiatives like the workshops and the lodge itself can be run without financial help from our company.

The initial building of the ecolodge is financed by Jolinaiko Eco Tours, out of profits from our organised tours. We see Jolinaiko Eco Village as an ingredient that will make our tours more interesting and attractive to prospect clients. This is the commercial value for our company.

Because Jolinaiko Eco Tours is a small company with relatively low profits, it will take some time to generate the necessary funds for building the lodge. At this moment we invested about € 2000,- in gaining the rights to build on the land, in purchasing building materials and labour. We need an extra budget of about € 2000,- to finish the first basic version of the lodge.

If you are interested in helping us with this initiative and accelerate the building of the lodge, there are a few possibilities:

  • Book a trip with Jolinaiko Eco Tours. Part of the travel sum will be used to realize the lodge.
  • Help us build the lodge directly by financing part of the lodge. The following amounts are still needed:
Cause Cost  
Furnishing the rooms of the cottages with beds, matresses and mosquito nets € 100 per room € 500 for all five rooms
Placing basic sanitary services: simple toilets   € 250
Kitchen (separate building)   € 400
Bar at the waterfront   € 400

All contributors, thank you very much!
We are grateful for every gift, no matter how small. We hope to be able to welcome you in the Jolinaiko Eco Lodge soon!

“ We received a warm welcome. People carried our luggage on their head to our house, everybody greeted us with 'Woez' and people were smiling. Children were running after us screaming 'yevu, yevu!'.

It is a lovely place to live. Living with the sun. The villages are not really developed and isolated from the 'civilized world' (no electricity, mud houses, cooking on a fire etc.). Still the villages are rich in what they have. You don't need electricity, because there is a breeze from the river and water is close by. We thought it was wonderful to walk outside and see the goats and chickens walking freely. The people live from the natural resources like fish and cassava. They make baskets out of plants and eat mangoes when it is the mango season. On Sundays you see everybody in their beautiful traditional clothes going to church. Although the villages are little, they have five churches! God plays an important role in these communities.

We hope that you will enjoy the people and the nature as much as we did. Yevu, woez! ”

Annemarie van Alphen & Irene Poortinga ,
The Netherlands. sankofa
Annemarie and Irene lived in Atsiekpoe-Vume for 3 months and taught at the local primary school.

Teaching in Atsiekpoe-Vume is a unique experience. If you have a teaching background and are interested in spending some time doing voluntary work, please see our volunteering pages.