Lighted Pathway to Success

On January 10th, 2010, the beginning of a new year sparked the flame to the beginning of a new project; The Lighted Pathway to Success; lighting the pathway to three communities in dire need of infrastructural development. With the support from One Million Lights (OML), the iStandAbove Organization (iSA) donated 60 solar powered lights to three villages; Ogyamadze, Appiatse Kwaa, and Kwasi Gyan No. 2, in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa. OML is a 501c3 non-profit organization with a mission of improving the daily lives of children and adults by providing clean and healthy lighting.

After constant conversations with Nana Benyi III, the Chief of the three villages, and Kwa Bedu Effinim Quagraine, the Village Head of Ogyamadze, iSA learnt of the various struggles the citizens of these three communities faced throughout their daily lives. The availability of light was at the pinnacle of their struggles along with water and transportation. The Lighted Pathway to Success is a program designed to initially combat the lighting problem and encourage the people of the villages to take ownership of the development of their communities. This is orchestrated by the solar powered lights being rented out to the people of the three villages at an economical fee decided upon by the people. The total investment or rental fee obtained would be pumped back into the community through various avenues and projects to assist the villages in their attempts to overcome other existing problems.

The Lighted Pathway to Success now offers the people of Ogyamadze, Appiatse Kwaa, and Kwasi Gyan No. 2 the needed light for fathers to go hunting for food for their families, mothers to cook at night, children to play games with their peers, and the necessary light for the students of the villages to study and do their homework at night for a more promising future. The program also provides the people with the opportunity to take both ownership of the lights and the responsibility of developing one’s community for a better future.

It is the hope and plan of iSA to expand the Lighted Pathway to Success program by providing more lights to the three listed communities as well as other villages in need of light in other regions of Ghana and throughout Africa. iSA also plans to seek better ways to improve the living conditions in these areas by continuous partnership with OML. In the process of this endeavor, iSA also plans to aid these communities in standing above their hardships for one’s development not only for the individual but the community as a whole.