MEEKER | “Sometimes when we’re in the field of education, there’s so many problems, and a lot of people will just say ‘it’s too much’ and just kind of give up,” said Aubrey Walsh, founder and director of international non-profit OneSeed. “That’s sort of our mountain,” continued Walsh. “We just move OneSeed at a time, a little bit of faith, and we believe that it’ll move that mountain,” referring to the the scripture in Matthew 17:20, “He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'”
The OneSeed team from Accra, Ghana working to bridge community and culture. | COURTESY PHOTO
Walsh said the verse was one of the “anchors” for OneSeed’s mission, which she founded to help train teachers in Ghana who may not have been able to afford/access universities and other specialized training.
TEACHER TRAINING
Founded in 2021, OneSeed partners with schools in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, where according to Walsh, a large proportion of teachers do not have a license because of social and economic barriers to higher education. “So we’re trying to help, in partnership with other nonprofits and organizations, kind of make a bridge, and help those teachers to get the support that they need,” said Walsh, who sees the work as beneficial in the long-term, again like planting a seed. “OneSeed can produce thousands, and one teacher who’s really passionate and who receives training impacts hundreds and hundreds of kids over time.”
CULTURAL EXCHANGE
OneSeed’s impact on students extends beyond teacher training, even back to Meeker, where Walsh grew up and graduated high school, and where OneSeed established the first “sister school” partnership between Meeker Elementary School and Wisdom Ways Academy in Ghana. “I didn’t really get that opportunity growing up in Meeker,” Walsh said, referencing a “cultural exchange curriculum” that connects students from different backgrounds and provides structures to learn about the other’s culture.
Walsh said she had done similar work at the American International School (where she taught in Ghana for 5 years) but noted that it was more of a penpal-style cultural exchange. “We decided to develop more of a learning curriculum,” said Walsh, adding that it looks more like year-long, project-based learning that is student driven and emphasizes critical thinking. Specific subjects include learning about languages (of which at least 27 are spoken in Accra), belief systems, dance, geography and more.
“The most exciting part is that the older kids in class 5 (5th grade) do projects that are more centered towards problem solving and human rights issues,” said Walsh, citing water pollution and human rights as some of subjects students had explored.
These school partnerships go hand-in-hand with OneSeed’s teacher-training program “because the teachers have to learn how to do projects like that in their classroom.”
FUNDRAISING
“Every partnership we do, there’s also a fundraising component to it,” said Walsh, noting the recent example where MES students raised more than $7K during their Christmas fundraiser in December of 2021 from Meeker residents to help fund a computer lab at their sister school in Ghana.
She explained that access to technology is a significant barrier for many in Ghana schools, which is why the money can go a long way. Thanks to a donation of old computers from Meeker School District, the $7K is being used to pay for shipping of the donated machines and to help build multiple computer labs in OneSeed’s partner schools. Walsh said the work would give more than 1200 kids access to laptops, “which is huge.”
Aubrey Walsh, a 2012 MHS graduate, teaches in Accra, Ghana. | COURTESY PHOTO
“We’re really grateful because if it wasn’t for the fundraiser none of this would be happening,” said Walsh, which is why she’ll be at Smoking River Brewery on Aug. 11 to say thank you to all who donated and to show “how much of an impact it’s going to have on all of the kids and the sister school.” Find more information about the event called “Medaase Meeker” on flyers around town or by checking out OneSeed on Facebook at facebook.com/oneseed or instagram at instagram.com/one.seed_
By LUCAS TURNER | [email protected]om
