THE IMAGE ABOVE IS REAL. IT IS FROM HOME.
On the left: a stagnant, polluted waterway in Akyem Old Tafo, Ghana — blocked, overgrown, flooding homes every rainy season, and breeding the mosquitoes that carry malaria into the homes of families who live alongside it.
On the right: the same place, restored. A flowing stream. Landscaped banks. Benches. Trees. Flowers.
Same location. Same community. Completely transformed.
This is what is possible. And we are asking for your help to do it again — starting right now.
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WHO I AM
My name is Henry Ayakwah. I grew up in Akyem Old Tafo in Ghana's Eastern Region. I left home to become an urban planner — studying at Virginia Tech, working as a Development Review Planner with Baltimore County in Maryland, and now teaching in the Geography and Environmental Planning Department at Towson University in the United States.
I have spent my career learning how cities protect their environments and care for their communities. Now I am bringing that knowledge back to the town I grew up in.
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WHAT WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH RIGHT NOW
There is a stagnant waterway in Akyem Old Tafo that needs urgent attention.
It is blocked. The water sits still, breeding mosquitoes and disease. During the rainy season, it floods the surrounding homes. Children play near it. Families live alongside it. It has been this way for years.
GreenPulse Ghana has identified this site, documented it, and is ready to begin restoration. We know exactly what needs to be done — because we have done it before. The before and after image above is our proof.
We need funds to start.
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WHAT YOUR CONTRIBUTION DOES
$25 — Funds one day of site documentation and community consultation
$50 — Plants and tracks one named geocoded tree on the restored site
$100 — Covers materials for one section of waterway bank restoration
$250 — Funds one full week of restoration fieldwork
$500 — Restores and landscapes one full section of the waterway
$1,000+ — Founding donor — named permanently on the site restoration record
Every contribution — in any currency, at any amount — moves this forward.
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OUR GOAL
We are raising $15,000 to fund the restoration of this waterway and to formally launch GreenPulse Ghana's operations — so we can then take this model to the next site, and the next town, and eventually every community in Ghana that needs it.
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A PERSONAL NOTE
I did not start GreenPulse Ghana because it was the easy thing to do. I started it because I stood in the town I grew up in, looked at what professional planning knowledge could achieve here, and could not find a reason not to try.
The before and after image at the top of this page is not a concept. It is not a proposal. It already happened — in Akyem Old Tafo, the town where I was born. Now there is another site waiting. And another after that.
Please give what you can. Please share this page. Every share reaches someone who might give, someone who might volunteer, someone who might simply tell a friend.
Ghana deserves this. Our communities deserve this.
Thank you.
Henry Ayakwah
Founder, GreenPulse Ghana
Faculty, Geography and Environmental Planning
Towson University, Maryland, USA
