The Streetlights Project
Every group has a moment, not when they begin, but when they truly become.
For Asankare Youth for Development (AYD), that moment came shortly after the official launch in September 2021. During the ceremony at Asankare Presby Primary School, a small fundraising session was held. The amount raised was modest, but AYD was determined to put it to meaningful use.
With the funds, the Association invested in a project that left a lasting mark on the town. Twenty-three streetlights were purchased and installed across key areas of Asankare, from the station through to New Zongo.
The work began on Saturday, 18 September 2021, and continued the following Saturday until twenty three (23) streetlights were installed. The project was led by AYD’s own electricians: Joseph Kwarko, Ebo Essel, George Abrokwa, and Ernest Asiedu, supported by other members who carried poles, dug, fixed, and cleared.
AYD members working together to fix streetlights in Asankare.
When the first lights came on, they spoke louder than any speech. They quietly announced that AYD had arrived.
For weeks afterwards, members walked past the glowing poles with a quiet pride. It was not about applause or recognition. It was the steady awareness that something they had built was now standing, working, and helping the community.
As Veronica Akyaamaa, the current Women’s Organiser of AYD remembered: “I stood near one of the poles the night it first came on. No speech. No crowd. Just that soft orange light. And I thought, this is it. This is what service looks like.”
A Turning Point
The streetlight project became a turning point, not only in how the town saw AYD, but in how members saw themselves. They were no longer just a youth group. They had become a force for development. And deep down, they knew this was only the beginning.
The classroom meeting of 11 July 2021 was not the peak. It was the planting. Every clean-up, every gathering, every act of service since then has been one thing: a sign that the seed is growing.
The streetlights proved what AYD had always believed. With unity, sacrifice, and faith, the youth of Asankare could rise and build.
AYD Through the Years series continues in next part