Our History

It all began when Djoke Haven, formerly of Amnesty International Netherlands, married Christoph Damalie, formerly a teacher and National Board member of Amnesty International Ghana.   On one of their regular family holidays to Ghana, it became clear to them that they needed to do something to help the people of Ghana.  As a result, in 1998, Thirdway Netherlands was created in order to promote and realize human rights in Ghana. 
 
Realizing these goals has not been easy. However, since they considered education to be the gateway to the promotion and the realisation of human rights, with the help of their families and friends enough money was gathered to start a school in the needy area of Kasoa.  To realise the building of the school, it soon became imperative to have a recognized organization on the ground for the execution of projects to be carried out, hence the establishment of Thirdway Ghana in 2000.
 
With the passage of time and the need for growth and expansion to realise their goal of indivisible human rights in Ghana, Thirdway’s future expansion plans have grown from the operation of the school to include micro-credit programs; computer technology, including computer training and the provision of computers; human rights and entrepreneurship training; as well as conflict prevention and resolution training and services at the proposed Multi-purpose Human Rights Centre.  
 
As the organization grew it became crucial to establish other associated offices,  taking advantage of our virtual office concept,  in order to make the realisation of  our objectives possible,  hence the establishment of associated branches in the USA  and in France in 2009.