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Aya Project
Welcome to Côte d’Ivoire
A country rich in culture, community, tradition, and incredible people.
Côte d’Ivoire, also known as the Ivory Coast, is a beautiful West African country filled with vibrant cities, rural villages, diverse cultures, incredible food, music, traditions, and a deep sense of community.
For AYA Project, Côte d’Ivoire is much more than a place where we work.
It is family. It is friendship. It is home.
Where Is Côte d’Ivoire?
Côte d’Ivoire is located along the southern coast of West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. It shares borders with Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Liberia.Yamoussoukro is the country's political capital, while Abidjan is its largest city and economic center.From the busy streets and markets of Abidjan to farming communities and villages throughout the countryside, Côte d’Ivoire is a country of remarkable diversity.
The People & Culture
Côte d’Ivoire is home to many different ethnic groups, languages, traditions, and cultures.French is the country's official language, but dozens of local languages are spoken throughout the country, including Baoulé, the language spoken in many of the communities where AYA Project has built relationships.Family and community are deeply important parts of everyday life. Celebrations, food, music, dance, storytelling, faith, and tradition bring generations together.Visitors are often welcomed with an incredible spirit of hospitality — something our AYA teams have experienced again and again.
Where AYA Works
AYA Project has developed long-term relationships with rural communities near Yamoussoukro in central Côte d’Ivoire.Our projects have grown from conversations with community members about the things that matter most to them — including education, women's empowerment, clean water, maternal support, opportunities for children, and community development.Every project is different because every community is different.Our goal isn't to arrive with all the answers.Our goal is to listen, build relationships, and find ways to move forward together.
Life Beyond the Cities
Much of AYA Project's work takes place outside Côte d’Ivoire's major cities, in rural communities where families have lived and farmed for generations.Agriculture is an important part of everyday life. Families grow crops such as cocoa, cassava and vegetables and may raise chickens, goats and sheep.Schools, markets, farms and gathering places become centers of community life.Resources may be limited, but these communities should never be defined by what they lack.They are places filled with families, traditions, knowledge, laughter, hard work, and enormous pride.
More Than a Destination
Côte d’Ivoire is often described through statistics, poverty rates, or the challenges facing West Africa.
That isn't the Côte d’Ivoire we want you to see.
We want you to meet the children racing down a village road.
Hear the music
Walk through a market.
Sit beneath a tree and talk.
Share a meal.
Watch a soccer game turn into an entire community celebration.
And experience what happens when strangers become friends and friends become family.
This is the Côte d’Ivoire we love.
And it's the Côte d’Ivoire we hope to share with you through AYA Project.
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