Help Us to Finish Building Classrooms in Ghana

We need your help! Dyn ni angen eich cymorth!

We are raising money to enable us to continue building the additional classrooms that we desperately require to accommodate our new intake of pupils, due to start as soon as possible.                                                             

The school was set up by a local builder, Kofi, who bought a plot of land on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, in order to build some small flats to rent. He realised that although having flats to rent would be beneficial for him, it wouldn’t really benefit the local community, so, he decided to change it into a small school and also provide an outside well for the community.

I got to know Kofi when I was volunteering as a nurse in Ghana and I was so impressed by his passion and drive to help others and improve education in Ghana. He was the first generation of his family to be educated and feels very passionately about the great importance of a good education.

In 2016, Kofi asked if I would like to be involved with the school. It opened in 2018 with 36 pupils and quickly grew to 126 pupils, with a long waiting list keen to start.

Kofi and I have been working hard to build additional classrooms to meet this demand and to build a library for all the books kindly collected and donated. Half of this build was done before March 2020, but, since the COVID19 pandemic, things have changed dramatically.

Usually, so that the school can be as self sufficient as possible, families who can afford to pay a contribution pay towards their education (which is far lower than for local government schools!) and I pay the fees for the children whose families are not able to contribute. This money then covers most of the wages for teachers and staff, so that we can continue to build the school with money made by our small businesses.

Unfortunately, now there is no money coming in, as the school had to close in March and Kofi’s business has been severely affected by the COVID19 pandemic. So it has not been possible to do the intended building work.

Luckily, alongside my business Matico, I work part time as a nurse, so I have been able to give all money from Matico sales to pay the staff wages. The teachers have been absolutely incredible during these challenging times. At the beginning of every week, they prepare work for the pupils and then deliver these workbooks and exercises to every one of the 205 pupils currently enrolled at the school. They then pick up this work on Thursdays and mark it on Fridays. It has been amazing to see how they have worked together to ensure that every pupil is continuing to learn despite the school being closed. The school gates are left open, so that any pupil in need of support or a hot meal can pop in.

The Minister of Education in Ghana has announced that they are hoping to reopen schools in Ghana on the 21st of January 2021. So we now urgently need to raise funds to complete the build as soon as possible.

We need around £1,800 to buy the building supplies needed, so that Kofi can finish building the classrooms and the library.

Any donation, big or small, would be INCREDIBLY HELPFUL and very gratefully received!

Diolch o galon! Thank you so much!!