Graham Prosser
Schools & Education Projects
The illiteracy rate in Endwa is a frightening 70%! The stated aim of the Trust is to develop the village of Assin Endwa for the benefit of its people. In order to achieve this we need to improve the education of all of those people, but especially the children
The village has schools for age groups up to Junior Secondary Level but the facilities are poor, we aim to improve those facilities year by year. One way is by improving the school library and the Trust has shipped over 4000 books to the village over the past years. These range from children's primers to novels and reference books. Last year many sets of text books on core subjects, with teachers notes were sent, supplied courtesy of Barking Council.
This resulting collection of books has formed the basis for a community library within the secondary school, which has been called the "Nana Bimpoma Community Library."
In 2005, the Trust instigated a child sponsorship scheme to improve some children's chances of attending school. The income for most parents in Endwa is very low and a large number of them cannot afford to send their children to school. Although in theory schooling in Ghana is free, in practice parents have to pay for uniforms, materials and text books which most cannot afford. At present more than 60 children are being sponsored through their school careers and others have already completed their education, but we would welcome additional sponsors so that more children can benefit!
Ghana has one of the best education systems in Sub Saharan Africa but the rural communities suffer from lack of investment as foreign debt repayments eat up Government funds.
The teachers in Endwa are struggling in a way that their European colleagues can not appreciate, they are rightly proud of their achievements but need our help to nudge education in Ghana into the 21st Century.
As well as the schools in Endwa, we also support to a lesser degree two other schools. The Stroman School in Assin Foso which is also an orphanage and The Teacher Adam School in a poor area of Accra. Both of these schools set an example of excellence under difficult conditions and take part in our volunteer scheme.
Volunteer's Tasks
Our volunteers face the challenge of teaching in our Summer School which we started in 2005. As a group they organise their own programme to provide a fun learning experience, using limited materials to ignite the pupils' interest in different subjects from an unusual angle. Although trainee teachers are very welcome, all our volunteers are able to take Summer School activities and all thoroughly enjoy the process.
Along with teaching, our volunteers also run sporting tournaments and games and coach sports in which they have the necessary experience. If that isn't enough to keep them busy they also work on the volunteer building project for the year!
Capital Projects - Community Building Scheme
All building projects sponsored by the Trust are undertaken by the villagers on a self help basis with help from Ghana's National Service personnel. Only work requiring specialist skills is undertaken by outside contractors.
The first building project sponsored by the Trust was a K.V.I.P. (latrine block). This project was opened in September 2002 by the U.K. Trust Chairman. If you look at our photographs, the KVIP is the bright pink building!
The second project with which the Trust was involved was the building of a new junior school for the village; the principal sponsor was the E.U. with the Trust providing tools and some materials.
Our largest project so far has been the provision of a new Primary Healthcare Clinic which was started in April 2004 and finished in August 2006. This provides a much needed facility for the village and overnight accommodation for visiting medical staff. Our volunteers in 2004 did some of the original building work and in 2007 constructed an outside waiting and play area for visitors.
The project for 2010 is the construction of a water tower which will provide clean running water for the clinic. Our volunteers will then construct a satellite tower to provide water to the north end of the village. Again, let us stress that no particular skills are required just a willingness to "muck in" and have a go.
Women's Co-operative Project
One unexpected but welcome development after the formation of the Trust was the founding of a Women's Co-operative in 2001. This is a small scale project to help some of the women in the village to improve their standard of living by raising cash crops on land donated by the chief to the co-operative.
The co-op has plans to increase the land under cultivation with help from Trust volunteers and also to expand their operations to include processing cassava roots into a special flour used extensively throughout Ghana.
After talks between the co-op members and volunteers trained in business studies a plan was developed to improve profitability. The proposal was put to the Chief's council that the co-op members take part in a government backed scheme to increase output of palm oil. This was agreed and the co-op were given an extra 100 acres to enable them to join the scheme and ensure long term profitability.
Further to this, at a meeting between volunteers and the head of Ghana's National Service Bureau it was agreed the Bureau would help develop craft skills in the women's group. This will assist their long term viability as the original members get older and less able to work on the land.
With assistance from the Trust and the Volunteers, the women's co-op has a bright future.