Supporting a school in rural Ghana

ABOUT US!

Hi! We are Helen, Ben, Naphtali (10 years old), Zion (9 years old) and Reuben (7 years old). We live in Devon in the UK...

... on September 1st we are travelling to Ghana to live and volunteer for a term in a small rural school near to Lake Volta.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL WE ARE GOING TO:

The school is called Hoffnung Academy, and our extended family have been involved with the local community for 10 years now. The school was set up a few years ago to respond to the poverty around by offering bursaries to local families whose children otherwise would be unable to afford to go to school. Due to extreme poverty, approx 1 in 6 children between the ages of 6 and 14 in the area end up working on fishing boats on the lake nearby and sadly miss out on an education altogether. The school currently has around 200 pupils and it is continually growing, recently including a small early years nursery.  They have two principals Andrew and Sarah, supported by a part time Headteacher, a few university educated teachers, and rest of the staff are school leavers. They have three school buses, which daily collect children from small villages many miles around.

The majority of the school buildings are still unfinished with no doors, windows, finished floors or ceilings. They are just unplastered breezeblocks with a tin roof. Up until now, whenever funds come in, they immediately build new classrooms and are then able to accept more students to respond to the need.

The children learn in English although they are all bilingual and also have language lessons in their local dialect, Ewe (“eh-weh”).  They learn maths, history, science, art, sports, alongside their national curriculum which is similar to our own.  They place great value on helping the children in their relationships and social awareness as well as fostering a sense of responsibility towards one another and their wider community.

Georgina is the school cook. The school lunches are often cooked in a big pot over a fire, usually beans and rice or beans and a type of starchy maize dough called Banku. Everyone eats with their hands and sit outside on the ground. The dining room has yet to be built! 

WHAT WE HOPE TO DO WHILE WE ARE THERE:

It is so inspiring to see what they have done with such a small budget so far and we feel privalaged to be a part of such a vibrant and inspirational community to learn and serve. While we are there, there are many projects we would like to help initiate:

• Build outdoor play equipment and football goals/volleyball court
• Construct dedicated toilets (currently just a latrine)
• Start a school twinning programme with Tali, Zion & Reuben's school in Devon
• Help to paint and finish classrooms
• Paint murals to several of the school buildings
• Help support the nursery and early years programme with educational materials (parachute/therapeutic play/puppetry)
• Helen (counsellor) offer therapeutic support groups in the wider community
• Help with teaching music, art and science
• Begin a sustainable school garden to supplement the school lunches

Although we have lots of our own ideas, we plan to respond to the need directly, and focus our time and funds on the projects they feel will most benefit them. We will update you all with photos showing where the funds specifically have been invested and all that we have been able to do!

HOW YOUR DONATION WILL HELP:

We have self-funded our trip and we have already been able to ship out two suitcases full of educational toys and supplies to the school. We are taking out tools with us to begin the play equipment project, however, with your help, we can help pay local builders and carpenters and gather supplies for many more  of the projects mentioned above! We would love to invest as much as we possibly can into this amazing and hugely worthwhile community.

Thank you for reading!