Previously . the children had to walk six kilometres to the nearest elementary , with their mothers sometimes carrying the littlest ones on their backs to and from school . The journey was difficult even in our four-by-four , following a rough trail across the dusty savannah .
The opening of the school had been planned around our arrival and the entire village turned out to inspect the solid concrete structure with a corrugated metal roof and steel desks . The villagers had accomplished most of the work themselves ; the women hauled water from the river in buckets on their heads to mix the concrete . Two dedicated volunteer teachers will be given training to qualify for the government-paid salary . We had brought suitcases full of books , and the students , who had never held a book before , were thrilled to flip through the pages and examine the colourful pictures .
This school visit was followed by a festival of speeches , drumming , and dancing , at which I was honoured to be “ enskinned ” as a chief and queen . I was given a new name , Sumaya , “ queen of happiness ,” clothed in hand-woven robes , and obligated to dance . The people stuck paper money on my sweaty forehead , payment for the drummers , while chanting “ le le le .” At the end of this remarkable day , we were given live guinea fowl as a token of gratitude .
The following day ’ s visit to La ' Angum Learning Centre was just as exciting . This impressive school embraces the Montessori method under the capable direction of headmaster Mr . Majeed . A biogas digester is being installed to convert the waste from the outhouses into gas to cook hot
La ' angum Learning Centre
Nalerigu
Nwodua School
2
Tamale
3
4 5
Gambaga
lunches . Currently , the volunteer cooks prepare vats of various combos of manioc , corn , and yams on charcoal fires for four hundred people in an unbearably hot kitchen . Our tour concluded with drumming and dancing in the courtyard , a specially planned celebration .
Our final visit was to Bongbini School , with another large enrolment and insufficient space . In fact , 125 kindergarten children were crammed into one room with two teachers and a chalkboard painted on the concrete wall . There were no other supplies . Students in all the grades were similarly squeezed into tight quarters , sitting on broken concrete floors . The head teacher , Adishetu Adam , is anxious to construct a kindergarten with assistance from ROHFC .
The children in all four schools we visited are enthusiastic learners with dedicated teachers who make do with little else besides their own ingenuity and a piece of chalk . It encouraged us to see progress being made step by step , and we ’ re excited to be part of these efforts to offer a quality education to children in Ghana — their ticket to a better life .
Margaret Bennett and her husband , Richard , have spent most of their fifty years together in Vermilion , where they raised their five children . After retiring , they were missionaries in the
Kumasi
Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar . Their first project with ROHFC was in Bali , Indonesia beginning in 2012 .
Bongbini Kindergarten
Bongbini School
1
Accra , Ghana
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