Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
Like many rural schools in Ghana the schools where you will work are extremely under-resourced. Many of the existing classrooms do not have any window panes or shutters, they are separated from each other by thin walls that do not reach up to the roof which often leaks during the rainy season causing classes to be suspended. It is not just the state of the school buildings that makes learning difficult for the children. The schools lack even the most basic learning materials and teaching aids – the government is meant to supply text books, but there are never enough to go round, and it is not uncommon to see five or six children trying to read from the same book.
For an average duration on this project (8 weeks), 70% of your payment goes out to the project, to cover all of your costs, as well as making a direct donation to the project itself. With money raised through volunteers, our partners have already provided some teaching and learning materials for the school, but there is a great deal more which can be done. Our partners have calculated that to feed, clothe and educate one child for a year would cost £23 - there are currently many children registered with the school that cannot pay their fees.
The school facilities are so basic that it does not have any running water, electricity or a telephone line. The lack of water and sanitation facilities has major implications for the health of the pupils and staff. In August 2004 volunteers built and paid for a water storage tank for the Kindergarten school for the purpose of providing clean drinking and washing water.
Our partners are currently funding the building of a three classroom Junior School on the new site and they have already refurbished the Kindergarten school. All work is funded by money raised through volunteers.
The owner of this company did a gap year trip in the early 90s which involved building a bandstand for a small village in Patagonia. While he was there, he realised the project was only helpful in developing the Western traveller as the village didn’t want a bandstand and only argued about who owned it. And so he set up a volunteer organisation which is useful to communities and provides them with resources and help with funding. Today, his projects offer travellers an opportunity to fully integrate into communities and to make a real long-term difference to the local people’s lifestyles.
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