April 26th, 2024
Theo and I left Accra at 6 am, for the 3-hour drive to Asuom, Eastern Region, for our 13th school furniture donation to deprived and neglected schools in Ghana. We begin our journey traveling north on the Accra-Kumasi Highway. The first 40km was a slow, rough, bumpy, and dusty crawl due to the road construction from Accra to Nsawam. After Nsawam, the rest of the trip was smoother because the road was much better. We continued travelling north past Bonsu to Osino, then headed north-east to Asuom. We travelled through the virgin Atewa forest reserve, which the government is trying to lease out for bauxite mining, and arrived at Asuom Islamic Primary exactly at 9 am.
Although the ceremony to present the furniture was supposed to start at 9 am, we had to wait until 11 am, before the presentation began. The Ghana Education Service(GES) representatives and MC of the program didn't arrive until 10.45am. The tents, chairs, and tables hadn't also been set up when we arrived at 9 am. Asuom is a farming community, and they mainly produce palm oil and soap base.
The program commenced at 11 am. There was the opening prayer, and the school cadets entertained us with a march. Then, the usual speeches by the headmaster, GES, and ING.
The state of disrepair of Asuom Islamic Primary is not as dire as some of the other schools ING has donated to. Their classrooms had functioning windows and doors, and the classroom blackboards have been replaced with marker boards. They had lots of current textbooks and teaching materials. They do have a furniture deficit, but we saw some broken furniture, which can be easily fixed with a hammer, nails, a screwdriver, or a carpenter. Theo pointed that out in his speech on the issue of maintenance, which was well received by the community.
The cadets marched again after the speeches, and then it was time for the furniture handover. First from Impact Next Gen to GES, then from GES to Asuom Community, received by the Chief Imam, who then handed it over to Mr. Rasmus, the Headmaster, PTA head and teachers of Asuom Islamic Primary. Thanks to our generous donors, 40 dual desks with sitting capacity of 80 pupils will ease the overcrowding in the classrooms. We then took pictures with the kids and their new furniture, and they sang their school song. As the program ended at 1pm, Theo, Ibrahim, and I were presented with "The Best Dzomi palm oil" and palm nuts as an appreciation from the community.
We started heading back to Accra at 1.15pm. This time at Bonsu, we took a left and went through Koforidua and the mountains passing through Mamfe, Mampong, and Aburi back to Accra. Arrived back in Accra at 4.30 pm.
A massive thanks to all our donors, HOUSING DILEMMAS CIC (UK), AKWANTUPA ENTERPRISE, PAY ANGEL and MEDIGREEN WASTE MANAGEMENT (USA).
Presentation of desks
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