One Life Aid Foundation (OLAF), has donated educational materials to one of the deprived schools in the country, the Nanabaning-Sikoko Presby Primary School situated on a mountain near the Abansro community in the Eastern Region.
The donation was part of the Foundation’s aims of helping augment government’s efforts in achieving quality education in Ghana.
The project is to support needy school children in deprived community schools in the Eastern Region and by extension, across the country with education materials with the aim of boosting teaching and learning in those schools to be able to compete with well-endowed schools in the Ghana.
The items donated included toiletries, assorted food and drinks, pocket Bibles, pens and pencils, exercise books, sandals, boxes of chalk, hand washing bowls, erasers and sharpeners among others.
In pursuing the Foundation’s vision, OLAF has over the years extended charity work to pupils of schools such as the Koforidua Osabene Islamic School and Asikasu Presby Primary and Pre-School.
Presenting the items to the pupils of the Nanabaning-Sikoko Presby Primary School, Founder and Executive Director of One Life Aid Foundation (OLAF), Joycelyn Siaw-Asamoah, said the move was to support government’s efforts in providing quality and effective teaching and learning in schools, and enumerated that the Foundation had already begun supplying these schools with educational materials and that, what was done was some of their projects.
She pointed out that; the Foundation was touched by the plight of pupils of Nanabaning-Sikoko Presby Primary School, majority of whom trek long distances to school, climbing hills and mountains.
The Headmaster of the school, Oduro Seth Ronald in an interview said, pupils as well as teachers who live in the surrounding villages come to school on foot on daily basis, walking through bushes at the mercy of snakes.
He also revealed that teachers walk a distance of about 45 minutes to and from school every day.
He said, the school which seem isolated from the communities has brilliant students who always excel in their academics and with little assistance can do better for themselves and for mother Ghana.
Meanwhile, during a visit to the school, it was discovered that pupils of don’t benefit from the School Feeding Program; a situation that most at times kill the spirit in the children because once a child enters the classroom, he or she has no access to food until school closes for them to go home.
“We don’t have food here. Nobody sells food here for the students so once we enter the class we don’t expect to eat until closing when we get home,” a pupil lamented.
According to them, the school is in need of other materials as well as classroom blocks since what they have to do with currently is inadequate.
There is no bungalow for teachers, no water and electricity in the community and conditions at the school are not pleasant.
“We accept posting here not because of the money but because of the passion we have to teach. If you are a teacher and you are posted to this school, you will not come back after your fist day in school,” a teacher said.
Meanwhile, the headmaster, teachers as well as pupils expressed appreciation to OLAF for supporting them since most of them have still not purchase their learning materials even though school is in session.
Joycelyn Siaw-Asamoah said the Foundation is extending calls to other benevolent organizations, individuals and corporate institutions to support the Care project and called on others who wish to collaborate with OLAF on such projects to contact the foundation.
Source: GhanaWeb
