Support Vulnerable Children Education

At Kwajwifo DA School in the Krachi Nchumuru District of the Volta Region of Ghana, the clouds start gathering. Soon it drizzles! There’s a storm that’s whistling through the school, carrying with it pieces of the thatched roof. The classrooms built of clay, bear deep cracks and are on the verge of splitting apart. They are death traps! Suddenly, school closes, a pupil runs to rescue the National flag that hangs in the middle of the school compound and everyone is set to a confused, disorderly haste. Children, from kindergarten to junior high school, are seen running helter skelter. Their books splatter the compound in their rush for shelter. This is no fiction; it’s a reality and a norm in a rural school in Ghana.All six classes are under sheds with thatched roofs. Established about 35 years ago, some of the pupils still do not have chairs so they improvise. Many pupils sit on wood riddled with holes but firmly supported by cement blocks. With no backrest, pupils are compelled to bend throughout class sessions. The school made of mud and roofed with thatch cannot shelter them from the rain. To create more learning hours at school, teachers have resorted to starting classes ahead of normal school hours; but that is only if the rains don’t pour in the mornings. When there is a rainfall the thatched roof only strains the downpour but confines the pupils to a section of the classroom. The rains drum loudly, hitting the straw roof with insistent ardor. With no school furniture, the pupils’ sit and learn on kitchen stools they brought from home. They fix their eyes on a black board loosely hanging on a tree and make conscious attempts to focus on their teacher.But within minutes their eyes search the school compound for other interesting activities and of course bleating goats freely roaming the compound grab their interest. Their attention is gone and according to their teachers, getting it back is just like forcing rains back into the clouds. The wood supporting the classrooms made from mud is rotten.There is a huge crack in the walls and I could see pupils through the cracks. The walls look very weak and could fall anytime. Parts of the roof have also been ripped off by strong winds. In fact this building has been marked as a death trap. Pupils squat and kneel on the bare floor to study. One can imagine their attention span as they kneel to soak up knowledge. Pupils are sweating in the sweltering heat! The sun has refused to be kind to them especially because they have no roof over their heads. The school has just three teachers so they have to be creative to engage all pupils. To salvage this predicament Gate of Hope Foundation intends to undertake a major Renovation works on Six Classroom Block, to further enhance efficient teaching and learning environment. The Estimated Cost of proposed project is as follows: (1). 2,000-Cement Bags (2). 12,000 -Pieces of Concrete Blocks (3). 1200- Pieces of Sawn Timber (4). 30 - Packs of Aluminium Roof Sheets (5). 30-Doors (6). 24-Windows (7). 100-Packs of Louver Blades (8). 25 -Trips of Sand (9). 20-Trips of Gravels (10).20-Packets of Roofing Nails (11). 40-Litre Paints in jerrycans (12).Workmanship and Labour (Total Cost is = USD 70,450.00).