Learning For Life Ghana's 'Year of Jubilee' has arrived with much to celebrate!!

Back in 1999, on hearing of the difficulties facing children in James Town, Accra, just 4 words started this 25 year journey -

"PERHAPS I CAN HELP?"

A very unexpected journey began as we came alongside Ghanaians to try to understand their needs and their vision.

'The Need' - to support destitute children by keeping them safe, feeding them and giving them the opportunity of an education.

'The vision was LARGE!' - to build a safe space where the children could be loved and cared for and build a school where they could learn.

This journey was not for us alone - many joined us, bringing different skill sets, all of them willing to share their love and lend a hand or raise funds, bringing joy and encouragement to the Ghanaian's vision.

The 'Vision' became a 'Reality' - a safe space,

and a school were established - now led and run by Ghanaian's.

A child sponsorship programme was set up to support the marginalised who couldn't afford fees. The school now has a role of over 120 pupils. Excellent exam results make it a desirable school to attend and fee paying pupils support the continued operations and activities on site.

The years rolled on -

UK teachers shared their knowledge and skills to encourage and help local staff development.

UK football coaches visited to coach youngsters and train adult trainers.

LFLG were invited to lead a government funded project 'Tools For Teachers' - 180 teachers took up a 2 day training course to help them best support children with SEND. Pupils are continuing to benefit from the new learning strategies while teachers are developing their own ideas and sharing their knowledge with other schools so anchoring sustainability. A very successful project with FCDO recognising excellent and sustainable outcomes, giving an evaluation score of A+.

Meanwhile the children grow quickly and complete SHS and becoming young adults, wanting to make further educational/career choices but thwarted by the cost of fees.

The imminent hurdle in the next stage of their education looms large and is the biggest challenge for their families. With the help of mentors in Ghana we come alongside those who want to take up further study/training and work towards a more secure future for themselves.

Over the last 5 years, with the help of many, we have worked with 53 young people to support their vocational and academic learning. See some of them in our 'Gallery' of photos.

• 33 have completed training courses.

• 30 regularly employed full or part time.

• 3 have casual employment.

• 20 currently ongoing with vocational training or an academic course.

• 5 of these are due to take final exams and complete apprenticeships this year and all of them have positive job prospects going forwards.

One of the aims of LFLG is to come alongside young people and guide them to step out of the poverty trap. These few statistics show just what has been achieved in one element of our work, often above and beyond our expectations.

The students own efforts, still in challenging circumstances and recently battling with 40% inflation, have given them a reward for which they are thankful and very appreciative. Some of them now ably supporting themselves and their own families (the second generation!). There is much to reflect on, much to be thankful for and much to look forward to!

Local UK schools and individuals have been so supportive over the years and now each year we are able to send a shipment of school learning resources to be shared with schools in the Greater Accra area. Local schools and individuals here in UK share their excess and these are so very gratefully received by the teachers and pupils/students in Ghana. Regular library days have been established in several schools allowing children to take reading books home - reading ages have improved massively!

When Ghana Education Service personnel visit these schools for monitoring, they have been truly impressed with the resources available for the children and teachers. They have been even more impressed that the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results in these schools have improved year on year over the last 4 years. English Maths and Science Examination grades previously sat in the lower ranges of 5, 6 and 7. Recently grades of 1-4 have been achieved in all three main subjects. Such success has raised the profile of these schools resulting in happy children, happy parents, proud teachers, satisfied GES inspectors, and more guardians wanting to enrol their wards. This in turn brings more funds into the school and makes it self-sustaining. A great outcome!

SO – this is 25 years of supporting marginalised Ghanaian children and young people in a nutshell!!

We hope you can see we are fundraising for a great cause – empowering young people through educational opportunities of their own choosing – to become happy and independent individuals who can support themselves and their family by stepping out of the poverty trap.

We do hope you will help and – join us on this journey to Ghana – it’s not too far if we all do a little bit!