Akwaaba! (Welcome!)

Meet Alice and Belinda, shown above in their new school.

I, myself, met Alice on my very first day of placement in my community in Ghana and throughout the 3 months she became a huge part of my every day life. Although she portrayed herself as the 'class clown', underneath she proved to be a very caring and committed person. Despite her comedic facade, Alice turned up to school every day and did her work.

Belinda, however, spent her days working for her mother, and at the age of 13 we found it troubling that she was not attending school. So a fellow volunteer and I took it upon ourselves to speak to her mother and the head of the school and see what we can do. The issue was very simple, that Belinda's hair was too long to be in school, as is the national standard, however her mother did not want her to cut it down to size. With a little convincing, they both agreed to, quite literally, meet halfway so that Belinda could continue schooling in class 5.

Now both of the girls were schooling, we had high hopes for their exams, however it was not in fact them that were the issue. The biggest challenge that faced these young girls was the lack of attendance from their teacher, and the low level of understanding of English, the language in which all subjects are taught.

Every member of our community held such high appreciation for the work that we did as a team. Work that would not have been possible without their help and support. In my time there I met a man, visiting from Kumasi, who'd asked me "How are you going to help this community when you are gone?". This question is what inspired me over the remaining few weeks we had in our community to support the families of Alice and Belinda, chosen for their proven commitment to learning and care for their future, with the tuition fees needed for them to attend a private school in Nyinahin through fundraising in the U.K.

I took them to the market on my last week in community and bought them all the necessary supplies; uniform, books, bags, pencils etc. and we even visited the headmaster of the school to enrol them for the year.

An agreement was made between myself, the headmaster, the parents and the children themselves that their attendance and performance must be satisfactory or their fees will no longer be supported. In order to ensure the parents motivate their child, I've agreed only to supply the tuition, canteen and extra classes after school. However, the parents must pay for their transport and any replacements/repairs for their school supplies.

Overall, I'm supporting the families with ~£30 each per term and slightly higher once they reach Junior High School (JHS), with 3 terms per year for 4 years until they complete JHS, working out to be ~£850 for 4 years worth of education.

I hope you donate to this cause, but if not, please share this story and feel free to ask any questions about the girls, the school or anything else you may be wondering.