In October 2024, the Kent Family Foundation responded positively to the GSA application for funds to cover the work to be done at ZUARUNGU-MOSHIE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. They awarded us a grant of £3000 and this was sent to Zuarungu-Moshie to enable them to complete the building of new toilet facilities for the students. We have now heard that the work is completed. I quote from the report received by GSA and forwarded to the Kent Family Foundation:

“The community provided the operational support, supervisory roles and locally available materials and other resources. (…) The new toilet facility has put smiles on the faces of the entire community members, students and the staff of the school as they celebrate the tenth anniversary of the school this year.”

We are all extremely grateful to the Kent Family Foundation for their magnificent contribution to the health and well-being of Zuarungu-Moshie JHS. Thank you sooooo much…

This meeting was successfully held on zoom. We are so grateful to Baaku and Kofi who are our representatives in Ghana and who send us reports and recommendations.

We allocated grants to the following institutions: (1) J.Bedu School, Daffor-Awudome, a contribution towards completing a new building to house an assembly hall which will also be available to the villagers. (2) Action through Enterprise, a contribution towards their new Inclusion Centre at Nandom. (3) Otaakrom Technical Institute, a grant towards the pruchase of monodesks. (4) Zamzamiya Primary and KG, a grant towards restoration work on their two classroom blocks, one of which is used to educate children with disabilities.

We had feedback from the following institutions:

(1) Kwasi Do Presidential KG which had successfully renovated and painted some classroom blocks.

(2) Zagyuri Miskaya Primary/KG which had completed flooring, plastering and painting:

(3) Kanvilli Tawfikiya Primary School which repaired a leaking roof:

(4) Zugu Dagboni Technical Institute has now completed the boys’ accommodation buildings:

…. Both male and female students were working in their various field of work. While some students were preparing to mix mortar to floor the frontage of the newly built 3-roomed hostel, others were inside them working on the electrical fittings such as the fans and switches. At the back of the new building was a two-seater toilet project going on and student carpenters were on top of it working on the roofing, among them was a female student. After this they would dig a manhole for it. All these from the support given by GSA. Electrical wiring, plastering and flooring inside out of the hostel were completed as well as doors and windows. When flooring of the frontage  is completed, it would be left with painting and the facility would be ready.

Email from Baako

We had a very pleasant AGM, With participants both in person and on zoom. We enjoyed some fabulous Ghanaian dishes, many thanks to our caterer alicddacatering.com. I reproduce below the Chair’s address, as it shows the warmth and enthusiasm of our Chair, William Spooner.

“Welcome everyone to this, our 2024 Annual General Meeting. Welcome friends, old and new. How good it is we can gather together.

A bit about our day today. We have the formal bit first, then lunch, and in the afternoon several presentations.

Ghana School Aid is remarkable, and it is remarkable we are here today. What we do remains very much needed. Children and young people need safe, clean facilities in which to learn. From school classrooms, to toilet blocks, to teachers’ quarters. We know how important toilet blocks are for girls in retaining them in education, so offering life chances.

When I was in Ghana last year, I saw school after school which benefited from our work. Outside and inside, with school furniture labelled ‘GHANA SCHOOL AID’.

There is much to do, as we know. Our USP, so to speak, is very simple and speaks for itself.

We must thank people. Firstly, Jo as secretary, the ‘engine room’ of Ghana School Aid. To Nigel as treasurer, Penny as AGM coordinator and her work in contacting trusts (to much success), to Kate as our new newsletter editor, to Rita for introducing us to Abigail in the north. Also, of course, to Mr Kofi Ohene in Accra and Baako in Tamale. Lastly, to Paul, our patron, for his unwavering support. Thank you, thank you.

A word on our newsletter. It is a fabulous. Our thanks to Kate. In a digital era, to have on paper a high quality document showing the impact of our work is our calling card. Use to spread the word about Ghana School Aid, near and far.

Thank you again. Here’s to a good day. As they say in Ghana, ‘Long life Ghana School Aid’!”

The meeting went according to plan; the Treasurer’s accounts will be posted up today; the Secretary’s report focused on one school; all the committee members who wished to stand were duly reelected. In the afternoon we heard reports from Katie Allen-East from the charity Edu-spots; an account of her most recent trip to Ghana from Kate Regan, who, incidentally, has taken over production of our fabulous Newsletter (soon to be posted on this website); we also heard a report about Wulugu from Jane Scott, a report on Action Through Enterprise from Michele Carlisle. The Earle family talked to us about progress in building a library and washrooms in the Volta Region in memory of their parents, and finally Kofi Ohene talked to us from Accra about Ghana today.

We departed feeling much encouraged and ready for the coming yea