Provide School Supplies Kits for Children in Ghana

It was a beautiful Tuesday afternoon when the CRI team arrived in Kwasu Nyinasu D/A Basic School to provide the school supply kits for children at the basic level.

The CRI team visited the school with storybooks, colouring books, plastic fruits, wooden puzzles, crayons, pencils, sharpeners, sketch books, alphabetical wall stickers, abacus and other teaching and learning materials

Both teachers and pupils were excited to receive the items and caregivers at the basic level quickly volunteered to show how the materials will change the course of learning for the pupils.

One of the happiest to receive was Simon Kombian, a 9 year old Kindergarten 2 pupil. When the teacher tried to teach the class counting with the abacus, he immediately shot up his hand and volunteered to demonstrate counting to his peers.

Simon’s favourite thing on the abacus was not just its colourful balls but its ease for counting. He loved how he could slide the colourful balls to one side for addition and subtraction.

Ellen, a 6 year old Kindergarten 2 pupil was also very eager to use the abacus. Right after Simon took his seat, Ellen also demonstrated the use of the abacus to the class. Her father is a farmer and her mother a local seamstress and although Ellen isn’t sure yet what she’d love to be when she’s older, she had no doubt about enjoying her counting class using the abacus. “I like it, it’s nice.” She said.

Simon and Ellen were not the only excited ones to receive the items, their class teacher, Madam Grace was equally excited about the new prospects of teaching her class.

“These items will be very helpful for the children.” She said. “Now I can easily demonstrate counting to the class. The wall papers on the alphabets will also help them to memorize their alphabets.” she added.

The head teacher of the school, Mrs Josephine Amponsah Agyei was grateful to Mondelez International Cocoa Life and GlobalGiving for this initiative.

‘I am glad that Mondelez International Cocoa Life has brought all these items to the school. They will enhance the children’s learning experience and on behalf of the pupils I say thank you. We are grateful and will be glad just like Oliver Twist to receive more.’ She added.

Links:

• Supply Kits to Kwasu Nyinasua D/A Basic School

EXCITING SCHOOL DAYS

Nkrumah, pictured above will be one of the beneficiaries of this project. He is a primary school pupil at Kwasu Nyinasua D/A Basic School which has about 500 students. Nkansah loves to be in shot, and will quickly run to join his friends to take their pictures. He was excited to see visitors in his school and he was even more excited to see books being offloaded from the bus.

Nkrumah lives in Kwasu Nyinasu, a Mondelez Project Community in the Ahafo Ano North District in Ghana. It is a predominantly cocoa growing community. The project team met him on a visit to donate storybooks and textbooks to his school.  Nkrumah like many other children in his school, did not have access to sufficient story books and textbooks.  Textbooks may be used on a scale of 1 book to 3 children and storybooks were hard to come by.

After school, children roamed the community visiting friends or gathering around in corners to play.

‘If no home assignments were given to them, they will only play without revising their notes. On vacations, when no homework is given, children would visit other relations or spend the entire vacation playing. This posed a challenge when they returned to school because they may have forgotten most of the things they had studied” said Mr Ebenezer, one of Nkrumah’s teachers.

The first set of books received in the school has however enhanced children’s habits of reading, and sparked a curiosity among young children like Nkrumah.

The team informed the school of the Global Giving Project on supplying school kits for children and their teacher, Mr Atta was elated. ‘Those in the lower primary like Nkrumah will enjoy school better if they have items like sketch books, copy books, crayons, pencils, items for arts and crafts among others. These will help them draw out some of the pictures they see in the books and enhance their imaginative and creativity skills. If they start like this, they will soon want to know what the pictures say, and so they will read.”

Although Nkrumah is yet to fully fall in love with reading, he may sometimes glance at a colourful book a friend may be holding. He has dreams of working in academia he is yet to discover his reason why.  ‘When I grow up, I want to be a teacher, he said. With more books and educational stationery, Nkrumah can look forward to a brighter future.

may just look at the pictures and not necessarily read unless they are supervised. We are glad to have storybooks and textbooks available because now, we can gradually nurture the habit of reading among the children. If however so that as they grow older, they will love to read. Bringing more books and needed items for school will be a great help to the young children.’ Mr Ebenezer added.