Location of Impact
GHANA
Ghana was, until very recently, one of the poorest countries in the world. Over the past few years, the nation has experienced unprecedented growth and development (IFAD report; African Development Bank). Although the lives of Ghanaians have improved greatly, the country still faces many challenges, especially in the education sector.
In Ghana, 18% of primary school age children are not enrolled in school and of those who are in school, 28% will drop out before completing primary school (UNESCO, 2012). Additionally, over 28% of the Ghanaian population is illiterate and out of all the current primary school classrooms, the government estimates that almost a quarter need repairs (World Bank, 2014; USAID, 2009).
PoP works with 106 communities in Ghana to ensure that students overcome these and other barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 190,950 lives in Ghana.
VOLTA REGION
The Volta region is located in southeast Ghana, to the west of the Republic of Togo and just east of Lake Volta. In many of our partner communities in the region, PoP couples school builds with literacy programming in order to create sustainable change.
To date, we’ve built 109 schools in the Volta region and will continue to scale our teacher training and use of educational technologies across PoP schools in the region.
Pre-Build
Prior to the PoP build, students in Abunyanya did not have access to formal classrooms. Instead, they attended school in a deteriorating provisional structure made with wood, mud, thatch and corrugated metal. These conditions exposed students to distractions. Lack of formal walls caused conversations from adjacent classrooms and external noise from the surrounding environment to permeate, making it difficult for students to concentrate. During the warm summer months, insects pestered students, while during the wet season rain saturated the ground and seeped into classrooms causing mud and puddles to form on the floor.
Post-Build
Muhannad recognized these challenges to student well-being and success, and responded to the community’s needs by helping PoP and community members in Abunyanya build a six-classroom school. Now, the school is equipped with fans, formal blackboards, benches, desks, doors, walls and windows. The community, teachers and students remained extremely enthusiastic and dedicated to this project until it was completed. In April, we inaugurated the school and mounted a dedication plaque recognizing Muhannad’s support. Because of Muhannad, the students in Abunyanya now have a safe, strong structural foundation to attend school in each day, which will help them realize their potential and their promise.