You’re Making a Difference Here
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 107 communities in Ghana to ensure that students overcome these and other barriers to accessing a quality education. To date, PoP has impacted over 220,000 lives in Ghana.
VOLTA REGION
The Volta Region is located in southeastern 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 98 schools in the Volta Region and have also provided our teacher training and educational programming to many PoP schools in the region.
Before a PoP School Build
Before Pencils of Promise partnered with the community to build a new school, students in grades Primary 1 through Primary 3 were taught under a poor quality zinc roof. In addition, Primary 4th through 6th graders learned in an unsafe mud structure. These open-to-the-elements classrooms were problematic in many weather conditions (especially the rainy season) and created a difficult learning environment with lots of distractions for the students.
Your Impact with a New PoP School
Through your support, PoP was able to partner with the Oborpah West community to build a 6-classroom school. The community was dedicated and very involved, contributing to the labor and materials required for construction. Throughout the build they were enthusiastic knowing that their students would soon have access to a higher quality learning environment. Your support made this school build possible and helped create a safe and strong structural foundation that will foster an environment of educational growth and promise for the students in Oborpah West.