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 219,000 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 further develop sustainable change.
To date, we’ve built 98 schools in the Volta Region and have provided our teacher training workshops and educational programming across many PoP schools in the region.
Before a PoP School Build
Previously, students in Suipe did not have access to proper and safe classrooms. Instead, they attended school in a deteriorating provisional structure made with wood, mud and rusting metal. Multiple grades had to share the same classroom due to lack of space. The overcrowding provided lots of distractions for the students and hindered the learning process. 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.
Your Impact with a New PoP School
You recognized these challenges to student well-being and success, and responded to the community’s needs by helping PoP and community members in Suipe complete a 3-classroom school build. We broke ground on the school in late August and inaugurated the school in the beginning of March. Thanks to your support, compassion and generosity, the community now has a new school where their children can learn and grow. The entire Suipe community is excited knowing their students now have access to a higher quality education environment.