Why Ghana?
While Ghana has experienced unprecedented growth and development over the past few years (IFAD report; African Development Bank), the country still faces many challenges, especially when it comes to access to education.
In Ghana, 17% 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, 2018). Additionally, over 14% of the Ghanaian population is illiterate (UNESCO, 2018).
PoP works with over 150 communities in Ghana to ensure that students overcome these and other barriers to accessing quality education. Currently, PoP is impacting over 42,000 students in Ghana through School Builds, Teacher Support and WASH programming.
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 over 160 schools in the Volta Region and have also provided teacher training and educational programming to many PoP schools in the region.
New Somanya
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With a population of around 2,480, this farming community is located within the Yilo Krobo district of Ghana. The New Somanya Methodist Primary School currently serves 219 students throughout grades K-6. Ewe and Dangme are the languages spoken here, and students are thrilled to have their new school where each child will be inspired to reach their potential and promise. |
Tammy’s Impact in New Somanya
At PoP, we strive toward a world in which every child can experience and benefit from quality education. Previously in New Somanya, students were learning in old pavilions and cement block structures where they were exposed to extreme wind, heat and rain.
We believe that a quality learning environment is critical to increasing student attendance, engagement and overall literacy outcomes.
In the previous structure, students were easily distracted and exposed to the elements. These conditions clearly posed a hazard to student safety and well-being, as well as to engagement and learning.
A school build is only the start of a transformative educational experience. We broke ground in early December 2020 and completed construction in June 2021.
PoP has partnered with the New Somanya community to renovate six classrooms and build a new two-unit classroom block! The community is devoted to providing a valuable education to its students, and contributed 20 percent of the resources and labor required for construction.
We establish partnerships with communities who are deeply committed to their children’s education. The support of the New Somanya community ensures the sustainability of the school that it will remain a quality learning environment for generations to come.