THE ORIGIN;
The Foundation was established in 2001 with the objective of improving on access to education for children living in the urban fringe areas of Ghanaian cities. Metropolitan development in Ghana, like in other areas of the developing world have a tendency of generating areas of serious socio-economic deprivation. Some Manifestations of this include inefficient and inadequate housing, poor schools, non-existent or sub-standard medical facilities besides other woeful socio-economic indices such as transportation, water and sewerage and recreational facilities.
The Foundation decided to tackle the problem of early education –
kindergarten and primary – as a means of giving children a fair introduction to the
culture of formal learning and also to offer parents, usually single, young and without any formal education themselves. the opportunity to spend more time to improve on their life chances. We consequently started developing the kindergarten and primary school at Parkoso in the Ashanti Region. Parkoso is on the urban fringe of Kumasi. It used to be one of the ring of villages that surrounded the city and supplied market produce to the urban area. It is now within the boundary of the metropolitan area. The Foundation has however decided that the school project should be turned into a maternity and childcare centre with a dental care facility to support the growing number of young mothers and children as well as the aging population.
PROJECT I: ADJEIWAA WELLNESS CENTRE.
We do have a four-room block with ancillary rooms to cater for the space requirements of the clinic but there is the need for additional rooms for:
- the dental surgery
- a temporary recovery room of some eight beds.
- medical equipment and relevant machinery for the centre
- materials and equipment for a one-room daycare/kindergarten
We believe that donations of medical equipment, supplies and a fund of some $50,000.00 will put the clinic in operation. The project is on a five- acre site so it lends itself to future improvement and expansion. We aim to provide some exercise(gym) facility for people 50 years and older.
PROJECT 2.: ADJEI-BARWUAH SCIENCE ACADEMY FOR GIRLS (ABSAG)
Our History.
This construction of this educational facility was originally started by a US church charity as a technical school. The intent was to provide technical and vocational education and training for young school leavers. In the course of the construction of the school, the leader of the US group passed away, resulting in the decision of the Church to discontinue the project and donate the development to their local pastor to use it for educational purposes. The benefactors made the effort to run a technical school in the then completed building but the venture stalled due to funding and management problems. After the facility had stood unused and unattended to for some five years, some school mates of mine and I approached the pastor and the chief, as the custodians, to permit us to use the facility for educational purposes.
We received enthusiastic support and we immediately decided to run a certificated course for school leavers who would want to become Nursing Assistants. These were six-month courses and even though all our trainees secured employment in local medical establishments, we took the decision to rather provide a full range secondary curriculum in the relevant sciences to qualify our graduates to move on to higher qualifications. It is our expectation that we inaugurate the school in January 2021.
The project is on a 55-acre site and we aim to start with 60 secondary school-age girls in year one and progress with 60 girls year on year so by the time the school is fully operational, there will be 240 residential students with 60 of them passing on to higher certificated courses such as medicine, pharmacy, engineering, agriculture, etc. It is our intent to admit non-residential students when the full complement of facilities and staff is achieved.
Our Immediate Needs.
- Funding and material donations for:
- Surfacing of the one–kilometer access road to the campus
- Clearance of the campus of weeds and construction debris
- Completion of the main classroom and other instructional buildings
- Equipment and supplies for laboratories – Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Earth Sciences
- Library and Computer suite
- First aid/medical facility
- Funding for :
- Completion of the construction of the main dormitory block for students
- Completion of the construction of the second classroom block
- Development of staff housing
- Development of games and sports facilities
- Development of Students Union/Assembly hall
- Support for the development of :
- School agricultural project – pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, vegetables
- School kitchen/cafeteria.
- Volunteer Teacher Programme:
Short-term programme for foreign teachers to come and support specialized curriculum areas. Minimum period is six weeks.