DONATIONS REQUESTED
ALUMNI SUPPORT £7,000
We are eager to support our eight most promising active-citizen alumni – it is difficult to be precise about their needs at this point but we would like to raise £500 for each of them and then keep £3,000 in reserve for them:
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enabling Ben Afriye to go to university;
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enabling Leonard Kissiedu to start his own band;
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enabling Anastasia Kassah to show off her fashion designs;
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enabling Princely Agbavor to become active in the National Democratic Congress;
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enabling Emmanuela Acqua to train to be a nurse;
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enabling Joshua Nornorme to attend a course at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, and join the Air Force;
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enabling Azamati Bright-Elikem to show his carvings and sculpture;
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enabling Sarah Owusu to open her green and healthy catering business.
​OUR YOUNG ALUMNI
Ben Afriye is becoming an active citzen and going to university
Ben is just starting a degree in Government Studies. This is special for a youngster from a farming family in rural Ghana. He impresses when he talks about big policy issues, a direct result of learning to debate in school. He makes the point that he was encouraged to speak out whereas his friends:
“Many of them are cleverer than me but they never say what they think. They are frightened of people disapproving, like their families, elders, chiefs and bosses, but there’s nothing to be frightened about. I learned to say what I think at school”.
Anastasia Kassah has made quite an impression with her fashion designs.
She needs further support to turn her designs into reality. She has developed a highly original mind, partly as a result of the encouragement we gave to express herself in art, design and music. She now has great career prospects in the fashion industry.
“For most, becoming a fashion designer would always be just a dream, but I was given the confidence to do this …”
​Emmanuela Acqua comes from a large and very poor family who scrape a living from growing cassava.
Now, she is hoping to get a scholarship to do a nursing degree. Inspired by the school’s Girls Club, she is now also into women’s sport, especially football. She loves her village and her family, and she wants to help them when she becomes a nurse.
“I was made to feel that I could do anything and achieve a lot when I was at school. I will never forget the encouragement I received from the teachers. I also liked helping the volunteer medical teams from Projects Abroad that came to check on all the children’s health”
Azamati Bright-Elikem comes from one of the poorest families in Akokoa
He was inspired by art and music in school, and he has used this inspiration in carvings and sculpture. He wants to develop a style which is special to him but also full of ideas from his community – expressing the best of a rural community in creative art.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make a living from art – I’ll probably study graphic design to get work. But I found the art and music in school really interesting.”
Leonard Kissiedu has become a musician and will contribute to Ghanaian culture and music in his rural area
Leonard has set up a band which plays church music, world music and popular Ghanaian pieces. At the same time, he gives back to the school which nurtured him by helping with music teaching. And he is simultaneously learning to be a car mechanic!
“My friends in other villages, who were good at music like me, couldn’t afford lessons and gave up – my school gave me an amazing opportunity. Now, I am spreading Ghanaian and world music around many towns and villages.”
Princely Agbavor has started to work on a building site.
He couldn’t believe the lack of materials and their low quality, the lack of safety measures, the unreliable wages, and the obvious corruption. He didn’t become apathetic – he had learned how to express himself in school. He knew things could be done better. He has now joined the National Democratic Congress and is making himself heard.
“The school taught me that you can change things, which is what I’m trying to do.”
Joshua Nornorme is now at technical school and plans to go to university and then join the Ghana Air Force.
He is strongly aware of the peacekeeping work done by the Ghana armed forces for the AU and UN all around the world, and he also understands the need for Ghana to defend itself, especially from terrorism. He loved learning history and debating current affairs in school.
“Most of my friends don’t know much about what Ghana does in the world – I enjoyed learning about all those things in school. You can’t find out about them in most schools. It’s why I now want to join the Air Force. They might sponsor my degree – I’ve got an interview coming up.”
Sarah Owusu is going straight from high school into catering.
She wants soon to have her own catering business and specialise in local healthy products. This use of local products is one of the things we teach as part of our greening education in the school. Hopefully, her entrepreneurship and independent thinking are also characteristics she picked up in our school.
“A lot of Ghanaians die young because of unhealthy diets. I want to put a stop to that as much as I can. The school helped me to understand about food which is good to eat and also local and healthy."