Nkurakan, a small farming community in the Atiwa District of on the Eastern Region had every reason to jubilate over the weekend when a modern three-classroom block with a staff common room worth $50,000 was inaugurated for the village.
So excited were the inhabitants that they carried shoulder high the financiers of the project, Mr Timothy Mathews and his wife Lit, round the premises amid drumming, singing and dancing.
The couple, Americans, channelled the money for the project through World Joy, a non-governmental organisation based in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States which in turn gave it to its representative in Ghana to construct the building, which is said to be one of the best in a rural area.
Dilapidated classrooms
Pupils in the village, together with its adjoining hamlets with a population of about 1,200 hitherto, had to make do with a dilapidated mud building which was constructed about 50 years ago and had not witnessed any rehabilitation.
Most parents, especially the few who could afford, therefore, did not enrol their wards in the school but in other schools miles away leaving only those of poor parentage in the school.
A prominent citizen in the area, Mr S. A. Abu, who later became the Country Director of World Joy, therefore, sent an S.O.S message to its principals in the United States to help put up a new classroom block, the result of which Mr and Mrs Mathews responded with the Macedonian help.
Odikro, DCE, appreciative
Nene Amoako Djamgba, the Odikro of the village and the Atiwa District Director of Education, Mr Eric Obese Amponsah, were grateful to Mr and Mrs Mathews for providing the facility which, to them, would serve as a bait for children in the area to go to school.
Equally appreciative to the couple and World Joy was a Director of the Atiwa District Assembly, Mr S.A. Sidique, who on behalf of the District Chief Executive, Mr Emanuel Atta Twum, also enumerated a number of educational projects being undertaken in the district, as well as other poverty alleviation initiatives to improve the lot of the people.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Timothy Mathews said he was happy to see such a modern facility provided for the school. children who, he said, should be taken care of to grow as useful citizens, and noted that education was the best legacy to bequeath to the children.
Dr Isaac Furguson, the Chairman of World Joy, gave the assurance that his outfit would continue to do its best to improve the lot of rural dwellers.
The World Joy entered the Abomosu area of the Atiwa District about eight years ago and has constructed a number of social amenities such as schools, health and sanitation facilities in towns such as Asunafo, Kwabeng and their adjoining villages where solar panels have also been provided in areas without electricity.
Source: Daily Graphic
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