Season’s Greetings!
As 2012 draws rapidly to an end it’s a good moment to give all our supporters a short update on the charity, and the status of the Awutu-Winton Senior High School, as our 7th term also ends today Dec 21st (hopefully NOT with the ‘End of the World’ as there is still much to do!).
There has been a lot happening at Awutu, and with EDP this year as the blogs and pictures on the website testify.
Our Volunteer team on the ground, Project Manager Rachel Schmieder, and Enterprise Manager Harriet Fisher, ably assisted during the year by James Jacob ( who held the fort on his own over the summer period ), and before that by Kiran Sahib, have done a tremendous job in taking EDP’s involvement with Ghana forward. Rachel and Seth Rockson Adjadotse, our diligent and enthusiastic Deputy Head, have worked very closely together as a great team to enhance the status and develop the infrastructure of AWSHS.
During the summer break we had a month long visit from Newcastle University undergraduates, Sophie Keith and Sinead Molloy, who between them, using sponsorship funds they had raised together in UK, creatively redecorated the whole of block A at the school (there are pictures showing their work on the Gallery section).
We now have a thriving school with over 230 students (who, without the vision of the school’s Founder, Peter Donkor, would not otherwise be benefiting from a secondary education at all!) , and nearly 20 staff in one role or another. The curriculum is being closely followed and the extra-curricular activities are starting to grow apace. (We now have a sports club, bee club and carpentry classes, as well as offering additional IT and Library facilities, and the aim is to expand the range of activities further in the New Year).
Rachel recruited Famous earlier in the year and he is proving to be a very able assistant - in fact he is doing “famously”! Famous is a very good example of how a completed secondary education can lead to decent job offers and he is proving to be very good value to the school and the charity in his wide ranging support role. Well done Famous!
Thanks also to two very generous donations during the year we have completed the purchase and layout of the Sports Field (and plan to finish the surfacing and drainage of the field by the first half of 2013), and, excitingly, have now received the wherewithal to proceed with the construction of a much needed Assembly / Exam Hall and Canteen. Martin Moore, a long term supporter and his Architect pal John Burrell, as well as our professional engineer on the ground and good friend to the school in Ghana, Baffour Osei, continue to give their professional services for free and the design is now agreed and we hope to commence building work shortly. Another good friend of the school, Awutu businessman Eddie Quarshie will be supervising the build, as he did in the last classroom phase. I plan to update you further on the Assembly Hall project later in the New Year.
Thanks to this wonderful donation, and the hard work of Rachel and Seth, we hope we will be able to get official recognition as an established school with its own Examination status granted sometime next year by the GES (Ghana Education Service) and WAEC (West African Examination Council). As an approved Exam centre the school’s status and standing in the community will be assured.
Alongside the daily routine of the school we have been working to develop the juice business – ‘Abrofresh’ . Kiran and Harriet have put in a lot of hard work following on from the original set up. We now have Francis on board, a local National Service student who has been helping Harriet to develop the market opportunity. We are very grateful to Alan Chubb and Di Francis for coming to Ghana at their own expense to advise on the business plan for the next stage of development.
During the year Inez made an appeal on behalf of one of our students, Vida Anthony, who, thanks to the alertness of our friend Dr Robin Collier who came out to Awutu with his wife Sally back in February, was diagnosed with a hole in the heart. Thanks also to the generous response of so many EDP supporters we were able to arrange for Vida to have the operation in September and she returned to school a smiling, happier person last month, apparently determined to follow her dream of becoming a nurse.
Rachel has just returned to the UK, following on from Harriet earlier this week, and James in November. Now Marcus Hagberg (another from that rich stable of graduates at SOAS!) has taken over as Project Manager, soon to be supported in early January by Lauren Wilcock (anxious to point out her graduate connection with the Centre for West African studies at Birmingham University!) and our intern a week later, Helen Owusu, who will be helping at AWSHS whilst finishing off her Masters in Development and Management at Montpellier University.
We wish them all well, and every success in taking the school further forward.
Finally on behalf of Inez and myself, we would like to say a big “thank you” to all our other friends who have been so supportive of EDP. This year (thankfully you’ll say!) we haven’t bombarded you with too many fund raising schemes, although we did have a successful Great South Run, which raised enough to pay for two part-time teachers next year - and our thanks go in particular to Jackie and Paul Stanton for their help in organising it, and to all the runners for their efforts (next year we are hoping to organise another auction following on from the success of last year!) .
We now also have 24 children sponsored, we do need more sponsors to help pay for the overhead of the school , so please spread the word....
Once again, to all our supporters: A big Thank You, and a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.
Best wishes,
David and Inez
For and on behalf of The Awutu-Winton Senior High School, Ghana.
