P RO M O Ghana
During the Easter break, a group of 12 Lower Sixth plus staff
embarked on a trip across five regions of Ghana, taking
suitcases packed with books and educational resources.
This was the inaugural Sevenoaks School PROMO service trip
to Ghana, and was an inspiring and enriching experience.
Through our fundraising, we had supported two
projects in Ekoso. The first is a solar-powered water
pump provided by Project Maji, an organisation
working to bring clean water to rural populations
across sub-Saharan Africa. We had also part-
sponsored the creation of a community EduSpot
– a community-led education centre, filled with
books and educational resources. Our trip itinerary
included visits to both projects.
In Ekoso, we found that basic resources were limited
to a few desks, chairs and broken blackboards for
the children. A teacher there said it was almost
impossible to teach in these conditions. The EduSpot
that we helped to stock and paint is an excellent
educational resource for teachers, generates
consistent solar power energy, and provides a quiet
study space for children to use after school hours
and at weekends. In Ekoso and Akumadan, the
local volunteers play the most important role; they
ensure that the project keeps inspiring and teaching
children to read by running various activities, cleaning
the facilities, organising the books, and helping make it
self-sustaining.
We also learned about the importance of water and
its connection to educational success. Young girls often
fetch water, which creates serious health problems
that cause them to miss school. We hope that with the
creation of the new Project Maji water station they
will be able to spend time enjoying the benefits of
the EduSpot. This was an extremely thought-provoking
experience for us; something we completely take
for granted was available to this community for the
first time.
During a day in Accra we visited James Camp Prison
for young offenders. We were shocked to learn that
roughly 50 per cent of the prisoners are illiterate. We
contributed some resources to the prison’s education
centre and plan to raise funds to help renovate it and
transform it into a more inspiring space.
On a visit to Elmina we learned about the impact of
colonial rule, and were humbled by people’s hospitality
and forgiveness regarding the slave trade. Many thanks
to Miss Davison and to Francis Yeboah, the Ghanaian
Manager of the project, for their support.
The PROMO Ghana pupil team
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2018-2019
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