The Rotary Club of San Jose California, USA, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Wa, Ghana at the weekend, cut sod for the commencement of a USD100,000 worth project at Bole Senior High School (BOSEC) and Kurabaso D/A Primary School in Bole in the Savannah Region.
The project, when completed, would impact over 1,700 direct and indirect beneficiaries in the two schools comprising 406 school children at Kurabaso Primary School and 1,305 students of BOSEC as well as the staff of the two schools.
It encompasses a 32-seater bio-digester toilet facility and a 30-stall bathroom for the girls at BOSEC, rewiring of two classroom blocks, mechanization of existing boreholes, and replacement of four leaking water tanks and holding structures all at BOSEC.
At Kurabaso Primary School, the project would renovate the primary one to primary three classroom block, provide furniture for the renovated classrooms, and construct a four-seater KVIP toilet, two urinals, and a staff common room.
The project, an initiative of Rotarian Alfreda Eghan Afisah Yahaya, a member of the Rotary Club of San Jose in California, USA, was funded by the Rotary Foundation through her Club, and implemented by the Rotary Club of Wa.
Narrating the circumstance that birthed the project, Madam Yahaya indicated that a visit to BOSEC about three years ago revealed the poor condition the school girls found themselves in amidst open defecation due to poor access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities.
She said about 650 girls at the school depended on an indecent 12-seater toilet and took their bath in an “old-fashioned bricks open stall with no indoor plumbing” coupled with poor water supply due to leaking water tanks which touched her heart.
Madam Yahaya explained that at the Kurabaso Primary School, one of the oldest basic schools in Bole, she realized that one of the three classroom blocks at the school, was in a bad state that it was referred to as “a death trap.”
She said that as a result, the children were jammed in the two blocks, which impeded effective teaching and learning.
“Instead of 35 children in a classroom, there were about 75 to 80, and when I went, there were some of them hanging outside the classroom.
There were a couple of girls writing on the ground with pieces of paper, let’s just say there wasn’t a lot of learning going on there”, she explained.
Madam Yahaya, also a native of Bole, added that there was also no WASH facility for the students and teachers separate from that of the community.
She said that informed the need for the intervention of the Rotary Club to salvage the situation, saying, “Solving real problems takes commitment and vision.”
Mr. Stephen Mwinkaara, the immediate past president (IPP) spoke on behalf of club president Rotarian Agambire, who was unable to attend due to health issues. Rotarian Steve expressed optimism that the project would yield the expected impact and legacy to the community.
He said the Rotary Club was not to compete with any government or non-governmental agency but to complement the existing efforts towards community and national development.
“This project and any other project we will be executing in the future will go a long way to supplement and support government efforts in promoting development in our communities”, he explained.
IPP Mwinkaara said the Rotary Foundation operates in seven focus areas – water and sanitation, disease prevention and treatment, maternal and child health; peace and conflict resolution; economic and women empowerment; basic education, and the environment.
Mamkumahwura Dramani Natomah, who represented the Paramount Chief of Bole Traditional Area, thanked Rotarian Yahaya and her Club for the intervention.
He assured the people of his support for the project since it would contribute to the development of the traditional area.
Mr. Jonathan Kwofie, the Service Project Director of the Rotary Club of Wa, appealed to the school authorities and stakeholders on Bole to provide the needed cooperation and support for the successful completion of the project.
