Even though there is still no school building on our property in Taha, a lot has happened last year. Of course, we want to keep you up to date and have put together a yearly overview of the past year:
Strong local partner
In 2017, an NGO (non-governmental organization) was founded in Ghana under the name “Northern Educational Alliance“. Their chairman and our long-standing partner, Alhassan Salifu, had the basic idea for the Taha-school-project. The newly founded association aims to create structures for education, especially for girls, in northern Ghana. The NGO consists of five members and is our local partner association.
Exchange with other associations
Founder and chairman Christoph Wenzl took part in an advisory seminar of the organisation “bengo“, a subordinate body of BMZ, in May. The focus of the two-day seminar was the question of how to submit funding applications and what has to be considered, especially in other countries. Christoph also received many other valuable tips on project work and was able to exchange ideas with representatives of other associations and establish contacts. The goal for the new year is therefore to structure the work in Ghana even better and to work sustainably on site. For this reason, a water committee and an education committee have been set up in Ghana to monitor progress and problems and to ensure the long-term success of the project.
Inspired by the impressions from the seminar, we mainly dealt with the planning of the project last year. In this way, we were able to develop a solid basis for all further steps and hope to submit a funding application to the German Federal Ministry for Development and Economic Cooperation (BMZ) this year to finance the school’s main building.
A new borehole for Taha
Our partners in Ghana were also busy last year. They hired a new well drilling company. At the beginning of this year, work will now begin on the new well, which is important not only for construction work but also for the later operation of the school. First of all, however, the well should serve as a source of drinking water for the villagers, as they have so far only had very difficult access to clean water, and we hope to improve their living conditions in the long term.
Thank you!
Finally, we would like to thank you. Without the active support of our members and donors we would never have come so far. Taha-Schul-Projekt e. V. already has 32 members! We would like to thank you for all membership fees, all donations collected at birthday parties and other events and for your help in organizing and coordinating the daily tasks. We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Robert Wenzl, who redesigned our website last year.
We look forward to an exciting and productive year 2018!