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Musical support for Taha

As a non-profit organisation, we are financed not only by public funding but mainly by donations. We are therefore always excited about opportunities to draw attention to our school project. In the last months there were two of them:

The Underground Orchestra from Upper Palatinate gave a benefit concert at Brennberg Castle in September. The project orchestra was founded in 2019 to foster friendships and contacts between musicians from different associations and orchestras. Under the musical direction of Andreas Sperlich, the orchestra gave its first concert in September 2022. The visitors enjoyed a colorful selection of brass band music from film music to modern classics. Admission was free, but the audience was asked for donations. In the end, 2775 € went into the funds of the Taha school project.

The Jugenbezirksorchester Oberpfalz gave a final concert in Postbauer-Heng, in August. Members of the Taha School Project took over the sale during the break. The proceeds of 900 € will go entirely to the school.

We thank them for their musical support and look forward to further wonderful concerts!

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important meetings

Another important reason for the trip to Ghana by our board member, Christoph Wenzl, was the organization of the further project steps. But before any further measures can be taken it was essential to meet all the relevant authorities.

First up here are the Chiefs. Those are the traditional, royal rulers in Ghana and have many responsibilities beyond their important representative function. They regulate many local affairs and act as judges at this level. They also make decisions about land ownership.
Christoph, together with our project partner Alhassan Salifu, met two chiefs during his visit: the chief of Saguli and the chief of Gbalahi, who is superior to the former. These visits follow a strict protocol. First, the assemblyman of the village announces the guests. Only when the chief is ready are the guests allowed to enter the palace. Then kola nuts are traditionally presented as a tribute. According to Christoph’s personal opinion, this can only be due to traditional reasons and certainly not because of the very bitter taste of the nuts. After the introduction by the assemblyman and a greeting from the chief, visitors can express their concerns. But because all this was in the local language Dagbani, our German representative didn’t understand very much. Fortunately, our local project partner, Alhassan, interpreted. It was noticeable that the chief very often used proverbs to express his thoughts. In an almost poetic way, he showed his gratitude for our commitment. He finds it extremely important that young people in his area now have easier access to education.

In addition to the chiefs, there are also democratically elected authorities in Ghana. Christoph paid them a visit, too. First, he met the municipality chief executive for the Sagnarigu district, Mohammed Yakubu Ahmed. He was also delighted with our project.

However, to meet the next one on the list, the member of parliament for the Tamale North constituency, Christoph and Alhassan had to travel to the capital, Accra. There, Alhassan Suhuyini welcomed them to his office and was so happy with the work of the Taha School project that he promised to donate the furniture when the school was expanded.

Another visit to Accra took place in Ghana’s most important political building, the Flagstaffhouse. There our representatives met with Dr. Samuel Frimpong, the Vice President’s adviser in economic affairs. Delighted with such a great project, he welcomed them between meetings and promised his support for anything needed.

As you can see, there were some important appointments for Alhassan and unsurprisingly they were very tired afterwards. But it was definitely worth it, because with the support of all important authorities, nothing will stand in the way of further project steps.

 

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school visit

For one and a half years our school has been standing now, but no member of our association from Germany has ever visited it. But in May of this year the time had finally come: Our board member, Christoph Wenzl, set off on a project trip lasting several weeks. Among many other activities on the agenda, such as meetings with local authorities or government representatives, another one was at the top: visiting the school.

It was an indescribable feeling for Christoph when he proudly entered the school for the first time. The assembled students were initially curious about the unknown guest. But after our Ghanaian partner, Alhassan Salifu, introduced his German colleague, he was greeted with thunderous applause. The students expressed several times how grateful they are to the association and all supporters.

The teachers were also happy to get to know the guest from Germany and thanked them several times for the commitment of the Taha School project. They spoke of an incomparable project. Because the remedial classes in Taha give the students a second chance in life that they would never have gotten otherwise.

Most of them come from difficult backgrounds. Christoph Wenzl was able to convince himself of this when some of the students told him their stories: Many have lost one or both parents, the majority had problems at school and poverty is omnipresent. Added to this is the poor quality of teaching in many schools, which is why it is often no wonder that young people fail the final exams.

With the remedial classes they now have the chance to catch up and repeat the exams. Then they can study and learn a profession with a secure income. During his visit, Christoph also asked the young men and women about their career aspirations. The answers were very diverse: nutritionist, nurse, teacher. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see an alumnus back at the school in Taha, but this time as a teacher.

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Presentation at the JvFG

The temperature was quite lower than in Ghana but the audience was of the same age as the students at the NEA remedial school in Taha, when Christoph Wenzl gave a talk about our project at his former school, the Joseph-von-Fraunhofer Gymnasium (JvFG) Cham in November.

In front of numerous highschool students he told of the difficult situation in Taha at the beginning and the successful construction of the school in the last year. The Chamer students showed brisk interest, especially when Wenzl began to report of the start of the classes in April 2021: It began with only 21 students under strict hygiene rules. Today 30 young women and men between 18 and 29 years are visting the school.

The audience was astonished when they heard from daily routine in Ghana, which is quite different from their own. The classes take place in the afternoon and at the weekends, so that both students and teachers find time for their other duties such as work, help in the households or at the fields.
Three skilled teachers for the subjects English, Mathematics and science prepare the 30 students in Taha systematically for the final exams in these core subjects. These will start in December and thanks to a generous donation all students could get scholarships for the exam fees.

Finally, Christoph Wenzl gave a special thanks to the JvFG’s “Kinderhilfswerk” and the students who made the purchase of new school materials possible with their great donation this summer.

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Ready, set, learn!

On April 06, 2021, the time had finally come: The Ghbalahi remedia School in Taha opened its doors for the first time.

After eight months of construction and many years of preparation, the Ghbalahi remedia school in Taha was able to commence classes in April. Due to the Corona pandemic, the start of school in the whole of Ghana had been postponed to January 1. However, since our school is still privately owned, we were able to determine the start date individually and thus ensure that a well-thought-out hygiene concept could be enforced.

The school has now started for 21 students aged 15 to 18 who have not passed their SHS (Secondary High School; comparable to the German Gymnasium) final examinations and therefore do not have a degree. They now have the opportunity to obtain one. In addition, students who do not have the chance to attend a SHS because the nearest school is too far away are also taught here. With targeted instruction and tutoring by trained teaching staff, they are specifically prepared for the final exams in the core subjects of mathematics, English and science.

A single teacher for each of these subjects holds lessons each afternoon or during the weekends. Many of the students have to work or help their parents in the household or at the farms and that’s why they can’t go to school in the morning. The first 21 students come directly from Taha or the surrounding villages.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, we developed a hygiene concept based on the guidelines of the Ghanaian government in order to be able to create a safe learning environment. Before classes begin, all participants must wash their hands thoroughly. Afterwards, the temperature is measured with a so-called “temperature gun”, a contactless thermometer. Only when the temperature is safe the students are allowed to enter the classroom. Masks are mandatory in the entire building. In addition, the rooms are cleaned daily. Masks and disinfectants were provided by the association.

Most of the students come from low-income families. Therefore, the running costs will continue to be covered by the association. We want to offer the young people education and thus perspectives and more opportunities for their future. We are therefore still dependent on donations and are grateful for any support! For more information contact us under info@tahaschulprojekt.de.

Bank account:
recipient: Taha-Schul-Projekt e.V.
IBAN: DE31 7426 1024 0005 7637 54
BIC: GENODEF1CHA
Raiffeisenbank Chamer Land eG

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Good news

With February also our campaign “10for10” ended, which attracted much attention in social media and in the local area of ​​our association. This campaign was a great success and we were able to collect € 14,225 for our project.

Many thanks to all the donors in this place!

But we did not only receive much money, but also great enthusiasm and motivation, which also means a lot to us, because it always reinforces us in our work. Last but not least, we want to express a huge thank you to the people in charge of the campaign who have a large share in its success.

If you remember the video, you will know that “10 for 10” is part of a larger campaign to secure the funding of the first building of our planned school. The other part was an application for public funding from the W.P. Schmitz-foundation. Last week we finally received the long-awaited message: The W.P. Schmitz foundation funds us with € 10,000. This means a great success for us, because thereby the overall financing of the above mentioned project is secured.

This also means that our work continues with the same verve, since we now want to turn our intention into deeds. That´s why we are working almost around the clock to meet all the necessary precautions. We hope to announce the start of the construction very soon!

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Kofi and his adventures made children happy

Do you know Ananse and how he managed to outwit Mr Tortoise? Or Kofi, the clever schoolboy and his tricks? Have you heard of the black pot, out of which suddenly a rabbit jumped? And do you know what happened to the boy who turned into a tree?

The circuit supervisor of Sagnarigu hands over the books to the principal of a primary

No?!? Then maybe you should ask the children of Taha.
Because while you are reading this article, they probably sit excitedly over the books, in which these adventures are told. Overall theses are 600 story books for primaries and Junior High Schools in Ghana, which our partner organisation Northern Educational Alliance (NEA) distributed to children at four schools in the Taha area last week. They were proudly supported by the circuit supervisor of Sagnarigu, the Northern chairman of CCT and delegates from the chief palace.

This was part of the reading-project, which we conduct in close partnership with the Ghana Education Service to improve the children’s learning skills. The GES found out that you can catch up deficiencies in learning with continuous reading exercises. The problem herein is that the children are lacking the materials since they own very few books themselves and only the bigger schools in the country possess libraries.

That’s why together with the NEA we planned the “schoolbooksproject”, where, in a first step, we distributed story books. In the following weeks the children will have time to read the books and events like reading competitions or quizzes will motivate them alongside.

The project could be financed with the donations of the last months, but we would especially like to thank the students of the Joseph-von-Fraundorfer Gymnasium Cham, who collected more than 1800€ at a charity run. But we also want to express our gratitude to all other supporters!

In the gallery you can get a few impressions from the books distribution:

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Motivated students ran 1116 km

1116 km. This is the distance between Cham and Rome. However this wasn’t about an extreme Marathon to the Italian capital. Because the students from the Joseph-von-Fraunhofer Gymnasium (JvFG) accomplished this distance in totally 1800 rounds around the “Quadfeldmühle” in Cham. They made this sudatory effort not just for fun but for charity: In the end of the charity run they collected 3,653.40 € in total, because 2 € were donated for each round by a private sponsor.

The organizers of the charity run handed over the donation at the JvFG’s closing ceremony

This sum was shared in equal parts between two charity projects which are both closely linked with the JvFG: First of all the partnerschool in Togo, the Collège Saint Albert le Grand Atakpamé, got the subsidy for urgent renovations. And second our NGO got the other part of the donation for our big project, the start of the construction of the first classroomblock. The JvFG is supporting us since the very first beginning, mostly within the framework of their “children’s social-aid”, but also with events like this.

We want to thank all the students for their great effort but also the organizers of the event, Margot Alt and Andrea Rothfischer and we wish you all a happy vacation.

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Donation from the Theatre players Pemfling

The handing over of the donation on Saturday, 20th of July, went on really jovially. A delegation of our NGO met with members of the amateur-theatre-group Pemfling at the terrace of the restaurant “Da Virginio” in Cham. Their chairman, Katja Kraus, handed over a check worth 1.000 € (= 6,000 Ghc). This is part of the return of their last season, which they donate to charity since the beginning. Our chairman, Christoph Wenzl, gratefully took the donation and informed them about the current situation and the planned projects.

Our whole NGO wants to thank the amateur-theatre-group Pemfling for their great support! Whoever is interested in their plays, might want to check out their website: www.laienspiel-pemfling.de. The season usually starts after Christmas in December and January.

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Important meeting with the authorities

Step after step our project is taking shape. Even though we are both in Germany and in Ghana busy with planning the first building of our school, the appointment in Tamale last Friday had highest priority in Alhassan Salifu’s timetable, the chairman of our partner organization.
For the meeting with two very important representatives of the Ghanaian state was about the future of our project after completing the first building.

Samata Mahama is the district education director for the Sagnarigu district, which means that she is the highest authority for all educational matters in our operating area. The second official was Mahama Rukiya who is the Human Ressource Manager. One of her duties is among others assigning new teachers to our school.

As one can guess from looking at the picture the meeting was very successful. The two executives assured us full support by the government. This includes for example an unobstructed participation of our students in the WASSCEs once they complete school.

Furthermore it is planned since long that we will hand over the school to the government one day. Even if this was a regular method once it is banned right now. However they assured us that the ban will be lifted very soon and that we can already apply for the takeover.

Even though some representatives of our NGO already met the former officeholder this follow-up was very important since the positions had been staffed new after a change in government in 2017. Nevertheless this has no implications for our project because the new director is totally on our side.

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