There is great joy at Taha-Schul-Projekt e.V. – but even greater joy in Taha, Ghana. After months of intensive construction and planning, it is finally done: Tiehisuma School now has a total of two classrooms and a library.
In just five months, two new rooms were added, blending seamlessly into the existing structure. The school now shines in a fresh yellow, with green metal shutters and a sturdy corrugated roof – a sight that radiates hope and new beginnings. 
Alhassan Salifu, chairman of the Northern Educational Alliance (NEA), our Ghanaian partner organization, is especially proud. For years, NEA has been working to address the major educational challenges in disadvantaged northern regions. The expansion of the Tiehisuma School – meaning “good thoughts” – is an important step in this mission.
The construction was carried out by a local building company and closely supervised by NEA. This close collaboration between German and Ghanaian partners, as well as the involvement of local professionals, is a shining example of how sustainable development can succeed across continents. Despite challenges such as fluctuating material prices, the project was successfully completed.
In the long term, this expansion is a crucial step forward: with the new classrooms and library, the school now increasingly meets the requirements of the Ghana Education Service – an important milestone on the way to government recognition.
“The Tiehisuma School has already changed many lives. Moreover, we have laid the foundation for long-term educational support for young people – and especially for girls – in Tamale,” emphasizes Alhassan Salifu.
The project partners would like to express their heartfelt thanks to all donors and supporters who made this milestone possible – through generosity, commitment, or financial contributions. The new rooms are more than just walls – they are a promise for the future.
Good news from Taha: construction of the new building at Tiehisuma School is progressing rapidly! Since the beginning of the year, the existing school has been expanded by two new rooms, built – like the original classroom – in the traditional local style: with handmade concrete blocks and a sturdy corrugated metal roof.
After all the bricks were pressed – a task traditionally carried out by the entire village community in Ghana – construction advanced quickly. This collective effort is a powerful demonstration of how deeply the local community supports the project. The roof structure has now been completed, and the building is taking shape more and more each day.
One particular challenge was keeping classes running during construction. Lessons continued in the existing classroom right next to the construction site. But our project partners found a simple solution:
“We just moved classes to the afternoon and built in the mornings,” explains Alhassan Salifu, chairman of our partner organization Northern Educational Alliance (NEA)
For the students, this was no problem – quite the opposite. Since much of the teaching this school year takes place via video, the lighting conditions in the late afternoon were even better.
Every single step is an important milestone. The shell of the building is complete, the structure is solid – and the project continues to progress smoothly.
With this milestone, Taha-Schul-Projekt e.V. would also like to highlight the school’s official name once again: Tiehisuma School. “Tiehisuma” means “good thoughts” in the local language – a beautiful guiding principle that inspires the students as well as our partners at NEA and ourselves.
Thus, in Taha, not only a school building is growing, but also a place of hope, knowledge, and collaboration – a symbol of how education can build bridges across continents.
The construction can begin!
Thanks to a successful fundraising campaign at the end of 2024, we have raised enough funds to continue building our secondary school in northern Ghana in spring 2025. With this, we aim to give even more students the opportunity to earn a secondary school diploma.
The foundation for this project had already been—quite literally—laid: foresightedly, and in close coordination with our local project partners, the foundations for the expansion were already put in place when the first classroom was built.
This approach allowed us to counteract Ghana’s high inflation and stay independent of weather conditions, since foundation work would have been impossible during the rainy season.
Our local project partner, Alhassan Salifu, chairman of the Northern Educational Alliance (NEA), was thrilled when the machines of the local construction company Rahman Ltd. arrived and the work could finally begin.
This construction phase includes not only another classroom but also a library. Here, students will find not only textbooks and reference materials, but also quiet spaces to study and do their homework – something not always possible at home. With the addition of the second classroom, up to 80 young people will now have a place to learn and the chance to complete their secondary education.
With this expansion, it is not only the school’s infrastructure that grows, but also its perspective: our association strengthens the educational landscape and creates space for learning, initiative, and community – locally and sustainably.
At the beginning of October, the school bells rang again at our remedial school in Taha and Alhassan Salifu, the director of the Northern Educational Alliance (NEA), welcomed a new class to the school. 
This is already the third cohort to be taught English, maths and science at the school, in order to prepare for repeating the Ghanaian WASSCE final examinations. However, there have been two important changes since this year.
The most significant change is the introduction of a hybrid teaching concept. With the help of instructional videos produced by the Ghanaian education service, conventional lessons are being supplemented. These videos not only impart specialised knowledge, but also promote pupils’ digital skills.
A major advantage of this concept is that the subject of social studies can also be taught this year. 
We would like to thank all of our supporters. Special thanks go to the Georg Kraus Foundation, which has supported the hybrid lessons with a generous donation.
Another advantage of hybrid teaching is that in future it will be possible to teach up to two additional classes at the same time instead of just one. However, in order to provide space for so many pupils, our school building needs to be extended. We hope to be able to start work on the extension at the beginning of next year.
Due to the heavy rainfall during the rainy season, the access road to our school was severely damaged. Deep trenches and potholes had formed, and the road was no longer in an acceptable condition. Although there isn’t much traffic at the school, the driveway is still important, especially when larger machines need to access the school for future construction work.
That’s why we had the road repaired. First, it was filled with locally sourced gravel, then compacted with a grader. Finally, a drainage ditch was created to prevent future erosion. You can see the progress in the attached photos.
The primary school pupils at Miltach Primary School recently experienced a special day when Christoph Wenzl, the chairman of the Taha School Project, visited their school. This visit was the culmination of an impressive fundraising campaign: the children had donated €777 from the proceeds of a flea market to the Taha School Project. As a thank you, Wenzl came to the school in person to tell the them about his commitment in Ghana and to show them how their generous donation can change the lives of children in Africa.
In front of the eager eyes of the fourth-graders, Christoph Wenzl took the opportunity to talk not only about the Taha school project, but also about life in Ghana. The children were taken into a fascinating world where they were given an insight into the culture, geography and cuisine of the West African country. Christoph Wenzl’s report on school life in Ghana was particularly exciting and the children turned it into a lively discussion with lots of interested questions.
In the second part of the presentation, Christoph Wenzl explained the work of the Taha school project and what the donations from Miltach primary school will be used for in the coming year. The plan is to extend the existing school in Ghana by two classrooms, which will enable more young people to take part in the existing teaching programme there. The primary school pupils were thus able to experience first-hand how their joint efforts can have a far-reaching positive impact.
Christoph Wenzl’s visit to Miltach Primary School was undoubtedly an inspiring experience for the pupils. Our Chairman, in turn, was delighted to pass on his knowledge of Ghana to the children and introduce them to life in another part of the world.
Christoph Wenzl shows a Smok, the traditional clothing in the North of Ghana
This year’s Chamer Musiksommer not only celebrated local brass music, but also raised money for a good cause. We had the pleasure of catering for the guests during one weekend of the Chamer Musiksommer. Every Saturday morning during summer, music enthusiasts gather on the market square in Cham to listen to the sounds of various brass bands. For us, however, it was not just a musical festival, but also an opportunity to promote our project in Ghana. 
In bright sunshine, our members took care of the bratwurst sales. The stall was not only a culinary attraction for visitors to the music event, but also a place of exchange. Our volunteers were on hand to answer questions, explain the aims of the Taha school project and provide information about the current status of our school project in Ghana.
It was a matter close to our hearts not only to prepare delicious bratwurst sandwiches and collect donations, but also to raise awareness of educational justice. The proceeds from the bratwurst sales will go directly to our school building project in Ghana, where we want to start expanding the school by two more classrooms next year.
It was a pleasure for us, and we are already looking forward to repeating this experience at next year’s Musiksommer.
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!
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.
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.