The winds were dry and cold but the excitement could never be sold! A “surprise school day” during a vacation period with at least a free exercise book, a pen or pencil (depending on your stage) as well as a snack is not something to be missed by any kid. That was how 2015 started for kids of Zakar-Yili, a rural community along the Yendi road in the northern region of Ghana, when Tab-bu Foundation being conscious of the key role education plays in national development, embarked on an educational outreach program on Thursday 1st January 2015. The outreach was aimed at taking the kids through some spelling and reading lessons in the English language as that serves as the bedrock of all subjects learnt in Ghanaian schools.
A group of nine instructors comprising four board members and five volunteers were the “Teachers of the day”. With the absence of a school block in the community which has pupils going to school in other communities, classes were held in and around the chief’s palace. Others were held in the open under trees but that didn’t deter the kids from enjoying that rare treat. Icebreakers in the form of physical and verbal activities were incorporated into lessons to boost their interest. The level of excitement could be told from their faces; it was immense.
About 70 kids benefitted from the package and it is hoped that the knowledge imparted to them will go a long way to help them as they climb the educational ladder. Awards in the form of story books and activity-based books were presented to exceptional pupils to climax the day.
Each participant received at least an exercise book (Junior High School pupils had two each), a pen or pencil (depending on which he/she used in school) and a snack during a snack break.
The chief and his people expressed their utmost appreciation for that initiative and hoped to have more of that with time. It is hoped that in the near future (with Tab-bu Foundation adding its voice to the campaign), the community will be blessed with a school of its own in order to save the kids the trouble and risk of having to travel relatively longer distances on foot to school on a highway that has vehicles speeding on it every blessed day, and to also improve enrollment as some of them are not in school due to the risks involved.
Tab-bu Foundation 