Projects // School for street children in Ghana
When the idea of building a school in Tema, more than 8000 km away from Warsaw, was born a few years ago, it seemed crazy and very risky, but… we did it! Construction began in April 2017 and lasted 1610 days. On September 4, 2021, the official opening of the KIDS HAVEN SCHOOL took place!
Our school is located near Tema within the premises of the Don Bosco Child Protection Centre run by the Salesians. The children in care of the centre are street children who have no family or whose parents are very poor. In Ghana, streets are the place where the poorest kids look for food and work. It often happens that really young children, instead of going to school that their families cannot afford, work almost as slaves on plantations or catching fish, receiving only a meal in return for their work. A special police unit tries to reach such children and help them, so they are placed under the care of the “Don Bosco” centre, where they find shelter and a regular meal. However, in order for these children to have a chance to make a lasting difference in their lives and be able to break out of this vicious circle of poverty in the future, they must have access to education. A solid education can change their fate and make them independent and self-determined in the future. They will have a chance to find a decent and well-paid job.
We have managed to create a 1,500 sqm school!
It has 2 floors, 3 classrooms, a computer room and a library, a teachers’ room, administration and social rooms and 4 auxiliary rooms, as well as accommodation for volunteers from Poland and abroad.
The ground floor of the school has been equipped with mobile partition walls, which can be folded if necessary, and thus create one large space for an important school event.
In January 2022, we started an educational project ‘I WRITE. I READ AND I SAY’, which is run by an experienced manager, educator and Friend of the Foundation – Agnieszka Pietruszka.
- Who is the project addressed to?
Students who do not know how to write, read, speak English, or do not know how to count, or who want to improve their English language skills.
- What is the purpose of our project?
Our purpose is to enable street children to learn English to write, read and speak – if they have no English language skills, and to enable those who have – to improve their language skills. To accomplish this, we provide a proven method of teaching and working with children and we have equipped the centre with educational materials enabling it in the future to independently carry out the process of teaching writing and speaking skills, basic arithmetic skills and English language skills. The intent is to enable the children who attend to learn independently, and to build up their self-esteem based on the discovery of their held talents, as well as to motivate them to continue their education.
In July 2022, we built a beautiful, ecological playground for our children!
We are proud of the end result and we are grateful for the great commitment of our partner, Artur Dzieniszewski, and volunteers from the “Delovery” group and the Maison Misaga brand https://maisonmisaga.com/, which financially supported our project.
We also organize educational trips for our students from Kids Haven School, and we conduct artistic, educational and therapeutic activities. See for yourself how our kids spend their time. 🙂
Starting a school, running an educational program ‘I WRITE. I READ AND I SAY’, it’s just the beginning… We are still making efforts to equip the building with modern scientific aids. Currently, we have equipped it with a computer studio, we have built a playground and have created a school vegetable garden so that children and employees of the center can have access to fresh vegetables, fruits or herbs. We also have been conducting therapeutic, artistic and educational activities. We are very keen on creating an audiovisual studio and expanding the library’s book offer. Our dream is that the most talented children in the future will be able to go on to study in Poland. We think that what we are doing, will build good relations between Poland and Ghana – with the hope that our project will develop into an ambitious, international projects based on Polish-African cooperation. The volunteering programme will also start next year. More details coming soon! 🙂