School shots

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My collegue at Radio Justice Adams Abdul Sammed and I went to visit the Yilonaayili Anglican Primary School earlier this month.
Sammed first became interested in this school when he met one of the teachers Madame Judith. She told him about some of the challenges at the school (such as overcrowding) and how she has been trying to help some of the students who come from very poor families.
We spent the morning at the school talking to the teachers and meeting the students.
Here is a photo essay on what we found.

Yilonaayili Anglican Primary School is is the only school in the area and it supports over 20 villages. At first the school had trouble with enrollment - but that has all changed since the school introduced a school feeding program. Catholic Relief Services introduced the program in the Northern part of the country and as a result enrollment in many schools increased. The school feeding program faces an uncertain future and schools such as Yilonaayili worry about their future enrollment. The school only receives funding to feed the primary students - but the teachers did not feel right feeding the primary students without feeding their younger brothers and sisters in the nursery school. The school is now footing the cost of expanding the feeding program to all students - now the teachers can be sure that all students are getting at least one meal a day.

*Editors Note: All interviews done with the students were conducted in Dagboni language by Adams Abdul Sammed. He has a soft spot for children without parents. Not all of the children at the school were orphans -- but a seemingly large percentage appeared to be.

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Photos

Bon Appetite
This is lunch! Millet Porridge. The kitchen is filled with bags that read USAID. The classrooms are also filled with USAID tins. The school depends on funding from outside the country to feed the children.

Feeding Program Line Up
These children are lined up for their lunch meal of millet porridge. It is provided free of charge -- and it's the reason why many of them have come to school.

Food Lineup
These children are waiting in line for their daily meal provided by the school.

Crowded Class
Photo: Sammed
Madame Judith teaches in the nursery school. She does not have a proper classroom and has set up a temporary school in what is supposed to be the teacher’s barracks. Forty seven girls and 27 boys (74 students) are crammed into the small classroom. Madame Judith treats the children as though they are her own – she uses her meager salary to buy food, clothing and sandals for the children whose parents cannot afford them. Many parents do not send their children to school because they cannot afford to pay for the uniforms or the Parent Teacher Association fees. A uniform costs about four dollars and fifty cents. School fees in the public schools are around three dollars per year.

Madame Judith (Profile)
Photo: Nichole Huck
Madame Judith has her child strapped to her back. She treats the children as though they are her own – she uses her meager salary to buy food, clothing and sandals for the children whose parents cannot afford them. Many parents do not send their children to school because they cannot afford to pay for the uniforms or the Parent Teacher Association fees. A uniform costs about four dollars and fifty cents. School fees in the public schools are around three dollars per year.

Adam Adam
When Adam Adam lost his father he went to live with his uncle who is a peasant farmer. His mother and siblings have migrated to the city from their village. They have moved in the hopes of being able to earn a living.

Sumani Fatimata
Sumani Fatimata (shown with her grandmother) and her sister Sumani Warama lost both of their parents in the same year. They now live with their elderly grandmother. The grandmother is very weak and unemployed and she finds it difficult to support the girls. Fatimata works part-time on the weekends cracking groundnuts to get money to support herself and her grandmother.

Warama
(Fatimata's younger sister)

Nsor Lariba
Nsor Lariba’s mother is dead so her care in left up to her father. He is old and unemployed. All of her siblings have migrated to the south of Ghana to search for jobs.

Mohammed Baako
When Baako’s parents died he went to live with relatives in a village five miles from the school. He walks to and from school each day.

Musa Marry
When Musa Marry’s father died she left her mother to go and live with her uncle who is a peasant farmer. It is tradition in the area that when a man dies – someone in his family will take care of his children even if the mother is still alive. Marry has not seen her mother for many years.

Peter Sunday
When Peter Sunday’s father died he went to live with his grandfather. His mother left the country and no one knows where she is. His grandfather has no source of income and it is very difficult for him to provide Peter with learning materials or clothing.

Aganaru Rubecca
When Agnararu Rubecca’s father died she moved to another village to live with her uncle. She now walks three kilometers to school each day.

Education 1
Photo and text by Nichole Huck
At this age – boys and girls seem to have equal access to education. However, as they get older many more men will be educated than women. The literacy rate for men is 60% as opposed to 30% for women. When families are faced with economic difficulties, they find it easier to withdraw the girls because it is felt the girls do not need as much education as the boys because they are expected to get married and have children.

Education 2
Photo and text: Nichole Huck
At this age – boys and girls seem to have equal access to education. However, as they get older many more men will be educated than women. The literacy rate for men is 60% as opposed to 30% for women. When families are faced with economic difficulties, they find it easier to withdraw the girls because it is felt the girls do not need as much education as the boys because they are expected to get married and have children.

Teaching the Basics
Photo and Text: Nichole Huck
These pictures were taken at a village school in Northern Ghana.
Teachers in Ghana are poorly paid – most of the teachers at this school receive about $140 dollars per month. However, they care a lot about their students and use their meager earnings to buy food and school supplies for the children. They often have poor teaching resources and cramped classrooms to work with.

Holding it Together
Teachers make due with what they have.
Photo: Nichole Huck