January 6, 2019: Back in Ghana we are first working on lunch programs and school projects.

Zeemboug School

A challenging project at Zeemboug Elementary.

We were contacted by the deputy director of Nabdam schools about a school well off of the main road and with multiple challenges.  Because the children have far to walk before reaching another school, the government began construction of a small school building in 2013. Construction ended in 2014 with the school about 1/2 completed.   In addition, the nearby borehole mechanism was broken during construction and households now walk over a mile to get water twice per day. With no idea whether the  government construction would ever be completed, the community organized to build a small mud-clad building with two rooms. With this primitive building finished, the government posted several teachers to begin classes. Ninety students now attend classes in Zeemboug, many of them sit outside under a tree for their classes. Considering both the possibilities and difficulties of the situation, Lisa headed for Zeemboug on our first day here. She met with the Headmaster, PTA chairman, headteacher, and student school advisory committee for the school. We decided on a three pronged approach: First to repair the borehole  mechanism, once there is water to begin school feeding, attempt to contact the government about finishing the school Including an offer for Yakote Women Farmers and Framework International to complete the building, and if that fails work to get a new school building for Zeemboug.

 The abandoned, partially completed school building.