The school is dangerously housing very determined boys and girls in Junior High School 1 and 2. The structure is of weak landcrete bricks and a heavy rain storm will pull the whole thing down. It is perilous to use at present. This building cannot be repaired and we need a new structure to replace it completely. We need to build 3 classrooms here and a teacher-room/store. Without this, children leaving Primary school will be unable to progress to the next stage and will completely lose any hope for escape from the endemic poverty of their families. 

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Wulugu Project Application for help with our work at Zanzugu Junior High, North Ghana 

Zanzugu Junior High has children from 12 surrounding villages. Currently there are126 students but numbers are falling. It is expected that enrolment will increase once we make the school safe and build toilets.  

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We are proud of our work in North Ghana. The Hilden Trust has played an important role, helping us materially and also helping maintain our confidence. Despite our low funding, we are told, often, by Local Government, Ghana Education Service (GES) and other agencies that we are the most effective education-related NGO. In the region. They recognise us for the way in which we ensure that our projects are those that are most needed by the communities. 

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Since we were first involved here, very many years ago, locals have done their best to ensure that schooling is effective and buildings maintained.   When we began, most girls did not go to school. Then numbers began to grow at primary level. And now, rightly, the people want to ensure that there is a good, local Junior High School that will ensure that all their girls can continue beyond Primary school to gain the qualifications needed for employment or higher education.  Associated with this, we want to provide toilets at the Junior High, particularly for girls.  This will ensure that girls can attend throughout the month without menstruation absences. Female teachers will similarly benefit.  Female teachers are essential role models. There are 4 female and 4 male teachers.  We work in close partnership with GES based on mutual respect and trust. They decided to designate our old 3-room primary as a Junior High, to the delight of the user communities and built a 3-room primary here many years ago.  The JHS has a splendid Head and amazing children but it badly and urgently needs repair, Community repaired floors and did other small repairs but later storms created more damage. 

When we visited the children told us:’ Please, we need a new school, desks, books, shoes, an office and a football’ They had clearly been rehearsed, but still heartfelt and true. The children were writing interestingly, in English, with good spelling and grammar.    

Some of the original Wulugu Project desks were still there. Some had been moved to the new Primary. Headmaster, Abdulai Musah, showed us his ‘office’---a table in a corner of a classroom. He was cheery and pleasant. He is proud of his school. He explained that all children have their statutory vaccinations. We gave them a football causing much delight. 

The existing school is literally falling apart. The school is dangerously housing very determined boys and girls. Moses explained; ‘The structure is of weak landcrete bricks and a heavy rain storm will pull the whole thing down. It is perilous to use at present. Parents worry that their children are in danger. Some have used this as a reason to take, particularly girls, out of school.’  We are concerned that the numbers starting Junior High are already falling. The community badly want to reverse this and we want to help.  

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Without action, children leaving Primary School will be unable to progress to the next stage and will completely lose any hope to escape from the endemic poverty of their families. Although ‘small’, we play a major role in enabling marginalised communities to move permanently from poverty by providing good education and enabling all girls to go to school, so rescuing them from traditional early marriage. Other charities don’t want to work here due to deprivation, difficult access and the invisibility of the problem to the outside world. Our first activity in this project will be low cost short-term safety precautions and provision of toilets.  We have close relationships with the communities, working with mutual trust and support. Our Ghana team have overseen many similar, successful projects. They are recognised for closely matching community real needs and avoiding corruption