Pupils get boring in Ghana

Press Release - Friday 14 July 2006

Children from Southfields Primary School in Coventry have shown that school links with Africa can really make a difference. Their concern about the lack of clean water for their friends in Africa has dramatically improved the health situation for pupils in Nyogbare Primary, the school they are linked with in Ghana.

Southfields and Nyogbare have been partner schools through international development charity, Link Community Development's (LCD) Link Schools Programme for five years. Last year they participated in LCD's annual Postcard Exchange and the pupils at Southfields received some very vivid postcards from Nyogbare School. They all highlighted the health problems Nyogbare faces as a result of the lack of clean water, non-existent toilets and the consequences for everyone's health, as they are some of the 1.1 billion people without access to clean water.

Through LCD, Southfields were involved in a BBC schools' radio programme entitled 'Friends Around the World'. It included recordings of pupils from Nyogbare and Southfields opening each others' postcards.

Jo Hallett, Deputy Head of Southfields, was teaching Year 4 at the time. She said: "The pupils wanted to help their friends in Ghana. They wrote some excellent letters to international development charity, WaterAid asking them to dig a well in Nyogbare."

Jo contacted WaterAid and it turned out that they had been so impressed by the letters they passed them all around their office. However, WaterAid initially told Jo it may be up to five years before they start work in a new area as they first need to carry out assessments and research before embarking on a project.

Then in May this year WaterAid wrote to Southfields and told them a bore hole was being planned for Nyogbare - the children's letters had made an impact. Soon after this two trucks arrived in Nyogbare to dig the borehole - the workmen told the school their friends in the UK asked WaterAid to dig it.

Katie Spooner, WaterAid's Community Fundraiser for schools said: "The children of Southfields School wrote some very moving letters, and we're so pleased to have been able to help in Nyogbare. It was very fortunate that WaterAid was already working in this area of Ghana and we were able to include the school into our existing plans, but this was an exceptional circumstance."

Southfields were absolutely delighted with the news. Jo went to Nyogbare last month and visited Rural Aid, WaterAid's partner in the region, which has a water and hygiene package planned for the school and area. The development includes the bore hole, a hygiene education programme for the local community and help with providing proper toilets.

Shortly after Jo returned to Coventry she received an email from Gani Tijani, Director of Rural Aid in the Upper East Region of Ghana. It said: "We are grateful for the concern Southfields have for our brothers and sisters in Nyogbare. The construction of the bore hole is complete and the children, teachers and communities close to the school are enjoying the water. We are about to start the safe hygiene training in the school. There was a big celebration at the school when the day arrived to hand over the bore hole to the school."

Jo was thrilled with the unexpected benefits which the link had brought to Southfields and Nyogbare. She said: "This is excellent news for Nyogbare. It is also an important message for our pupils - that their concern and involvement can really make a difference.

"The power of young people's voices, in both the South and North, got the bore hole made and both schools were active partners in this development."

Anna Colquhoun, LCD UK Programme Director, explained how the charity works in Africa: "LCD is committed to improving the quality of education for children in Africa. One of the ways we do this is by enabling everyone in the community to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their local school, to be vocal about them, so they can drive positive change. These postcards are a manifestation of this engagement."

Katie Spooner made clear some of the changes it will bring to Nyogbare. "Providing safe water, sanitation and hygiene is just the start. The hard work can be building the knowledge and capacity of communities to sustain these facilities themselves. WaterAid ensures their projects are long term and sustainable and having a safe water source means the children of Nyogbare will be healthier, spend less time collecting water and leave more time for their education."

For further information about linking with a school in Africa or how Link Community Development improves the quality of education in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda visit www.lcd.org.uk. For further information about WaterAid and how it works to help people escape poverty and disease caused by living without water and sanitation visit www.wateraid.org.

ENDS

Notes for editors

1. To interview pupils at Southfields, Jo Hallett or for photographs, postcards, letters or further information please contact Ben Miller, Communications Officer, Link Community Development on ben@lcd.org.uk or phone 020 7691 1819.

2. Link Community Development (LCD) is a non-profit organisation working in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda and on long-term development projects, providing ongoing training and support to over 1500 schools. LCD's patron is Archbishop Desmond Tutu and is a registered charity in the UK. For more information, including how to link your school, visit www.lcd.org.uk.

3. WaterAid is the only UK charity exclusively dedicated to helping people escape the stranglehold of poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation, working in 17 developing countries around the world.

4. For more information and or interviews with WaterAid please contact: Paul Hetherington or Lisa Martin on 0207 793 2245 or 07732 158128.