The US Ambassador, Virginia Palmer, disclosed these during a solidarity visit last Thursday to the Agbetikpo camp in the North Tongu District, which still holds about 800 displaced people. “The support, this time, is focused specifically to help start a return to normalcy and for students to continue to learn,” she said.
The envoy said the gesture, which included tents, books and essential school supplies and stationery, was meant to restore teaching and learning to appreciable heights in the affected communities. Meanwhile, Ms Palmer said, USAID and UNICEF were also collaborating to restore teaching and learning in the affected communities to ensure that the children were not left behind in terms of education. She observed that the US was Ghana’s largest bilateral development partner, and that the combined bilateral development support, including support from USAID to Ghana last year, amounted to more than $250 million dedicated to promoting education, health, economic growth, agriculture, governance and security for all Ghanaians.
The envoy’s visit coincided with an earlier one by the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum. Dr Adutwum said it was gratifying that the teachers and children in most of the affected communities had returned to the classroom with great zeal and enthusiasm, and that testified to their resilience to the flood situation. He said the determination to study was evident on the faces of the children and urged parents and other adults to support the children in various ways to continue their studies smoothly. He mentioned inadequate resettlement houses for those who lost their homes to the floods, the lack of potable water, sanitation facilities and roads in some of the communities damaged school buildings, the need for learning materials, and public health issues which required immediate attention. Also present at the durbar of chiefs and queenmothers, held in honour of the US Ambassador, were officials of the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and NADMO.
SOURCE: GRAPHIC ONLINE