Women in Broadcast, Upper East Region, has secured GH¢38,000 from the Happy Man Foundation and Friends of Prosper to provide educational materials and school shoes to vulnerable children ahead of the new academic year.
The Happy Man Foundation has committed GH¢18,000 to fund exercise books and stationery, while Friends of Prosper has committed GH¢20,000 towards the purchase of school shoes and an additional 100 school bags.
The items will be distributed to selected children in vulnerable communities and hard-to-reach areas across the Upper East Region.
President of Women in Broadcast, Upper East Region, Humul Khrusum Tahiru, said this year’s intervention builds on a similar exercise undertaken by the group last year.
“Last year, we embarked on a book donation exercise, and we are proud to say that we were able to cover five districts of the Upper East Region with over 3,000 exercise books and pens,” she said.
She said the exercise exposed other challenges facing some schoolchildren, including the lack of appropriate footwear and school bags.
“Last year during our donation exercise, we identified a number of children that came to school without shoes or even good shoes and school bags,” she said.
The observation prompted Women in Broadcast to expand this year’s intervention beyond books and stationery.
“And so we called on individuals to again come to our aid, and we are happy to say that Friends of Prosper willingly agreed to support us with 20,000 Ghana cedis to buy shoes and to also support us with an extra hundred school bags,” Madam Tahiru said.
The GH¢18,000 from the Happy Man Foundation will be used to purchase exercise books, pens, pencils, erasers and sharpeners.
Madam Tahiru thanked both organisations for responding to the group’s appeal and assured them that the resources would be used for their intended purposes.
“We would make sure that we spend every amount of the money given to us judiciously,” she said.
She said Women in Broadcast would provide updates through traditional and social media on how the resources are used and subsequently announce the districts and schools selected to benefit from the intervention.
The group is particularly targeting children in vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities who may struggle to access basic materials needed for school.
Women in Broadcast has also asked other individuals and organisations it approached for assistance to hold their support for now, indicating that the group intends to approach them again for other activities after completing the current exercise.
“I know that when we are done with these donations, this academic year is going to be one that would be good for the children that will benefit,” Madam Tahiru said.
Women in Broadcast is an advocacy group that promotes women’s participation and visibility in the media and advocates for opportunities for women, children, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
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