Ho All-Inclusive School: We are working with the Kekeli Foundation and the Rotary Club of Ho- Ghana to build Ghana's first all-inclusive school with all the necessary facilities to enable people with and without disability to access everything they need with the help of specialist and general staff to teach at the school The Rotary Club of Norwich are working to raise £10,000 towards the project. If you would like to donate, please click HERE
Related pages: A boy named Atsu - click here to see his story
Update - August 2023
A lot has happened in the last 6 months at Kekeli! More families are hearing about our centre and new projects are being developed. This year we are collaborating with other organizations in the areas of reproductive health and solar power. We are also excited about the progress we are making with the new Early Childhood Intervention Centre. This has all been possible because of your generous support. We look forward to continuing our work and sharing more wonderful updates.
A lot has happened in the last 6 months at Kekeli! More families are hearing about our centre and new projects are being developed. This year we are collaborating with other organizations in the areas of reproductive health and solar power. We are also excited about the progress we are making with the new Early Childhood Intervention Centre. This has all been possible because of your generous support. We look forward to continuing our work and sharing more wonderful updates.
Early Childhood Intervention Centre
In August 2022 Kekeli commissioned the Early Childhood Intervention Centre. This is the second building for the Model Inclusive school project and is for the inclusive Nursery - Kindergarten class that will serve children in the community. Since the commissioning we have drilled a borehole to provide water to the facility and have begun preparations to fence the Centre. Preparations are also underway to put in a sensory garden and to purchase a mini bus to help transport the children with special needs to the school.
Kekeli is currently collaborating with the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and has students from the orthotics and prosthetics department visiting the Early Childhood Centre to work with our children with disabilities.
This project began in 2015 when Kekeli, the Rotary Clubs of Ho, Norwich (UK), Delmar NY, Nice, France, Novi Sad and Germany teamed up to design and raise funds to build and equip a fully Inclusive Model School. We continue to look for individuals, Rotary Clubs and other organisations to support this important project to ensure children with disabilities have access to quality education.
Images: John, one of Kekeli’s Children, with students from the orthotics and prosthetics department at UHAS after they measured and fitted him for a new wheelchair.
In August 2022 Kekeli commissioned the Early Childhood Intervention Centre. This is the second building for the Model Inclusive school project and is for the inclusive Nursery - Kindergarten class that will serve children in the community. Since the commissioning we have drilled a borehole to provide water to the facility and have begun preparations to fence the Centre. Preparations are also underway to put in a sensory garden and to purchase a mini bus to help transport the children with special needs to the school.
Kekeli is currently collaborating with the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) and has students from the orthotics and prosthetics department visiting the Early Childhood Centre to work with our children with disabilities.
This project began in 2015 when Kekeli, the Rotary Clubs of Ho, Norwich (UK), Delmar NY, Nice, France, Novi Sad and Germany teamed up to design and raise funds to build and equip a fully Inclusive Model School. We continue to look for individuals, Rotary Clubs and other organisations to support this important project to ensure children with disabilities have access to quality education.
Images: John, one of Kekeli’s Children, with students from the orthotics and prosthetics department at UHAS after they measured and fitted him for a new wheelchair.
Anti-Bullying Clubs
Kekeli Foundation with support from Plan International Ghana has started anti-bullying champion clubs in 4 primary schools in and around Ho. The clubs aim to educate students on bullying and the effects it has on persons with disabilities in schools and the community. The students are also trained to be peer support persons and to be advocates for inclusive education.
Images: (left) Henry House International School Anti-Bullying Champions (right) King of Kings, Tsito Anti-Bullying Champions
Kekeli Foundation with support from Plan International Ghana has started anti-bullying champion clubs in 4 primary schools in and around Ho. The clubs aim to educate students on bullying and the effects it has on persons with disabilities in schools and the community. The students are also trained to be peer support persons and to be advocates for inclusive education.
Images: (left) Henry House International School Anti-Bullying Champions (right) King of Kings, Tsito Anti-Bullying Champions
Solar Lamps and Promotion of Women’s Health in Rural Ghana
Kekeli is excited to be one of Village Exchange Ghana’s partners in their solar lamp and reproductive health projects. The project aims to provide rural communities not connected to the national electricity grid in the Volta Region with individual solar lamps which have the capacity to charge their phones. A charging station was installed at the Centre, where the women are to come at least twice a week to charge their lamps. This will encourage women and their children to regularly visit the health center. That will make it easier for the health consultants to educate them. Kekeli’s Resource and Assessment Centre has received a charging station and 20 lamps for the women we work with at the Centre. These include 10 mothers of children with disabilities and 10 women from a nearby Fulani community. We have also had two trainings on reproductive health for the 20 women. Partners in this project include the French Embassy Ghana, Social Venture Africa, and Kekeli Foundation.
Images: (left) Women from the Fulani Community and Kekeli Mothers during a training on how to use their solar lamps. (right) The solar lamps on the charging station at Kekeli Resource and Assessment Centre.
Kekeli is excited to be one of Village Exchange Ghana’s partners in their solar lamp and reproductive health projects. The project aims to provide rural communities not connected to the national electricity grid in the Volta Region with individual solar lamps which have the capacity to charge their phones. A charging station was installed at the Centre, where the women are to come at least twice a week to charge their lamps. This will encourage women and their children to regularly visit the health center. That will make it easier for the health consultants to educate them. Kekeli’s Resource and Assessment Centre has received a charging station and 20 lamps for the women we work with at the Centre. These include 10 mothers of children with disabilities and 10 women from a nearby Fulani community. We have also had two trainings on reproductive health for the 20 women. Partners in this project include the French Embassy Ghana, Social Venture Africa, and Kekeli Foundation.
Images: (left) Women from the Fulani Community and Kekeli Mothers during a training on how to use their solar lamps. (right) The solar lamps on the charging station at Kekeli Resource and Assessment Centre.
Success Story - Update on Eric
Eric has been actively involved in Kekeli’s Self-Advocacy program since 2010 and is a strong advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. He participates in community outreach, radio programs to share his story and attends national level disability organization programs as a self-advocate representative. In 2021 he was part of a three month zoom program with Occupational Therapy students in the USA. Through that program he outlined his plans to complete Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in a vocational school, get a laptop computer and attend university to study ICT. In 2022 he graduated from St Therisa Vocational Training school. He applied for a laptop from the Ho Municipal Assembly common fund and received it in August 2022. In September 2022 he audited the courses at the technical university and received admission in January 2023. Eric has now completed his first semester in University. Kekeli Staff continues to provide guidance as he pursues his dreams to work in ICT.
Image: Eric, Kekeli’s Self Advocate, in front of the Computer Science Building at Ho Technical University.
Eric has been actively involved in Kekeli’s Self-Advocacy program since 2010 and is a strong advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. He participates in community outreach, radio programs to share his story and attends national level disability organization programs as a self-advocate representative. In 2021 he was part of a three month zoom program with Occupational Therapy students in the USA. Through that program he outlined his plans to complete Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in a vocational school, get a laptop computer and attend university to study ICT. In 2022 he graduated from St Therisa Vocational Training school. He applied for a laptop from the Ho Municipal Assembly common fund and received it in August 2022. In September 2022 he audited the courses at the technical university and received admission in January 2023. Eric has now completed his first semester in University. Kekeli Staff continues to provide guidance as he pursues his dreams to work in ICT.
Image: Eric, Kekeli’s Self Advocate, in front of the Computer Science Building at Ho Technical University.
Greetings from Kekeli Ghana - 2023
It has been an exciting year at Kekeli. We have completed the new Early Childhood Intervention Centre. We have started new projects with our parents' self-help groups and continue to provide support for our children to access education and health care. These have all been made possible because of your generous support. We look forward to continuing our work and sharing more wonderful updates. We wish you all the very best during this holiday season and in the year ahead.
Thank you! Carrie Brown
It has been an exciting year at Kekeli. We have completed the new Early Childhood Intervention Centre. We have started new projects with our parents' self-help groups and continue to provide support for our children to access education and health care. These have all been made possible because of your generous support. We look forward to continuing our work and sharing more wonderful updates. We wish you all the very best during this holiday season and in the year ahead.
Thank you! Carrie Brown
Early Childhood Intervention Centre
Kekeli’s most recent accomplishment is the completion of the Nursery-Kindergarten building which was commissioned on August 4 this year. This is the second building in the proposed inclusive school and is in addition to the Resource and Assessment Centre. Students began to apply for the nursery class in September, and classes will start in January. That class will then advance each year to Kindergarten-1 and kindergarten-2. In Ghana, kindergarten is a two-year program.
This is part of our long term project that began 2015 when Kekeli, the Rotary Clubs of Ho, Norwich (UK), Delmar NY, Nice, France, Novi Sad and Germany teamed up to design and raise funds to build and equip a fully Inclusive Model School. We continue to look for individuals, Rotary Clubs and other organizations to support this important project.
Local Fundraising Project
This year Kekeli has received support from Star Ghana Foundation to produce a five-minute documentary about how our work has been impacting the lives of people with disabilities including per- sons with intellectual disabilities in Ghana. The goal of this project is to raise funds which will be used as seed money for a Reusable Diapers and Sanitary Pads business for our mothers and their children with disabilities.
The project will also work on building the capacity of our Parents’ Self-Help Groups (PSHGs) to acquire knowledge in local fundraising. This is to equip the group members with the necessary knowledge and skills required to raise funds from their respective communities for the Reusable Diapers and Sanitary Pads project, and also the general needs of their children with disabilities. We look forward to sharing the documentary and the progress of the project over the next few months.
This year Kekeli has received support from Star Ghana Foundation to produce a five-minute documentary about how our work has been impacting the lives of people with disabilities including per- sons with intellectual disabilities in Ghana. The goal of this project is to raise funds which will be used as seed money for a Reusable Diapers and Sanitary Pads business for our mothers and their children with disabilities.
The project will also work on building the capacity of our Parents’ Self-Help Groups (PSHGs) to acquire knowledge in local fundraising. This is to equip the group members with the necessary knowledge and skills required to raise funds from their respective communities for the Reusable Diapers and Sanitary Pads project, and also the general needs of their children with disabilities. We look forward to sharing the documentary and the progress of the project over the next few months.
Radio Advocacy
Kekeli Foundation recently completed a project with support from Plan International Ghana to raise awareness on the rights of Persons with disabilities, especially, those with developmental disabilities. Over six months we held 70 radio programs with the mothers of children with developmental disabilities. Kekeli staff trained the mothers to acquire skills in advocacy and work with the media to plan the programs at the Community Information Centers and two radio stations.
The changes we have seen in this project have been very significant. Before the project and the training, the mothers and self-advocates were withdrawn from the community due to the name calling and the marginalization from the public. Now they are confident enough to advocate for their children’s needs.
One Self Advocate vowed to champion the right to education for children with disabilities, as she has been a victim of public ignorance about Dyslexia which made her to be considered academically poor in Ghana. However, she was able to attain a degree in the United Kingdom. “I was regarded as a lazy girl in class and no one was ready to help me because nobody knew I had dyslexia, until I got to the UK”, according to the Self Advocate.
Kekeli Foundation recently completed a project with support from Plan International Ghana to raise awareness on the rights of Persons with disabilities, especially, those with developmental disabilities. Over six months we held 70 radio programs with the mothers of children with developmental disabilities. Kekeli staff trained the mothers to acquire skills in advocacy and work with the media to plan the programs at the Community Information Centers and two radio stations.
The changes we have seen in this project have been very significant. Before the project and the training, the mothers and self-advocates were withdrawn from the community due to the name calling and the marginalization from the public. Now they are confident enough to advocate for their children’s needs.
One Self Advocate vowed to champion the right to education for children with disabilities, as she has been a victim of public ignorance about Dyslexia which made her to be considered academically poor in Ghana. However, she was able to attain a degree in the United Kingdom. “I was regarded as a lazy girl in class and no one was ready to help me because nobody knew I had dyslexia, until I got to the UK”, according to the Self Advocate.
Success Story
Juliana, 6, has cerebral palsy and is malnourished. She lives with her mother and younger sister. Juliana was in need of medical support and nutritional items. Thanks to the generous support of Acacia Shade, Juliana has the nutritional items she needs and is attending physical therapy regularly.
For several years @kekelighana has been supporting physical therapy, speech therapy and nutrition programs for children at the local hospital and at our Resource and Assessment Centre. But recently, due to the increase in transportation costs, many of our families have had to stop attending these activities. We have been communicating with the families, and are concerned that the children might regress without proper nutrition and continued therapy.
We realize there is tremendous need everywhere. Nevertheless we hope you will support our appeal for donations to help children with disabilities in Ghana, A donation of $10 will pay for one child’s visit to the hospital and a donation of $50 will help provide nutritious food for one family for two weeks.
Juliana, 6, has cerebral palsy and is malnourished. She lives with her mother and younger sister. Juliana was in need of medical support and nutritional items. Thanks to the generous support of Acacia Shade, Juliana has the nutritional items she needs and is attending physical therapy regularly.
For several years @kekelighana has been supporting physical therapy, speech therapy and nutrition programs for children at the local hospital and at our Resource and Assessment Centre. But recently, due to the increase in transportation costs, many of our families have had to stop attending these activities. We have been communicating with the families, and are concerned that the children might regress without proper nutrition and continued therapy.
We realize there is tremendous need everywhere. Nevertheless we hope you will support our appeal for donations to help children with disabilities in Ghana, A donation of $10 will pay for one child’s visit to the hospital and a donation of $50 will help provide nutritious food for one family for two weeks.
Aug 2022 - Official Commissioning of the new school building
The secretary to the High Commissioner for Australian Embassy in Ghana (centre) attends the opening of the new school
Completion and Commissioning of the Project
The Early Childhood Intervention Centre was completed in July 2022 and commissioned on August 4th 2022.
There were few challenges that delayed the completion of the Early Childhood Intervention Centre project. Cost of site preparation went higher due to increased cost of hiring earth moving equipment. Also the cost of materials increased during the time of constructions and is still increasing. These changes will continue now and after, to a large extent, due to the effects of COVID 19 and Russia - Ukraine war, on the Ghanaian economy, and also the generally poor performance of the economy. These increments temporarily delayed the work but we were able to raise additional funds to complete the building by contacting the following organisations and individual: Tulsi Trust Ghana, One by One Foundations, Rotary Club of Norwich, Rotary Club of Delmar, NY and the Paramount Chief of Asogli State.
Next Steps:
Recruit and Train Teachers - November to January 2023
Begin Nursery School - January 2023
Building of the Primary blocks 2023
The Early Childhood Intervention Centre was completed in July 2022 and commissioned on August 4th 2022.
There were few challenges that delayed the completion of the Early Childhood Intervention Centre project. Cost of site preparation went higher due to increased cost of hiring earth moving equipment. Also the cost of materials increased during the time of constructions and is still increasing. These changes will continue now and after, to a large extent, due to the effects of COVID 19 and Russia - Ukraine war, on the Ghanaian economy, and also the generally poor performance of the economy. These increments temporarily delayed the work but we were able to raise additional funds to complete the building by contacting the following organisations and individual: Tulsi Trust Ghana, One by One Foundations, Rotary Club of Norwich, Rotary Club of Delmar, NY and the Paramount Chief of Asogli State.
Next Steps:
Recruit and Train Teachers - November to January 2023
Begin Nursery School - January 2023
Building of the Primary blocks 2023
NOVEMBER 2022 - Franciscan Aid In 2020, Franciscan Aid generously supported the constriction of a road/driveway to the Resource and assessment centre. The road has been invaluable to our staff and families to access the centre with their assistive devises and public transportation.
In 2021 Franciscan Aid continued their supported with the construction of the disability-friendly toilet facility and water tower with a tank for the Early Childhood Intervention Centre (Nursery and Kindergarten block) to ensure the Centre has water throughout the year. This helps greatly in solving water and sanitation needs of the children at the Centre.
A local NGO also supported the drilling of a borehole which will pump water to the tank during the dry season.
In 2021 Franciscan Aid continued their supported with the construction of the disability-friendly toilet facility and water tower with a tank for the Early Childhood Intervention Centre (Nursery and Kindergarten block) to ensure the Centre has water throughout the year. This helps greatly in solving water and sanitation needs of the children at the Centre.
A local NGO also supported the drilling of a borehole which will pump water to the tank during the dry season.
New Equipment received at Ho School
The Rotary Club of Norwich has supplied specialist equipment, distributed by Physionet, to the Ho All-Inclusive School in Ghana. We are supporting the work being done by the Kekeli Foundation in helping children with special physical needs attend school. The children in the photographs have Cerebral Palsy and have spent their lives either on the floor, or on their mothers back. The new equipment has helped changed their lives and put a smile on their faces!
The Rotary Club of Norwich has supplied specialist equipment, distributed by Physionet, to the Ho All-Inclusive School in Ghana. We are supporting the work being done by the Kekeli Foundation in helping children with special physical needs attend school. The children in the photographs have Cerebral Palsy and have spent their lives either on the floor, or on their mothers back. The new equipment has helped changed their lives and put a smile on their faces!
New Water Tower: Rotary Club of Nice’s donation towards the water system at Kekeli’s Resource and Assessment Centre has supported the construction of a water tower and tanks for rainwater harvesting. You may be aware that water is often scarce in this area especially during the dry season. We will now be able to function fully because we will have water year round. Not only will it provide water to the washrooms but it will also make washing hands at the centre entrance possible now that we are all trying to be safe during the COVID 19 pandemic. We are very grateful for your support!
New School Block Foundtions - May 2021: The foundations of the school block being dug.
Latest News Feb 2020
The picture on the left shows @kekelighana sorting through sitting frames, walkers, corner seats, wheelchairs, standing frames, etc. all from #PhysioNet #UK. We will be sending these devices to the resource centre, the local hospital and providing equipment to our children. Shoutout to the #rotaryclubofnorwich and #annacottrell we couldn’t have done it without you!
Yesterday (25/02/2020) was another great day! @kekelighana in collaboration with PhysioNet, the Rotary Club of Norwich and Rotary Club of Ho donated physical therapy equipment to the Ho Teaching Hospital. We look forward to seeing the items being used at the hospital and to the visit from PhysioNet later this year. Thanks to all who supported! @ Ho, Ghana
December 2019
When I left Norwich on October 30th this year (2019), it had been the best part of four years since my last visit to Ghana and, whilst the flight times between Norwich and Schiphol and then Schiphol and Accra had not changed I was obviously wondering what changes– good or bad – I should find in Ghana. As I suppose I should have expected, Accra has become even more congested with an ever increasing number of big cars filling the roads. To judge the country’s progress and prosperity by the number and size of the vehicles in Accra would be a big mistake. As soon as you arrive in the enormous Accra markets or round the tro-tro (public vehicle) station you are hit by the chaos and poverty – if babies and toddlers crawling in and out of the gutters and market stalls, litter and noise polluting every inch of ground between arterial roads and humble alleys are a reliable indicator. And it is this deprivation which scars most lives outside of the capital city. It seems that there is never any shortage of people prepared to trade a quiet and straightforward life with the crush and pressure of the capital city. Nobody gets anywhere without committing to life in the city. At least, that is the commonly held belief amongst Ghanaians. And it is true that all the businesses have their head office in Accra.
Yet, four hours away in Ho, chief town in the Volta Region abutting the border with Togo, new beginnings, new hopes are stirring. I am not speaking about the beginnings and hopes of those investing their all in business ventures but that of real people whose lives are a daily struggle. This is so of the vast majority of Ghanaians but so much more is it the case for those with a disability. But in and around Ho, you will find disabled children being brought from their villages to either the Trafalgar Teaching Hospital in Ho or the new Kekeli Foundation Resource and Assessment Centre on the outskirts of Ho to have a first or maybe second assessment carried out by a team of mixed experts – physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and audiologists. To have such a selection of specialists is a rarity indeed. Physiotherapy in general is a recent specialism in Ghana and paediatric physiotherapy is even more unusual. There are only five Speech and Language therapists in the whole of Ghana and audiologists are another rare breed. There is very little equipment but the new practitioners are young and excited to be at the forefront of the battle to bring help to their people. The bringing together of medical experts with children with Cerebral Palsy (CP), with hearing problems, with speech problems, with cognitive delay and so on is little short of miraculous in a country only just showing the early signs of emerging from the traditional belief that children with a disability are ‘Devil Children’ or ‘Spirit Children.’ It takes courage for the parents to bring their child out in to society and then to have strangers examining them. But it IS happening.
The extraordinary good fortune both for the teaching hospital and for the new Kekeli Assessment and Resource centre is the provision of newly trained therapists coming from the University of Winneba in Cape Coast, south-west of Accra. The training of these therapists is entirely theoretical so they need a practical placement to begin real work on the ground following graduation. The physiotherapy department in the teaching hospital, combined with the weekly clinic at the Kekeli centre gives them excellent opportunities to both observe the children and start working with them.
And here are Carrie Brown – Director of the Kekeli Foundation, Ghana and myself planting one of many new shrubs around the new centre.
The extraordinary good fortune both for the teaching hospital and for the new Kekeli Assessment and Resource centre is the provision of newly trained therapists coming from the University of Winneba in Cape Coast, south-west of Accra. The training of these therapists is entirely theoretical so they need a practical placement to begin real work on the ground following graduation. The physiotherapy department in the teaching hospital, combined with the weekly clinic at the Kekeli centre gives them excellent opportunities to both observe the children and start working with them.
And here are Carrie Brown – Director of the Kekeli Foundation, Ghana and myself planting one of many new shrubs around the new centre.
The photo below shows a little girl with Down’s syndrome who is responsive and alert but has no speech. The adult with her is a newly qualified SLT (Speech and Language Therapist) who is getting to know her and beginning the process of discovering what the lack of speech problem might be. Without a specialist there would be no prospect of helping her.
This little boy in photo has Cerebral Palsy and with help, is beginning to walk. Without therapy he would be unable to stand and would never walk. This picture is taken at the hospital and the Kekeli Foundation pays both for the therapy and the taxi which brings him and his mother to and from the hospital. He is one of the lucky ones in that his mother is now accepting that her son’s difficulties have a medical explanation rather than a spiritual one. Consequently, the mother has continued with the exercises she has been taught and her son has shown an appropriate response and development.
|
The picture below is taken at the Kekeli Resource and Assessment Centre and again, the problem is Cerebral Palsy but here it is combined with a lack of speech so an initial assessment of the extent of the disability is just beginning.
Children with CP have their fingers tightly closed and locked and the therapists begin the process of extending the fingers and breaking the locked position which is important for the development of the ability to control their grip when it is needed e.g. in holding walking frames.
Children with CP have their fingers tightly closed and locked and the therapists begin the process of extending the fingers and breaking the locked position which is important for the development of the ability to control their grip when it is needed e.g. in holding walking frames.
Some of the children are now ready to be fitted with prosthetic limbs. Such a procedure was due to be carried out on Solomon just after I left. Not so long ago, Solomon (picture below) was relatively immobile but with physiotherapy and a pair of crutches (a rare find) he is now master of his own movement. Initially very frightened of the crutches, it took a lot of patience to persuade him to persevere with them.
After his operation he may well be initially resentful of having to learn to move yet again but the progress he has made and the difference the crutches are already making to his current life are beyond value. How much more will his life prospects improve once he has his prosthetic limb. The vital importance of medical intervention and the use of assistive equipment cannot be stressed too highly. Over and over again, we met mothers who put all their faith in the efficacy of Prayer Camps rather than bring their child to the assessment clinic or the physiotherapy department at the hospital. However, the success of children like Solomon speaks loudly and mothers are beginning to listen.
|
We shall shortly be able to provide a far greater range of equipment for the children as a 40ft container transporting over 500 assistive items from the UK to Ho, Ghana has just docked at Tema, the port of Accra, capital of Ghana. Whilst the bulk of the equipment is for the Resource and Assessment Centre, we are also providing some items for the teaching hospital. In this way we are cementing and encouraging the existing cooperation between the hospital and the Kekeli Resource Centre, a relationship which is good for everyone and most especially for the children, the real beneficiaries.
|
Here is the 40 ft container, filled with 530 assistive items of equipment, most of which are paediatric.
One tends to think only of wheelchairs and, whilst there are 49 of these, including self-propelled and attendant push models, there are also commodes, perching stools, hoist frames and slings, zimmer frames, standing devices, crutches and walking sticks, treadmills and so on. The range and quantity is truly astounding. The fact that such an array of fully functional devices is gathered together under one roof is thanks to PhysioNet, an organisation based in Yorkshire with a few equipment collection points in other parts of the country. PhysioNet is able to store discarded equipment which it then uses to supply disability needs in developing countries overseas. Once it arrives at the warehouse, the equipment is checked and repaired if necessary so that it is in first class working order when it leaves the warehouse. Within a year of dispatching the items, a trained physiotherapist working with the organisation in Yorkshire, visits the receiving group to advise and sort out any problems which might have arisen in terms of fitting the children to the equipment and using it in the best way possible.
As the hospital and the Kekeli Resource and Assessment Centre become embedded in local society, so we need to move the project on to the Model School. Without this, our job is only half done as the lifeline we have begun to throw out will not offer a progression to education and self-sufficiency. Moreover, the children will remain apart from their peers who will continue to treat them as outsiders, equating disability with failure and, at worst, with devilry.
Will we be able to secure a second grant from Australia Aid? With this, we could look to building another simple single-storey structure which would house a Nursery and a Kindergarten class and where children without a disability would receive the same education as in any other government school and those with a disability would be given as much appropriate education as could be managed. As the school buildings will occupy the same area of land as the Resource and Assessment Centre, the children could move back and forth between physiotherapy sessions and traditional class based sessions. Certainly, the Australian High Commissioner likes the project so we may be able to secure a second grant but two years have to elapse before we can apply so we are constantly on the lookout for alternative sources of funding. We know that we cannot do everything at once but there is nothing to be gained in stopping.
All ideas and suggestions are welcome and considered. Some are in the pipeline as I write but we have learned not to stop and wait as, in that way, rejections are doubly hard to deal with. A new avenue brings a glimmer of hope and we must not run out of hope.
Before signing off, I wish to express my thanks for help and equipment from the John Grant Special School in Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, to various friends and neighbours who have contacted me with unwanted equipment, to the Norfolk Rehabilitation Service for their supply of wheelchairs, to singing friends and their help to raise funds and to the Rotary Club of Norwich. The Rotary Club of Norwich is in full support of this project and I have had unstinting support and advice from fellow Rotarians.
Anna Cottrell
December 2019
As the hospital and the Kekeli Resource and Assessment Centre become embedded in local society, so we need to move the project on to the Model School. Without this, our job is only half done as the lifeline we have begun to throw out will not offer a progression to education and self-sufficiency. Moreover, the children will remain apart from their peers who will continue to treat them as outsiders, equating disability with failure and, at worst, with devilry.
Will we be able to secure a second grant from Australia Aid? With this, we could look to building another simple single-storey structure which would house a Nursery and a Kindergarten class and where children without a disability would receive the same education as in any other government school and those with a disability would be given as much appropriate education as could be managed. As the school buildings will occupy the same area of land as the Resource and Assessment Centre, the children could move back and forth between physiotherapy sessions and traditional class based sessions. Certainly, the Australian High Commissioner likes the project so we may be able to secure a second grant but two years have to elapse before we can apply so we are constantly on the lookout for alternative sources of funding. We know that we cannot do everything at once but there is nothing to be gained in stopping.
All ideas and suggestions are welcome and considered. Some are in the pipeline as I write but we have learned not to stop and wait as, in that way, rejections are doubly hard to deal with. A new avenue brings a glimmer of hope and we must not run out of hope.
Before signing off, I wish to express my thanks for help and equipment from the John Grant Special School in Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, to various friends and neighbours who have contacted me with unwanted equipment, to the Norfolk Rehabilitation Service for their supply of wheelchairs, to singing friends and their help to raise funds and to the Rotary Club of Norwich. The Rotary Club of Norwich is in full support of this project and I have had unstinting support and advice from fellow Rotarians.
Anna Cottrell
December 2019
February 14th 2019
We are delighted to receive these photographs which show the opening of the completed Resource and Assessment Centre in Ho, Volta Region, Ghana. The Centre will be an invaluable asset not only for the local community but also for determining the degree and type of need for the children who will hope to be given the opportunity to have a place in our Inclusive School
We are delighted to receive these photographs which show the opening of the completed Resource and Assessment Centre in Ho, Volta Region, Ghana. The Centre will be an invaluable asset not only for the local community but also for determining the degree and type of need for the children who will hope to be given the opportunity to have a place in our Inclusive School
Whilst the Australian Government has funded the actual building it is the Rotary Foundation which is providing the funds needed to buy the essential equipment used in making a proper assessment of the needs of children with disabilities, be they intellectual, physical or both. The funds come from a District Grant and from the Rotary Club of Norwich which continues to embrace the project as it passes on to Stage 2- building the Kindergarten for the school.
Very many thanks to all those who have already contributed to this project and to those of you who are very welcome to join us. A fully Inclusive School is a ground-breaking project in a part of the world which is only just beginning to wake up to the possibility of educating people with disability.
November 2018: See the latest update on the Inclusive School, Ho, Ghana, by clicking on the video below
December 2017
Update: The Australian Embassy is awarding the project the money needed for the Resource and Assessment Centre. This is a wonderful Christmas present which will give the project its first expression in real terms.
November 2017
In 2016 we finally secured the release of 5 acres of land in Kpenoe, a village just outside Ho. This was the final outcome of months of discussions with the Paramount Chief and his Elders. The 5 acres have been passed to Kekeli, Ghana, after a nominal amount of money was paid, funded by the US branch of the Kekeli Foundation. Kekeli Ghana is the umbrella organisation founded by Carrie Brown to advocate for, and support the rights of persons with disability (PWD) It is the relationship between Carrie and Anna Cottrell which drives the project which is supported by Rotary, most notably the Rotary Club of Norwich, but also other Rotary Clubs and non- Rotary organisations which have pledged money towards the project. Our twin clubs in France, Germany and Serbia have made generous pledges of funding help and there are supporting clubs in the US, District 1080 in the UK, and possibly Norway. Very fortunately we also have the support of the Rotary Club of HO, an essential link when we come to asking for a Global Grant from Rotary International
The land was the first major hurdle to be overcome and the second is the funding of the actual school building(s). As Rotary does not fund the purchase of land or construction work, we are seeking assistance from a number of sources. An application for building the school has been submitted to the Japanese Embassy in Accra as Japan puts its foreign aid money into projects relating to Health and Education. Likewise, an application has been submitted to the Australian High Commission in Accra, but Australia offers a much smaller amount of funding, so the request has been made for the construction of a Resource and Assessment Centre. There has been no definitive response from either embassy as yet, but we have recently been asked to give a reference on the Kekeli Foundation, Ghana, for the Australian High Commission.
Approaches have also been made to Pencils of Promise, a US Charity with its Ghana Headquarters in Ho. Pencils of Promise fund the construction of schools in places where the buildings are inadequate and there is no prospect of the Ghana Education Service providing an upgrade or extension for increased numbers. This door remains open, but at the same time there is another Ghanaian charity called Adanu (wise collaboration) which works with donors and volunteers to empower communities to own and lead critical development projects. Adanu strives to work alongside rural communities to establish sustainable solutions for education and equal opportunities for all. There are both American and Ghanaian sponsors for Adanu's programme. The organisation is currently looking at the Inclusive School Project
Our twin Rotary club of Nice, Cote d’Azur is investigating the possibility of securing a District Grant for the project and one of their club members who was District Officer 2016-17 is hosting a visit to her company of the Japanese Consul on November 9th when she is hoping to have the opportunity to raise the question of funding for the construction of the school. She has also offered to translate the original application into Japanese as she feels that this may help our cause.
Even while on leave, Carrie has been at a US Aid conference in Washington DC where the focus was on the schools and hospitals abroad grant programme. You can apply for up to 2 million USD. The deadline for application is in February. It’s a long application process and the buildings have to meet American standards. She also met ‘Engineers without Borders’ who will review the designs she already has. Apparently the engineers travel frequently to Ghana. I have suggested to Carrie that there might be some practical help/advice on offer from us in relation to the application process.
I have recently renewed contact with the wife of the EU Ambassador to Ghana who is also investigating possible sources of help.
As you can see, there are many irons in diverse fires and we do our best to follow up every potential source of crucial funding - there have been many others which have not come to fruition – but all this takes time, demanding endless persistence and patience.
I, on behalf of all of us involved in the project, thanks to all those who have offered support in whatever form this takes.
Watch this space – we shall get there in the end! Anna Cottrell - Rotary Club of Norwich
Approaches have also been made to Pencils of Promise, a US Charity with its Ghana Headquarters in Ho. Pencils of Promise fund the construction of schools in places where the buildings are inadequate and there is no prospect of the Ghana Education Service providing an upgrade or extension for increased numbers. This door remains open, but at the same time there is another Ghanaian charity called Adanu (wise collaboration) which works with donors and volunteers to empower communities to own and lead critical development projects. Adanu strives to work alongside rural communities to establish sustainable solutions for education and equal opportunities for all. There are both American and Ghanaian sponsors for Adanu's programme. The organisation is currently looking at the Inclusive School Project
Our twin Rotary club of Nice, Cote d’Azur is investigating the possibility of securing a District Grant for the project and one of their club members who was District Officer 2016-17 is hosting a visit to her company of the Japanese Consul on November 9th when she is hoping to have the opportunity to raise the question of funding for the construction of the school. She has also offered to translate the original application into Japanese as she feels that this may help our cause.
Even while on leave, Carrie has been at a US Aid conference in Washington DC where the focus was on the schools and hospitals abroad grant programme. You can apply for up to 2 million USD. The deadline for application is in February. It’s a long application process and the buildings have to meet American standards. She also met ‘Engineers without Borders’ who will review the designs she already has. Apparently the engineers travel frequently to Ghana. I have suggested to Carrie that there might be some practical help/advice on offer from us in relation to the application process.
I have recently renewed contact with the wife of the EU Ambassador to Ghana who is also investigating possible sources of help.
As you can see, there are many irons in diverse fires and we do our best to follow up every potential source of crucial funding - there have been many others which have not come to fruition – but all this takes time, demanding endless persistence and patience.
I, on behalf of all of us involved in the project, thanks to all those who have offered support in whatever form this takes.
Watch this space – we shall get there in the end! Anna Cottrell - Rotary Club of Norwich
March 2017: The Ho - Inclusive School video has now been updated with all the latest information and project progress
Latest update - Sept 2016
An agreement to release 5 acres of virgin land for the building of the Inclusive School has just been reached with the Chief and Elders of Kpenoe, Ho, Ghana.
The photo includes a Chief and an Elder as well as Carrie Brown, the driving force in Ghana behind the establishment of the first school of its kind and was taken to mark the occasion of the handing over of the first payment for the land. We hope that the approval for financing the actual building work by the Japanese Embassy in Ghana will be given in the coming weeks. Once this is secure, Rotary begins its fundraising in earnest in order to help equipping and resourcing the school
The photo includes a Chief and an Elder as well as Carrie Brown, the driving force in Ghana behind the establishment of the first school of its kind and was taken to mark the occasion of the handing over of the first payment for the land. We hope that the approval for financing the actual building work by the Japanese Embassy in Ghana will be given in the coming weeks. Once this is secure, Rotary begins its fundraising in earnest in order to help equipping and resourcing the school
Traditionally, African children with disabilities have been stigmatised. They have either been excluded from school or taught outside mainstream education. An opportunity has arisen to start from scratch an all-inclusive school in Ho, in the Volta region of Ghana.
Norwich Rotarian Anna Cottrell who has close links to the area, a receptive Rotary Club in Ghana, supportive local and regional authorities, and a charity working in the area offer this unique opportunity.
The Ghana arm of a small American-based charity (Kekeli Inc.) specialising in help for children with disabilities in Ghana was founded in 2008 by Carrie Brown. It was her dream to found a school where able-bodied and less-able children are educated together. Carrie will be closely involved in the project and will act as coordinator between the groups involved. There is a link here to Kekeli's December newsletter regarding this project.
This will be an exciting and fulfilling project. To see more details of this project click on the video below.
Norwich Rotarian Anna Cottrell who has close links to the area, a receptive Rotary Club in Ghana, supportive local and regional authorities, and a charity working in the area offer this unique opportunity.
The Ghana arm of a small American-based charity (Kekeli Inc.) specialising in help for children with disabilities in Ghana was founded in 2008 by Carrie Brown. It was her dream to found a school where able-bodied and less-able children are educated together. Carrie will be closely involved in the project and will act as coordinator between the groups involved. There is a link here to Kekeli's December newsletter regarding this project.
This will be an exciting and fulfilling project. To see more details of this project click on the video below.
To donate to this project, please go to :https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/rotaryclubnorwich