The staff and pupils of St Charles Special School in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region, have benefited from a three-seater toilet and four-unit urinal to ensure good sanitation and hygiene practices.
The facility was constructed by Klicks Africa Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation, focused on helping parents and children with special needs, particularly autism, with funding support from the Ms Claire Stevenson, a United States based philanthropist.
In addition to the facility, there is a polytank provided to the school by Ms Stevenson a few months ago.
In September this year, the Ghana News Agency published a news story titled, “Pupils of Bolgatanga Special Needs School defecate in the open,” describing the harrowing scenes of some pupils openly defecating around the school.
At a brief ceremony to inaugurate the facility in Bolgatanga, Mrs Mary Amoah Kuffour, the Founder of Klicks Africa Foundation, said children with special needs had same potentials as other children and underscored the need to create conducive environment for them to thrive.
She said she got to know of the problem of lack washrooms in the school when Professor Mamudu Akudugu and his wife Ms Katherine Kauza-Nu-Dem Millar, both Lecturers at the University for Development Studies, organised a symposium and free medical screening for parents and children with neurodevelopment disorders.
It was in partnership with Mission Pediatrics, Klicks Africa Foundation, Millar Institute for Trans disciplinary and Development Studies and Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment Ghana (RISE-Ghana) and brought together over 300 parents and their children.
“As part of programme, we came here to visit the Special Needs School and I cried throughout because I noticed the school was really under resourced and they did not have a washroom and having a child with special needs squatting around to ease himself or herself wasn’t appropriate,” she said.
She said apart from the donation of polytank and construction of the washroom facility, through the support of Ms Stevenson, some broken furniture were repaired and the walls painted to beautify the classrooms.
Mrs Kuffour commended Ms Stevenson for the support to the school, saying “that is just one per cent of the things that the school need, they need toys, modern furniture, teaching and learning materials and I appeal to everyone who believe in humanity to do something for this school”.
Sister Bernardine Pemii, the Upper East Regional Manager of the Catholic Education Unit, commended Klicks Africa Foundation and Ms Stevenson and other stakeholders for the support to the school.
She said the office was aware of the issues of the school but had limited resources to assist them and the washroom facility would serve a great purpose in curbing the open defection menace of the school.
Ms Fatima Samari, the Head Teacher, expressed gratitude for the support, saying it was a relief to the school and appealed for more teaching and learning materials to enhance academic work.
GNA
FAA/CAA/CA
21 Dec. 2023
