Students of Adventist Senior High School in the Kumasi Metropolis will no longer have to travel several kilometres to fetch water due to erratic water supply on campus.
The students can now heave a sigh of relief after the Kumasi Rotary Club commissioned and handed over a $4,000 mechanized borehole for the school.
According to the Headmistress of the school, Grace Kafui Ayi, who was speaking to the media during the commissioning and handing-over ceremony, the nearly 3,000 students of the school had to cross the main road in front of the school to have access to water because of the unreliable water supply the school was confronted with.
She commended the Rotary Club of Kumasi for the intervention, which she stressed will further boost teaching and learning in the school. She, however, made a passionate appeal to the government and other benevolent organizations and individuals to also come to the aid of the school by constructing a suitable toilet facility for the school.
She asserted that the existing toilet facility is nothing to write home about and is woefully inadequate, judging from the large student population of the school.
Madam Ayi further emphasized that despite the challenges facing the school, it has excelled academically. “As you may be aware, we always make it a point to surmount our challenges by focusing on academic excellence. This year, we reached the 1/8th stage of the National Science and Maths Quiz, losing narrowly to KASS. We don’t let our challenges get the better part of us.”
On his part, the President of the Kumasi Rotary Club, Nana Effah Mensah, noted that the drilling of the borehole is part of an initiative of the Rotary Club of Kumasi to drill 15 boreholes and provide micro flush toilets for some communities and schools in the Ashanti region.
He said the decision to intervene in the water crisis the school grappled with was in response to a request from some old students of the school. He said, “After hearing of their request, we conducted our own needs assessment and realized that the provision of a mechanized borehole was an immediate need of the school. We contacted our international partners who didn’t hesitate but came on board to support.”
The President of the club admonished the school authorities to maintain the borehole and ensure a constant supply of water to the school.
The Rotary Club of Kumasi is the second-oldest Rotary club in Ghana. It is an association of business and professional leaders who strive to promote goodwill, peace, and understanding around the world by performing community service and promoting ethics. It is an organization that is neither political nor religious.