ATE hands over lunch time feeding to Ghana School Feeding Program, but continues supporting the children by providing a nutritious breakfast
It was the children in the community surrounding Karbo Primary School that were the inspiration for the founding of ATE. Sarah Albeboure (Gardner) spend a year as a VSO volunteer living in Lawra, in a remote house which was constantly surrounded by hungry children that were not attending school. They would hang from her window frames shouting ‘Sister Sarah, I am hungry’. It broke Sarah’s heart, and inspired her to do something to help.
These children should have been attending Karbo Primary, their nearest school. Working with local volunteers, the head teacher, PTA and Ghana Education Service, Sarah and her family provided the initial funds needed to kick start a simple feeding program at the school, and founded ATE to sustain the work. 5 years later, ATE is proud to have made a life-changing difference at the school. We know from our thorough data collection and analysis that children in the surrounding communities are healthier, happier and have far better attendance at school. The children that Sarah got to know in that year have now been in education for 5 years. Many have now moved up to the local Junior High School (Karbo JHS) that ATE also started feeding in January 2014.
ATE is committed to working sustainably with the local community, and working in partnership with other organisatons wherever possible so, when ATE learnt that funds were available to feed Karbo Primary School via the Ghana School Feeding Program (GSFP), we were excited to find out more. After careful discussion with all stakeholders (including local government), ATE has agreed to hand the lunchtime feeding of the 470 children over to the GSFP. This has been a significant decision, one that is emotional for staff and founders of ATE who feel very connected to the children at the school.
In order to ensure that we are doing our very best for the children, ATE has committed to continue supporting the community by providing a nutritious daily breakfast, as well as providing learning resources where needed and appropriate. This breakfast will be varied and of good quality, and will be cooked by ATE’s existing 3 cooks at the school. We are all looking forward to seeing how the increased care for the children impacts attendance, attainment and health.
At the launch of ATE’s breakfast today, we were delighted to see the children enjoy their nutritious malt drink and piece of bread.
The GSFP were also present to cook the lunch that they had promised. We will monitor the situation closely over the coming days and week, and ensure that the children are cared for to the best of our ability. ATE is committed to ensuring that the children of Karbo Primary School receive a daily school lunch.
ATE would like to thank all stakeholders and donors for enabling us to improve care for the children at Karbo Primary School.