FAWE award for Nyariga-Done mothers club

Accra, May 5, GNA - The Nyariga-Done Mothers' Club Girls' School at Nyariga, near Bolgatanga, has won the 1999 Agarthe Innovative Women Award.

They received 6,000 dollars and a Kente pendant from the Forum for African Women Educationalist (FAWE) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Agathe Award is dedicated to the memory of the late Rwandan Prime Minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, a founding member of FAWE.

It aims among other things at encouraging innovators in education to document their programmes and to share their experience with others committed to the education of girls and women.

The Nyariga-Done Mothers' club won the award, for establishing a primary school for girls. According to the citation accompanying it, the desire to start the school came about in a unique and unexpected way.

"At one of the public education gathering at Nyariga-Done, an NGO working in the area of reproductive health requested for a female literate alongside a male literate from the community to be trained as community based distributors of reproductive health supplies.

"The entire community could not get even a JSS female graduate for the training. But for a woman from the Upper West Region, who had married into the village who was literate whom volunteered for the training, the entire village would have lost the chance.

"The women of the village, especially members of the Mothers' Club, were so disappointed and ashamed by the incident that they decided from then on to mobilise resources to start a pre-school for both boys and girls and a primary school solely for girls.

"These women were poised to produce their own role models. They were resolved not to let their daughters suffer the embarrassment and pain they had gone through.

So with determination and undaunted by lack of technological know-how, they set themselves the task of building the school. Madam Adombila Aweligya is the Chairperson, Mrs Rose Akaribo, Organiser Madam Aduko Atanga, Trustee, Mr James Aweligya, Secretary, Mr Asuah Abdulai, PTA Secretary and Mr John Akaribo, Co-ordinator.

Ms Patience Addo, Eastern Regional Minister, who presented the award congratulated the women for their vision and called on others to emulate them. Mrs Camilla Haldane-Lutterot, a retired Educationist and executive member of FAWE, giving the profile of the group commended them for their vision to bring about change in their lives and that of their daughters.

She noted that even though the school is less than two years old it has provided access to 45 girls in primary one. Mr Kwabena Kyereh, Deputy Minister for Education praised the women and called on others to do the same since the ministry places much emphasis on the education of girls. He said the ministry has established a Girls Education Unit to see to their special needs. Mr John Akaribo, said the award would inspire them to be more innovative.