SCHOOLCHILDREN in and around Saaman, a cocoa-growing community, who normally walk long distances to school, would no longer do so.
This is because Cadbury, a cocoa procession firm, has donated 840 bicycles worth GH¢87,000 to be given out free to schoolchildren in the area.
Saaman, which is situated in the cocoa belt in the Fanteakwa District of the Eastern Region, has a junior high school and a number of primary schools.
Other towns and villages within the vicinity also have such schools and because most of the children come from villages and hamlets kilometres away, they have to cover the long distances by foot to and from school each day.
The children normally become too tired on reaching school so they are not able to pay attention properly during classes while at home after classes they cannot also go through their study notes due to tiredness.
Such a situation has adversely affected their studies as most of them perform poorly in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).
Realising the difficulties the children have been going through, Cadbury decided to come to their rescue with the package dubbed: “Cadbury Cocoa Partnership”. This is the company’s initiative to assist people in cocoa-growing areas, especially schoolchildren, to overcome their difficulties.
The presentation of the bicycles at Saaman turned the small community with about 200 households into jubilation as parents followed their schoolchildren to the spot where the bicycles were distributed.
The chief of the town, Barima Okuampa Agyeman, who accompanied the Nkosuohene of Fanteakwa, Nana Antwi Boasiako I, to witness the distribution of the bicycles, described the package as the best for the children, since most parents living along the road could not afford to pay for the transport cost of their children to go to school.
Parents whose children use footpaths were also appreciative because the bicycles can go through the meandering paths with ease to enable the children to attend classes on time.
Presenting the bicycles to the children, the General Manager of Cadbury Canada, (the mother company), Mr Gary Scullion, said in all 5,300 bicycles would be made available to Ghanaian schoolchildren under the initiative to alleviate their suffering so that they would be able to concentrate on their studies.
The Managing Director of Cadbury Ghana, Mr James Amoateng, said the package, which would cover children of 700,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana, would lessen the burden of the farmers and boost their morale to produce more cocoa.
He appealed to the parents and guardians of the schoolchildren to ensure that the bicycles were used for the intended purpose.
Mr Basilio Okello, the National Director of World Vision, through which the bicycles were channelled, said pupils who covered at least a kilometre or more would benefit from the package.
The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership package has won the admiration of the Fanteakwa District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Abass Fuseini Shaabe, who described the initiative as one of the best to improve the standard of education in communities in the district which produce mainly cocoa.
He said the gesture from Cadbury was borne out of the company’s love for children and the district. Cadbury is also sinking 10 wells to provide the people with potable water.
The DCE, who stated that the government was also doing the best to improve education in the area, appealed to the country’s development partners to help wage a crusade against HIV/AIDS in the district.
He expressed his appreciation to Cadbury International, World Vision, VSO, Care International, as well as individuals who had helped to improve the lot of the people in the area.
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