“On one of my visits to Ghana, I visited N’Kwasi Village (which I call Rainbow). The village children could only go to school when they were 12 as the nearest school was so far away and they had to walk. When they did go to school, they had to start in Kindergartan, at twelve. So I said I would build them a school.

I got permission from the Elders and they gave us a plot to build on. The villagers were so happy and motivated they cleared the plot themselves. Local builders were hired and Sylvanus used the big ambulance to ferry the building materials. I funded the school with my SSIA money. After the school was built, I went over with my friend, Helen to decorate it and put all the finishing touches to it. The teacher that was hired was only a few years from retiring and when he heard he was being sent to teach in a bush school, he sighed and said, “I guess children in the bush need an education too.” You should have seen his face when he saw the school.

I only supplied 60 chairs because I thought there would only be 60 children in the Rainbow catchment area, but now they are walking for miles, these tiny little tots are walking for miles to come to Rainbow school. They carry their “little, little chairs” with them under their arms. (I love the way they say little, little). Now a little, little chair costs the equivalent of €2.50 and the average national daily wage in Ghana is 60 cents, so if your parents bought a little, little chair for you at the market, woe betide your soul if you come home without it. So they are marching through the bush with their little, little chairs on their little, little heads. 

There are now 110 children attending the little, little school and I applied to the Quakers in Dublin who have funded another 3 classrooms and a principal’s office, so they don’t all have to squeeze into one room.
When I was over in 2006, I handed the school over to the Salvation Army who manage it and provide the teachers.

I am told there are no discipline problems because the kids are all so happy to be there.  If some little mites of 5 have walked for 3 miles to go to school, they are not going to be naughty when they get there. There are so many wonderful toys in the school and sea saws and swings and slides, the children are only too happy to be there. Another benefit is they have clean water to drink from the bore hole I put in just behind the school.  I also left first aid equipment for the teacher so that if the children come in with those horrible bites and wounds, they can get cleaned up as well.  So the little, little school is doing very, very well.”

This is the Rainbow Kindergarden Playground. The money for the equipment was donated by Harry Reid. The fence was made using local bamboo