teaching at tahama

Tahama opened with a kindergarten class for children ages 4 and 5. Each year, we will add a new class of students. Teachers in our community learning centers are from the local area and many are graduates of our educational programs. Classes are taught bilingually in Dagbani and English and emphasize local culture and environmental education.

The Tahama Center is directed by Madam Salma, pictured left with her first class of kindergarten students. Madam shared that she is, "loving her work" and "every day she is thinking about her work and how to come up with a new strategy to help with teaching."

student nutrition and health

Childhood nutrition is an increasing concern in our partner communities due to poor and unpredictable rainfall, global food shortages, the cost of oil and transportation, and currency value declines in Ghana.

To help increase nutrition for our students, we provide school lunches. Some of the food for lunches comes from the school garden and from our women's farming projects. All other food is purchased from local markets, supporting women in the region. Food is prepared by two mothers of students at the school who are hired as part-time cooks (pictured left). Having a kitchen building at Tahama is a significant help to our school lunch program as food can be stored and prepared with clean water from rainwater catchment. 

environmental and outdoor education

Tahama uses an environmentally focused curriculum, including outdoor education which is designed to be a model for other rural schools and includes:
  • Learning of colors, numbers, teamwork, English, and many other skills in the outdoor garden classroom by studying plants, trees, insects, soil, water, and natural features of the community.
  • A school garden that students help to plant with tomatoes, peppers, garden egg (eggplant), okra, corn, and rice. Children care for the plants and help water them using our rainwater catchment system. 
  • A native and fruit tree planting and raising program.
  • Skill development through reading, writing, and activities about African wildlife.​
  • Outdoor play areas including a music wall, swings,  and a soccer field. 

community engagement

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The community will form a Parent Teachers Association for Tahama to share advice on school programming. Communities are also engaged through end of term events where students do plays and performances to share what they have learned each term. Parent volunteers help with the annual planting of school gardens. In the future, using the solar power at Tahama, we hope to hold evening youth and adult education programs, including English language classes and women's public health trainings.

you can help
Your donation can help fund a year of a child's education with daily lunches!