Registered Charity No: 1096242
email:
info@friendsoftafo.org
info@friendsoftafo.org
Friends of Tafo, PO Box 43826 London NW6 1XG
Friends of Tafo Newsletter AUTUMN 2006
Friends of Tafo is a UK Charity that facilitates and inspires sustainable development in education, health, employment and infrastructure in the town of Kwahu-Tafo, Ghana, West Africa.
This is the eighth FOT newsletter and celebrates 5 years of Friends of Tafo!
Five years of friendship!
To give our celebrations a major boost we received the wonderful news that the Senior Secondary School will be officially recognised by the Ghana Education Service from the start of this academic year. This means that the teachers' salaries are paid, some text books are supplied, and that the school is eligible for general government assistance.
To reach this point, FOT and its donors have helped the KTDC to build four new classrooms, a head master's office, a science lab, washrooms, a 40-strong computer classroom, a staff common room, a library, an assembly hall; to connect water and electricity; and to recruit an eight-strong professional teaching staff.
The last five years
The story starts in 2001 when UK TV producer Humphrey Barclay was sworn in as Development Chief of Kwahu-Tafo and, along with his friends and family, formed Friends of Tafo to support his responsibilities. FOT works with the Kwahu-Tafo Development Council to help the town achieve a wide variety of goals.
Since then, YOU have enabled Tafo to:
Get children into school
Open a library
Found a Music Academy
Build classrooms
Equip computer rooms
Provide craft training
Improve health
Repair wells
and a whole host of other projects
... and the work goes on.
Education
Following the success with the Senior Secondary School we are now focusing on rescuing Kindergartens and rainins standards in education via teacher training workshops. Furthermore, despite the Government's abolition of school fees, there are still very young children whose parents do not have the means to buy uniforms and exercise books. We help them get into school.
Sanitation
We continue to need money to assist the community's efforts to improve the sanitation and safety of the wells in the town, and to provide more lavatories for the general public and particularly in schools.
Twinning
We are looking for more schools which want to twin with Tafo. We have details available - please contact us!
Skills
Most familites in Tafo have no income at all. FOT is looking to create a Business Development Fund, to step up training programmes and include start-up loans to those who graduate from our craft skills workshops in glass beads, cane furniture, tie and dye, batik, soap making, beekeeping and leatherwork. We also have plans for an apprentice scheme like assisting this disabled tailor to buy a sewing machine and learn his trade.
... all this wil help in the regeneration of Kwahu-Tafo and ensure that the town's development continues to be sustainable.
What you can do:
Giving to FOT puts you directly in touch with a community where we make sure you see speedy effective results.
Do you have a spare, £10? that's all it costs to send a child to school for a year, and many parents can't manage it.
Donations: join our list of generous friends! Donations by cheque, standing order or internet: www.cafonline.org‚ Regular donations help us plan. We can also send unwanted educational books and toys to Tafo, where they will be appreciated beyond words.
GoodGifts Catalogue: This Christmas Tafo's beekeepers will again be featured in the ethical Gift catalogue. We wish we could send each of you a tast of the honey, which is truly delicious. See www.goodgifts.org
Hold an event: We are always delighted and grateful to all those people who hold fundraising events on our behalf. Some recent examples include an Art Show, featuring FOT at a 40th Birthday Party, and a 'Hippo' event! Please get in contact if you have an idea you'd like our help with.
The Empire Strikes Black 3: Held on May 21st 2006 and raised £10,000 profit. A fantastic bill of comedy and music stars created yet another fabulous show - thanks to all who starred, produced, attended and gave so generously on the night. Needless to say, TESB4 is in preparation for next May!
Recent donors: BFSS, Douglas Turner Trust, DHL, GoodGifts Catalogue readers, W & E Harris Trust, ie:music, the Kwahuman Association of GB and NI, A. G. Leventis Foundation, IBLF, Morgan Stanley, SAFE Trinity Hall, SAFE St Johns College, Samuel Whitbread Community College, Shere C of E Infants School, Siemens, Standard Chartered Bank, Western Union and a host of individuals... Thank you all!!!
Christmas cards now available!! Choose from one of our three designs. See order form here.
Friends of Tafo
Chair: Humphrey Barclay, Development Chief (Nkosuohene) of Kwahu-Tafo
Secretary: Georgina Owen; Treasurer: Benjamin Ntim; Trustees: Crispin Leyser,
Jules Leyser, Daisy East, Lizzie Pomeroy, Robert Taylor;
Committee Members: Colena Abbosh, Dr. John Ofori