The Dean of the School of Built Environment of the Bolgatanga Technical University, Professor Callistus Tengan marked his fortieth birthday by spending time with the kids of the Saint Joseph’s Orphanage here in Jirapa.
He also visited the Piiyiri Primary School where he interacted with the school kids, donated some items and acquainted himself at first hand, some of the challenging needs facing the school.
He did these under the auspices of the CHARI – MART FOUNDATION which he founded in memory of his late parents, Martin Luther Tengan and Charity Odella Tengan where it intends undertaking projects in four thematic areas namely; health, education, social work and agriculture.
At the Saint Joseph’s Orphanage, Prof. Tengan through the foundation donated food items such as rice and cooking oil, detergents, exercise books, soap, toiletries such as baby diapers, soft drinks and biscuits among others.
He and his wife Mercy Atignii Tengan and team members of the foundation spent quality time interacting with the kids in the orphanage.
The in-charge of the orphanage, Rev. Sr. Lydia Akanpientiba expressed joy and gratitude to the foundation saying acts such as these go a long way to support the running of the facility especially when donors take time off to visit in person to share their love with the kids.
She lamented that it is unfortunate that there are people living Jirapa who have never stepped a foot in the facility to find out what goes on in there.
She prayed for God’s blessings for Prof. and Mrs. Tengan and the CHARI- MART FOUNDATION, the kids showed their appreciation by singing a “happy birthday” song for Pro. Tengan to mark the occasion.
The team’s next point of call was the Piiyiri Primary School where they donated bags of cement, exercise books and some soft drinks and biscuits.
Prof. Tengan said as a teacher himself, he is very passionate about education and that the foundation is looking at critically working in the education sector to support it.
He says some of the children in the school could easily surpass the feat he has achieved if given the right attention.
Acting Executive Secretary of CHARI – MART FOUNDATION, Evans Ibn Samba said the Piiyiri Primary School was singled out for the donation because of its peculiar needs.
Mr. Samba said apart from the school’s need for a urinal and toilet facilities which it lacks, it is also threatened by erosion from a nearby river.
He said patronage is low in the school because the river has cuts off a large portion of the community especially during the rainy season, forcing children either to drop out of school or trek long distances to other communities to attend school.
He has therefore on behalf of the foundation appealed to the relevant authorities to at least provide a temporal bridge over the river.
The representative of the Municipal Director of Education, Ebenezer Ayema received the donation thanked Prof. Tengan and his team and said as a circuit supervisor he will see to it that it is put to good use especially the construction of a befitting urinal for both the staff and school children.
He admonished the Headmistress to see to it that proper land acquisition and demarcation is done and trees planted to prevent encroachment which he said is becoming rampant and that the school that goes as far as class two will need future expansion even to the Junior High School level.
The Headmistress of Piiyiri Primary School Immaculate Labol expressed gratitude to Prof. Tengan and his wife and the CHARI-MART FOUNDATION for their good deeds and prayed for God’s blessings for them.
She enumerated several challenges facing the school which included lack of adequate staffing, lack of furniture for both teachers and the school children which can only boast of only 15 duel desks for the whole school.
She said school does not even have a single cupboard to store material for teaching and learning.
On his part an official of the coalition of Non Governmental Organizations, David Balooro was excited that an additional organization is joining the coalition which he said will go a long way to champion the aspirations of the coalition.
He appealed to Prof. Tengan to leverage on his experience for the benefit of the foundation and its beneficiaries.
The assembly member for the Piiyiri electoral area, Benedict Nifaazume, some opinion leaders, traditional rulers and some community members were in attendance who had various words of gratitude for Prof. Tengan, his wife and the CHARI- MART FOUNDATION.
