Story by Cam Cyr, Photos Retrieved by Kwaku Oppong
When a truck carrying new desks, chairs and school supplies arrived at Roman Catholic Primary School in Mumford, Ghana, students gathered around, eager to see what had been delivered.
For Kwaku Oppong, a 16-year-old junior at Hingham High School, watching the children react to the new furniture was one of the most meaningful moments of a project he had spent weeks organizing from thousands of miles away.
“I had always taken things like chairs and tables in my school for granted, but it truly touched my heart seeing the younger kids’ reaction to having something as simple as red and blue chairs,” Oppong said.
Oppong raised $5,137 through a GoFundMe fundraiser this summer to provide new furniture and supplies for the school in his grandmother’s village. The supplies included new desks, chairs and shelves, along with Veronica buckets for handwashing, televisions and other requested items. The fundraiser launched in late June and ran for about a month, drawing donations through Instagram, Facebook and word of mouth.
Oppong’s father was born and raised in Ghana, and his grandmother still lives in Mumford, a village in the country’s Central Region. Oppong first visited Ghana last year and returned this summer, when he saw firsthand the conditions at the school.
The idea for the fundraiser grew out of his family’s tradition of giving back. The family typically spends part of Martin Luther King Jr. Day participating in community service and earlier this year donated money to an orphanage in Accra in honor of his grandmother’s birthday.
Inspired by that donation, Oppong decided to organize a project of his own. His aunt helped identify Roman Catholic Primary School through a connection with his grandmother’s church and contacted the school’s principal to learn what was needed.
The principal shared photographs and a list of requested items, which Oppong was able to confirm during his visit in July. Desks and chairs were worn, broken and deteriorating, and there were not enough seats for all the students. Some children shared benches with four or five classmates, while others sat on the floor. The school also lacked classroom fans, access to screens and sanitation facilities.
The school’s two kindergarten classes alone had approximately 72 students, Oppong said.
“I have always been raised with the idea that the most important thing in the world is education,” Oppong said. “Seeing all of the children in the town where my grandmother grew up without access to the basics of schooling really resonated and hurt my soul.”
With the funds raised, Oppong worked with family members in Accra to source furniture, coordinating with a furniture factory to build shelves and with other vendors to obtain the remaining supplies. The $5,137 was enough to fulfill the principal’s entire list of requested items.
Although Oppong had seen the supplies packed into a truck the day before delivery, the students’ reaction when it arrived brought the impact of the project into focus. He met with the students and teachers who would use the new furniture, and the teachers and assistant principal expressed excitement and gratitude.
His father also overheard one student ask a teacher whether the children could sleep overnight at the school so they could continue enjoying the new facilities.
Another moment that stayed with Oppong was a speech from the local priest, who described his unsuccessful efforts to secure government support for the school. Seeing the school receive the furniture after those efforts had fallen short underscored the significance of the project, Oppong said.
In a speech to the students, Oppong emphasized the importance of education, exploring different perspectives and learning about the world beyond the classroom. He hopes to continue supporting the school and expanding educational opportunities in Mumford.
“There is so much still left to be done,” Oppong said.
His next goal is to organize a larger fundraiser to help build bathrooms at the school. He is working with the principal and local pastor to determine what the project would require and hopes to return to Ghana in the coming months to continue the effort.
Oppong credited his family, the furniture company, the local pastor, the school’s principal, and residents of Hingham for helping make the project possible.
“The people of Hingham are so very kind and generous and were willing to share their resources with the children of Mumford over 5,000 miles away,” he said. “I’m so fortunate to be part of a community that is deeply thoughtful and generous.”