On 23rd August 2022, the AJANO Cooperative (twitter: AJANO_Coop) successfully distributed 400 packages of food items to children in Pedu, an urban cluster in the Central Region of Ghana via their 20,000 Calorie Project. AJANO Coop was founded by Anthony K. S. Mensah of Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, Akosua D. Asante of Holy Child School in Cape Coast, and John K. N. Mensah, Nee Ashitey Boateng, and Oheneba Nkrabea of Ghana International School in Cantonments.
In August 2021, these students surveyed 150 children in Cape-Coast between the ages of 8 and 15 to determine the type of help which would be most appreciated. About 72% of respondents rated food support during the August 3-week school break as the highest priority.
During the school year, most basic school children in Ghana receive at least one hot meal daily via the school feeding program, but during school breaks, they do not have access to the program which can lead to hardship. With these results in hand, the AJANO Coop began fundraising to meet the target for the following August.
AJANO Coop extends its immense thanks to all those who donated to the cause despite the financial challenges in Ghana and the world over the last couple of years.
After raising over Ghc23,000, the students consulted nutritionists to ensure that their food packages would fulfill children’s dietary needs. AJANO then gathered a few donations in the form of staple food items.
The students also decided to prioritize locally sourced food items and reusable zip-loc packaging. Post consultation, the package for the 20,000 Calorie Project was finalized as follows. 1 kg Royal Aroma Rice, 2kg Gari, 1kg Beans, Palm Oil, Vegetable Oil, Tasty Tom tomato paste enriched with Zinc, Cowbell Milk Powder, and sugar. AJANO Coop would like to express a special thank you to Christina Asmah and all the Abura Market women who helped make purchasing the items easier, as well as all the volunteers who helped to package the items.
To generate awareness for the event and gain permission from guardians, AJANO went from house to house in Pedu to teach children how to grow onions and tomatoes from food waste. The worksheets they distributed also served as tickets for the food distribution the next day.
Some of the children got creative and colored in the worksheet.
While distributing the items to 400 children, AJANO surveyed the children to find out what they wanted to be in the future. Doctors and Lawyers were extremely popular, but one student broke the mold and declared she wanted to become a runway model!
All in all, this was excellent work done by Akosua, John, Anthony, Nee, Oheneba and all the AJANO volunteers. From their twitter page: “This year, AJANO Coop has worked hard to cater to sustainable development goal 2, Zero Hunger with our work on the 20,000 Calorie Project. We plan to expand and continue this program for as long as needed to support a community dear to us”.
AJANO is also working on establishing a permanent food bank and developing an app to connect farms and factories directly to those in need. This is an inspiration for other high school students to also give back to their communities any way they can.
The AJANO Cooperative is also holding an essay competition for high school students this year, so make sure you send in your entries to the Think Deeper Essay Competition for the chance to win amazing prizes!
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