Nkanfoa Methodist School and Church Aid logo. The Ghanaian flag superimposed on the charity's name
Afternoon Tea on 31st August 2019

All about the charity

In 2002, when Ian & Diana Bosman retired from teaching they offered themselves to go to work as Mission Partners and, having been accepted, in 2003 they were invited to go to work in Ghana at the Rev Alec Jones Memorial Methodist School, Nkanfoa, near Cape Coast in Ghana. Diana became the headteacher, Ian helping with the administration and as development manager.

When Ian & Diana came home, having retired in 2006, they did not cease their work for the school as it had embarked on a program of classroom building because class sizes had risen to up to 85 pupils in a class due to the successful results of the Junior High School pupils in their leaving exams which have been averaging above 95% pass rate since the first group entered in 2008. The school is part of the Ghana Education Service, ie a state school, and is not allowed to turn away pupils requesting entry so there are over 800 pupils in the school. All of the buildings have been erected by using funds from the donations of friends in this country. Appeals for funds to build from the Ghana government have not been successful as the stipulation is that the land on which any state funded building is erected must belong to the state so the church has always refused this permission. At the moment there is a part completed classroom block where pupils are taught in rooms without doors and windows and we want to see this completed as soon as possible. So far donated money since 2003 has built a new toilet block, a library, workshops and started a new block of classrooms.

Meantime the local Methodist Church has also embarked on a new building on a new site as the old building is quite inadequate for their needs being full to overflowing every Sunday.

So the purpose of the charity is to support the school and the church with their building projects currently and to provide support by donating our time at the school, donating equipment and books. Diana spends much of her time every year at the school assisting the teachers of the final year of Junior High in the teaching of Maths and English. Ian provides ICT support as well as his DIY skills for many minor repairs. All of this is carried out with the permission of the school headteacher, PTA and School Management Committee.

Since 2011, we have sent over £66 000 to the school to build classrooms with £9 950 being sent in 2017.