8/8/2019 Visit to Amadaa

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AMADAA is a small village located about six kilometres away fromNkrumah Nkwanta on the Kumasi-Nyinahin road within the AtwimaMponua District of Ashanti Region; about 40km from Kumasi. This villageis named after a god in the village called “Amadaa” The village of about700 inhabitants whose main occupation is farming with most of thembeing peasant farmers enjoy neither electricity nor, pipe-borne water;however there are some bore-holes which serve as their source of drinking water.

The Amadaa District Assembly (D/A) Primary School is a six-classroom block which serve as the only school for the village. The six-classroom structure has no fixed doors nor windows. Furthermore, all

floors within the structure have notbeen cemented. Pupils, who manageto go through their six-year primaryeducation, walk for about 6kilometers on daily basis to and froNkrumah Nkwanta, the nearest village for the three-year Junior High School (JHS) programme.The standard of living is so low that only few pupils who are fortunate are given 20 GhanaPesewas a day as pocket money. Some of the rest rush home to eat during the break period andquickly run back to continue classes.

Amadaa can boast of no cement block house. There are only mud houses of differenttypes and sizes. Close to the school is a six–bedroom mud house with a detached kitchen builtto accommodate teachers. As at the time of the visit, the roof of four rooms in the teachers'residence had been ripped off by a mighty wind which blew some months before vacation.

The unbearable devastation compelled the teaching staff to move to Nkrumah Nkwanta, thenearest village for accommodation.

The only motorable road leading to the village is untarred and easily gets eroded duringthe rainy season. The situation gets worsened during the rainy season when the main bridgeon the road is submerged by the Offin river which flows through the village. These conditionshave led to uneasy access to transportation since drivers find it very difficult to ply the road.The few old taxis that ply the road do so at a cost of 0.50 Ghana Pesewas per head with aminimum number of six passengers excluding the driver. This is the main reason why pupilswalk since their parents cannot afford the fare. Incidentally, our visit coincided with a heavy

down pour of rain in the morning and even travelling in a saloon car we had our experienceof struggling with the poor condition of the road.

Next to Amadaa is a hamlet called Asuogya which means (beyond the river). This settlement isseparated from Amadaa by river Offin. The inhabitants cross the Offin river everyday in order toundertake their daily routine activities within its surroundings with an old community canoe built someyears ago. The same river serves as their only source of drinking water. Because there is no school atAsuogya, children of school going age who live in the village attend primary school at Amadaa D/APrimary, and continue with their Junior High School education at Nkrumah Nkwanta. This means pupilsin the Junior High School who live at Asuogya have a daily routine of crossing the river with a canoe andafterwards walking a distance of about 8 kilometres to get to school. The situation has deprivedchildren below the age of six the right to equal education because it is unsafe for them to cross theriver daily to attend school at Amadaa. During the rainy season the river overflows its banks posing

more danger to the school pupils. It would simply be understatement to mention health hazards sincethe nearest hospital is about 10km away.

The people of Amadaa touched our hearts with their hospitality; they welcomed us to their homes;the children never left us. The smile on their faces make one feel welcome and comfortable even beforea word is spoken.

Stationery and some clothing we took along with us were distributed to school pupils and thecommunity in general. We left Amadaa with a profound memory of the people, especially thechildren, and a longing to go back one day. We are currently mobilizing resources to organize a medical

screening exercise in the two communities.

A VISIT TO AMADAA