The Airfield School was established in 1990 as a community school under the care of the Ministry of Education. There was no school building provided – only a make-shift shelter. At the request of the community,  Pagus organized and funded the building of a new facility which it opened in 2010.

Setting: Volta Region, near Ho along  the busy Lome Road. 6 acres of flat land.

Scope of Project: Build 8 classrooms plus office, library, storage room,  meeting room, Headmaster office, and sanitation facility with squatting toilets flushed with harvested rain water.

School population: 150 pupils from five surrounding villages.

Parent involvement: PTA  supplied unskilled labor and a School Management Committee was established in 2012. Pagus is part of that committee.

Government Commitment: The government donated 10 bags of cement and furnished the school. In 2011 the government committed to building a Junior High School and to providing electricity. To date there has not been notable progress.

Current Status: The primary school was completed March 2010, furniture and library shelving were delivered March 2011. Our library has a  small selection of Ghanaian books and other books donated from school in the USA. Primary school children are now on a government lunch program.

Trees: Shade and fruit trees were planted in 2007 and more in 2010

Cost of Project: $52,000

About the School:

Students walk between 2 to 5 km to come to school. Parents are mostly peasant farmers and there is a Fulani population that raise cattle. We hope to one day provide a school bus to transport students and teachers.

Classes include Nursery to Junior High School Form 2

All the teachers reside in Ho and have to take commercial cars to and from school as there are no suitable accommodations nearby. Requests have been made to add faculty housing on the school property.

The children and community of Airfield are thrilled with their new school!

Funding for this project was made largely possible by students and teachers from the Boston, NY and Philadelphia areas and friends and family of Shifra Raz and Benny Rubinstein.