This message is meant to update you on our organizations activities and to let you know our current plans in our efforts in giving back to OPASS. But before I go any further I will like to take this opportunity to thank everyone again on behalf of the association for the sacrifices made in many ways for the success of this years conference in Columbus OH. We were honored to have Hon. Nii Namoale Amasah MP for La, the Ga and Akyem Associations of Columbus, family and friends among others to support us.
Besides the usual fun, networking opportunities and speeches that come with such gatherings we had the opportunity to listen to Doctors Lartey and Asamoa on many health issues.
During our business meeting (first half of the conference) members were briefed on the status of the organization and plans for the future. On the issue of what can do done with the little resource (money) at our disposal in OPASS - for immediate impact and to facilitate both teaching and learning activities, the following areas were selected for consideration:
Refurbishing the computer and science labs Replenishing the library Sport and recreational equipment soccer balls, volley balls, Jerseys etc First aid boxes Audio-visual aids
On our fund raising activity, an inter-houses competition was lunched with the following results in pledges and cash donations:
House 3 = $ 2300.00 1st
House 2 = $1400.00 2nd
House 1 = $1140.00 3rd
House 4 = $1091.00 4th
A raffle drawn was also conducted to bring in more money. In all $9,191.00 came in, in the form of pledges and cash, and $3,387.00 was spent in organizing the conference. Thanks to all those who came from near and far and all those who were with us in spirit. May God bless you.
Current Affairs: We did contact the headmaster last week to discuss our plans to help refurbish the library and or the computer lab based on his priority. According to him his top priority is still the assembly hall. He was informed that due to the resource intensive nature of that project -- its impossible for us to have any meaningful impact - now - due to obvious reasons.
On the library -- he was of the view that the place is too small - looking at the student population of about 1,600 and suggested a new and a bigger place (his wish list) and opted for PCs.
We did mention the fact that according to a report on Ghanaweb that the government has mandated for Information Technology to be one of the compulsory subjects in all SSS and as a result it (the government) was going to provide each SSS with 40 PCs. He did confirm that but reminded us of the fact that more often than not the visible schools with people in politics are always served first and that they may not see any PCs until some yrs down the road. A typical example he said is a promise of a school bus to the school some four yrs ago which is yet to be seen.
This therefore opens the door us to go ahead with our plan. After taking into consideration things like cost, specifications, durability etc, our pick of PCs (PCU & monitor) will cost us about $600.00 each. The question is how many are we getting? Well, based on what we have in our coffers and our anticipation of what is to come in from our donations/contributions, our goal is to get 20 pieces. We believe this can be done if all of us chip in something. We are in consultation with Dell and HP for the best possible deal out there. We will update you as things unfold. May you have a wonderful week. God bless you. Best regards.
