Honourable Regional Minister Hon Joseph Amenowode, Honourable Minister of Woman and Children Affairs and also M P of North Dayi Constituency Akua Sena Dansua, District Director of Education Ms Dora Agorsor, NDC Chairman Rtd Col Kpikpitse, District Commander of Police Supt Festus Dicky Yao Guh, D C E Kpando Hon Francis K Ganyaglo , The Clergy, Togbewo, Mamawo, The Media, Distinguished invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am very pleased to welcome you most sincerely, and I hope you will enjoy your time with us. We are opening a Kindergarten here today, which has been built by me and a German donor, Mr. Jürgen Hattebuhr. The story, how I met Mr. Hattebuhr first in Germany is a nice one and therefore I want to share it with you. During the eighties this man has been one of the leading buyers of wood from Ghana and he felt in love with the country and its people, like I did, when I came here. After retiring he has spent a lot of thoughts on Ghana, but he never came back. I met him and his wife in a restaurant in Hamburg some years ago and he asked me a lot of questions about Ghana and my work here. After reading my book about Ghana he called me and asked me, whether I couldn’t find a project for him to do here. He really wanted to help the people of the nation, where he earned quite a lot of money. He wanted to give something back to the country. The idea of a Kindergarten was born. Unfortunately Mr. Hattebuhr and his wife couldn’t be among us today, but they are sending you their warm regards and their best wishes for this project. As all of you might know, the focus of my development work here is always on health and education, because they are the basics for a better life of each individual. In a Kindergarten the education starts. Let us all pray, that our children are taught by good teachers, so that they will learn respect and understanding. The children are our future and the future of our country too. No child is aware in which ethnic group it has been born into. It is up to their parents and their teachers to broaden their minds and to promote their trust and tolerance into others. And to get them aware, that taking means also giving. Selfishness doesn’t move us forward, even if we are having not so much. Moral and ethic values should be an important part of the education of each child. Only by teaching them patience and honesty, they might be able to grow into a better society. Altruism is another keyword of a better living together, avoiding tribal conflicts and selfish actions. I am here with you, in my second homeland Ghana where I settled now, because my parents and my teachers taught me how a better world for all of us could be. But somebody has to start. We all have to start on our own. We can’t wait for others to let the work be done. We can’t wait for a government to solve all our problems. If we want help, we have to help others. This kindergarten should be a chance, an opportunity. What will finally come out of it, is up to you, the parents, who are sending their children here. And of course up to the teachers, who will hopefully keep up and teach the values for a better society. Taking care of others means taking care of you. It is making you happy too. I am happy, that I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Hattebuhr and that he gave me the opportunity to constract this project. May god bless him. May god bless all of you. And I don’t want to forget the contractor of this building, who did so well, Mr. Simon Cha, who is unfortunately not among us anymore. Ladies and Gentlemen, I also have to thank the community, who helped us a lot in developing the place. Thank you. Mamaga Akosua I
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