Mayo charity project helps schools in Ghana

A 40-foot container packed with schoolbooks and furniture started the long journey from Mayo to Ghana this week.

The Schoolbooks and Furniture for Ghana campaign was an initiative of the Environment Office of Mayo County Council in partnership with the charity Crosscause.

The campaign was initiated by the council to offer a sustainable solution to schools that had old schoolbooks and furniture to dispose of.

The materials, which were collected from 60 Mayo schools, will be distributed for reuse to schools in Ghana giving hundreds of children better educational opportunities.

Sharon Cameron, Environment Awareness Officer with Mayo County Council, thanked all who supported the project.

"This has been a hugely challenging but rewarding campaign and we were delighted to partner with Crosscause charity on this project. 

"In our work with schools, we saw that there were lots of schoolbooks that were no longer needed due to changes in school curriculum, and also lots of really good furniture suitable for reuse. We knew from Crosscause that schools in Ghana had very little materials for their classrooms. 

"My colleagues in the Environment Office and throughout the council came on board to help collect donations and the team at Derrinumera Civic Amenity Centre were instrumental in providing assistance and storage for the items until we were ready to ship them. We are so grateful to all the schools who donated items."

Founded in 2003, Crosscause is an Irish-registered charity dedicated to supporting vulnerable communities in Eastern Europe and West Africa. What started as a volunteer-led initiative for children with disabilities in Romania has grown into a multi-faceted mission, bringing aid and opportunities to those who need them most.

Conor Hughes of Crosscause welcomed the partnership with the council: "Crossscause is very thankful to Mayo County Council taking the lead on this initiative. Our hope is that this collaboration will inspire other counties to join this very positive project. Crosscause can assure all involved that the books, chairs and tables will be cherished again in their new life in the schools of Ghana."

The campaign ended with a day of action, ‘The Meitheal for Ghana’ where Mayo County Council staff joined with Crosscause volunteers to fill all collected items into the container.

The Cathaoirleach of the council, Cllr Sean Carey, attended the event to offer his support of the campaign and acknowledged all the work that had been done to collect all the donated items.

Speaking at the event, Sharon Cameron acknowledged the support of so many who helped with the project. Brian Cunningham Transport Ltd were thanked for the support in transporting the container from Mayo to Dublin, Hazelhill Timber Products for the provision of pallets and Elvery Sports for supplying the much-needed boxes for packing and transport of schoolbooks.

Volunteers from Castlebar Tidy Towns were commended for their great help with the campaign locally in Castlebar.

The container, packed tightly with thousands of books and hundreds of school chairs and tables, was weighed before it set off on its long journey to Ghana and the final weight of donated items leaving Mayo was 21,000kgs!