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Pediatorkope sits about 100 kilometres from Accra, yet feels a world apart in opportunity. The school is under-resourced compared to what many of our children enjoy. Each school day, students and teachers — 9 of the 14 teachers — cross the river by boat, sometimes without adequate life jackets. The commute itself is a lesson in risk.

On July 23, 2025, late in the afternoon, 75 volunteers and delegates boarded motor boats and canoes at Aqua Safari and crossed the river to the island, bringing 10 brand new life jackets for students and teachers — a small but clear statement about valuing human life and mitigating risk.

Until July 2025, the classroom blocks had not been wired and lit. Imagine teaching or learning any subject in perpetual dusk for years. PMI Ghana engaged an electrician and supplied materials for the internal and external wiring and lighting of a six-classroom block. Illumination is not just brightness; it extends lessons, dignity, and possibility.

Transport was another constraint for Pediatorkope Basic School. For more than a decade, the school relied on an outboard motor supplied by the Ghana Education Service. When it failed, the community fell back on paddles and muscle. PMI Ghana delivered a brand new Yamaha outboard motor, valued at GHS 26,500 to the school. The motor will go into service when classes resume, reducing the crossing from 20–25 minutes of paddling to 6–10 minutes by motor. Time saved on water becomes time gained for learning and rest. The donation also included approximately 500 exercise books.

There was a noticeable conversation gap at Pediatorkope. Through no fault of theirs, some children’s English proficiency doesn’t match their peers’ just 100 km away. Our responsibility as professionals is to see such gaps clearly and respond with structured support rather than judgement. That commitment already lives in Roseline Sogah, a third-grade teacher who has served the school for five years. She is a passionate educator, bead-worker, and aspiring lawyer who documents her journey on Instagram @rosie_theislandteacher. If sustained impact is the goal, we should amplify and back the work of women like Roseline who are building futures from scarce resources.

This visit to Pediatorkope reinforced a vital lesson: it is crucial to consistently expose the privileged next generation to the realities and challenges faced by others as we strive for a better, well-developed nation. Inequity doesn’t disappear; rather, it can metastasize into harmful insecurity. Years ago, that conviction nudged me — fresh from graduating summa cum laude in Computer Science — to move to a village for some years, and help change the narrative for disadvantaged children. Nation-building isn’t charity; it’s risk prevention on a grand scale.

The Pediatorkope effort aligns with the UN SDGs:

Alignment is not enough, though. Let’s commit to regular check-ins, not just annual photos. Practical next steps could include: a termly safety audit on life jackets; reading-support sessions to close language gaps; micro-grants for teacher development; and a simple maintenance plan for the outboard motor and electrical wiring. By doing so, we contribute to national development. If we keep crossing water—consistently, not ceremonially—the distance between islands and cities will no longer be measured in opportunity.