The First Lady of Equatorial Guinea, Mrs Constancia Mangue Nsue de Obiang, is sponsoring eight children from her country, to acquire basic education in Ghana, as a personal initiative to deepen the ties between her country and Ghana.

Through the Committee for support of the Equatoguinean Child (CANIGE) and her personal initiative, she partnered Voice of Africa Mothers (VAM), Ghana to provide resources to cover lodging, feeding and tuition of the Equatorial Guinean children aged between 11 and 13 years.

Four boys; Teodoro Obianj Nfumu, 13, Angel Nguema Asini, 11, Teodoro Nguema Nfumu, 13, Augustin Bayeme Angue, 11, and four young girls, namely; Naria Fatima Obono Nguema, 12, Fomasa Mofuman Nguema, 12, Constancia Mangue Nfumu, 13, Prisca Nchama Mba, 11, who arrived in the country on Sunday, have been enrolled at John William Montessori School, at Tanoso in the Ashanti Region.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mrs. Nana Fosu Randall, founder, VAM, and co-founder of John William Montessori School, said the children would have a one-month intensive foundation course in basic computing and English language usage.

Mrs. Randall said it is a pilot project that aims at giving the African child quality education, to shore up quality human resource for sustainable growth and development of the African continent. She said after the one month period of intensive studies, they would be able to assess the children, and place each of them in an appropriate class to start a full basic education programme.

According to her, all the necessary provisions have been put in place to ensure that the target set for the initiative is achieved, adding that the project will be expanded to take on more children after a successful completion. “The programme would expose the children to other cultures in the world, and also enable them get access to international platforms to enable them fit into the global system,” she said.

The children were accompanied by Ndong Mba Ernesto Valentin, Director-General, Cabinete De La Primera Dama, and Federico Obama Isono, Special Aide to the First Lady, and were welcomed by Equatorial Guinean representatives in the country. CANIGE is an important institution in Equatorial Guinea’s efforts to promote child and social development through education.