Viasat1 has announced Samuel Gyabah as the winner of the maiden edition of Game Changers competition, a project aimed at bringing a change to children’s education in Ghana.

The project, which is a Viasat1 Corporate Responsibility initiative with partnership from Reach for Change, was announced in May 2014. From almost 300 entries, the project coordinators pruned down to 25, and eventually to the five finalists.

The objective was to identify the best individuals running initiatives to improve education in their community. The expectation was to identify passionate individuals who were already doing something even on a small scale but with the ambition to grow.

Samuel is providing clean micro-flush toilets for schools around the country with a focus on sanitation and health education in order to curb absenteeism especially among female students. The toilets are built to breakdown the waste into fertilizer. These toilets are placed with water, which promotes hand washing among school children. He has successfully run a pilot constructing units in schools in Koforidua and now also in Pokuase.

The five successful applicants were provided a platform on Viasat1 to showcase themselves and exhibit their initiatives to the viewing public over a period of six weeks. After the exhibition period, the public then voted through SMS for the most convincing and effective education changing social entrepreneur from Aug 1st through the 23rd.

The ultimate winner was declared LIVE on Viasat1’s morning show This Morning on Monday, August 25, 2014. Samuel received a cheque of GHC50,000 and will also receive professional coaching to grow his project into a sustainable organisation through an Incubator program by Reach for Change over the course of three years. Each contestant: Serwah, Samuel, Anthony and Florence, received GHC3,000 grant prize and support to develop their initiatives.

CEO of Viasat1 Broadcasting Limited, Maame Ama Asare-Konadu, says: “Viasat1, as a media platform, recognizes our unique role in society. As an entity, it is our responsibility to support social development. For our maiden Corporate Responsibility project, we chose to partner with Reach for Change with the primary focus on educational reform. Our five finalists have shown tremendous foresight and dedication in their various projects and Viasat1 is delighted to have contributed to such a worthy course. Congratulations to Samuel Gyabah on taking first place and to all the finalist who participated.”

Maame also added that Viasat1 is committed to ensuring that projects such as Game Changers garner the most exposure for success.

The Game Changers campaign in Ghana is part of a broader search for Game Changers around the world, in an international collaboration between Modern Times Group and Reach for Change.