An eight member team from Ohio State University in the US at the weekend visited Chiraa, a farming community in the Sunyani West District of Brong Ahafo Region.

Led by Professors Jamie Greene and Charisma Acai, the team was in the community to finalize a sister-city relationship between the university and the Chiraa Senior High School, initiated by Nana Yeboaa Pene II, Queen mother of Chiraa in 2011.

The team first visited a gari processing factory in the town, paid courtesy call on the Chiraa traditional council and later inspected construction works on the on-going girls’ dormitory being funded by Nana Pene II for Chiraa Senior High School.

Prof Greene explained that the team were in Ghana to participate in the African Conference of Cultural Development in Accra and took opportunity to visit Chiraa and explore the possibilities of establishing the relationship.

He said the Ohio University had established similar relationship with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where students undertake a number of exchange programmes for mutual benefits.

Prof Greene expressed optimism that students at the Chiraa Senior High School would also benefit from similar outreach programmes especially in the area of cultural development.

Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Regional Minister, noted that even though successive government had played their part to promote education, a lot more needed to be done.

He said since the government recognised education as the main tool for poverty alleviation, it had spent nearly five million dollars on educational infrastructure in the region since it assumed power in 2009.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo appealed to the team to support Chiraa Senior High school to help Ghana churn out the required human resource needed for development.

He cited that the Sunyani and Techiman Municipal Assemblies had established similar sister-city relationships with Tuscaloosa State of Alabama where 20 students each from the two assemblies had the opportunity to undertake exchange programmes at the University of Tuscaloosa.

Prof Acai pledged that the team would arrange for funds for the completion of the on-going girls’ dormitory at the Chiraa Senior High School.

Barima Afari Mintah II, Chief of Chiraa appealed to the team to set up an Information Communication Technology facility in the town and also consider constructing a modern library for the school.

Nana Pene expressed the hope that the sister-city relationship would help strengthen relations between Ghana and the USA.**