The Ho-Bankoe Elorm Parish of the E.P. Church has adopted Kpohe, a farming community in the Akatsi-North District, and established a junior high school there.

The school, which now has students in forms one and two, has a total student population of 42 made up of 17 girls and 25 boys.

The Elorm Parish branch of the Evangelical Presbyterian Students Union (EPSU) has been organizing holiday and weekend classes and

motivationaltalks for the pupils.

Until the establishment of the school in 2013, pupils from the local Primary Six had to trek about four kilometers to nearby Yevi to attend JHS with many of the pupils, mainly girls, discontinuing their education.

The Church also plans to undertake a number of projects including agriculture jointly with the community where tomatoes and maize cultivation are major economic activities.

As part of its regular outreach programme, a delegation of the Church led by Rev Albert Kwasi Addae, Parish Pastor and the Associate Pastor, Rev Lawson Kwaku Dzanku Wednesday visited the community and presented some educational materials, clothes and footwear to the people.

Rev Addae praised the late Mr Samuel Ahiabu, former head-teacher of the local Primary School, who was instrumental in drawing the attention of the Church to the plight of pupils in the community.

Rev Addae urged the community to take keen interest in the growth of the JHS in honour of the Mr Ahiabu who died in a motor accident while pursuing issues concerning the JHS.

Mr Oscar Bobonu, the Head teacher of the local Primary School, said teachers from the Primary school were also teaching at the JHS and promised to do his utmost to ensure that the JHS flourished, describing it as “valuable gift.”

Mr Paul Ayrah, an opinion leader in the community, said the adoption of the community by the Church would expose its people to the realities of life and facilitate its development

“The people here are suffering,” he told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.

He said with delay in the provision of a Community Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) Compound in the community, expectant women had to be taken on motor bikes to Ave-Dakpa, the District capital for delivery.

Mr Ayrah said in worse situations some expectant women had to be conveyed by push carts to the main Ho-Aflao road about seven kilometers away in the hope of catching a vehicle to Ave-Dakpa.

He said the community had been experiencing a glut in tomatoes and maize, as vehicles from Dzodze came to the community only on market days.