Peta Hall honoured us with a visit recently to give us an update on a project that is near and dear to her - Atorkor Technical Institute. Pita grew up in Zimbabwe and felt a need to give back to the African community. She felt at home in a remote village of Ghana, Atorkor. In 2009, she asked Brian Clark to design a school. Peta and Rotary raised $50,000 to build it. The school is now recognized as one of the best technical schools and is highly respected in Ghana and has 35 professionals on staff. Last year, with additional funding, they expanded the building by adding two outdoor classrooms.
Atorkor Tech Institute (ATI) graduates have a wide range of knowledge and 19 of them are in a graduate program. ATI provides fees for higher education but the students must maintain good grades and must repay 1/2 of their bursary when they start work. Two example are Electrical Engineer and Fashion Designer in Textiles. So far, four students have graduated and two have returned to teach. Eleven more are waiting for sponsorships. The cost of sponsoring a student is $600.00/year. Peta encouraged Rotarians to consider sponsoring a student.
Peta is leaving December 28 to return to Atorkor, and she has organized 6 students to make sanitary napkins for school girls as a business venture. To find out more about ATI, go to https://atighana.org/.