3:30pm Monday 6th July 2009
By Claire Marshall
A 21-YEAR-OLD who dedicated the last three years to setting up a girls' school in Africa is setting her sights on expanding the project.
Ceri Cockram was featured in the Gazette last year after helping to set up a school for girls in a small village in Ghana where access to education is poor.
Since then Ceri, of Wotton-under-Edge, has been extremely busy and after a trip back out to Tamale in Ghana she said she has a "renewed enthusiasm" for making the project grow.
"It is just so wonderful to go out there and see some of the girls I saw the first time. Some of them are now at state school and are doing really well," she said.
Ceri, a former Rednock student, found the Maltiti project, founded by Fred Addai, a local Ghanaian man, on a gap year trip three years ago.
Mr Addai was unable to keep it going so Ceri and a friend she met on the trip, Maggie, decided to take the school on.
Since then it has gone from strength to strength, having sent 20 local girls to state school last year and another 20 are getting ready to go this year.
Maltiti gives the village girls the basic education and skills needed to move into a state school.
The chance of an education means the girls will have skills to move into a trade and won’t be forced into the cities to make money where they can fall into prostitution or the drugs trade.
Ceri said that so far donations and support from the local area has been great.
"We have got a lot of support from the local area around Wotton, especially in North Nibley, but we really want to get more well known," said Ceri.
The school building that Maltiti had been using in Tamale must be given back to the owner soon, so a project is underway to build a new school in a nearby village.
Ceri said she is grateful to the Dursley Lions Club who donated £1,500 to the Maltiti project, which was to fund both work on the new building and her flights to visit Ghana again.
Ceri, who plans to start university this September studying rural environmental management at Bath, said she is proud that every penny donated goes directly to Maltiti.
"We have no running costs, I work for free from home so £10 donated means £10 towards the project," said Ceri.
"I can’t imagine giving this up. It does take up a lot of my time but it is something that I will always have time for."
She now wants to urge people to consider sponsoring a girl at Maltiti to go to state school. It costs just £69 to fund a girl to attend school for a year and covers her uniform, fees, stationery and a bike to ride to school.
"It is such a small amount of money, but it makes such an amazing difference to these girls," added Ceri.
To sponsor a girl for school or for any other donations contact Ceri on 07817 320781.
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