Fourteen-year-old Adjoa Gyakoa Appiah-Kubi, Junior High School (JHS) Two Pupil of Efutu M/A Basic School in Cape Coast has won this year’s School’s Sanitation Solutions (Triple S) Challenge competition, and crowned Child Sanitation Diplomat for 2023/2024.
The laureate, beaming with smiles walked gaily from her seat, after the grand finale of the competition, held at the National Theatre, in Accra, to the front of the stage, to receive her prizes, amidst flashes and display of lights, music and joy from the audience.
She shed tears for the win, for which as a diplomat, would attract both local and foreign engagements.
Adjoa-Gyakoa had beaten thousands of contestants in the nationwide competition, the fourth edition, launched earlier in the year by World Vision, Ghana (WVG), a Christian humanitarian organisation, and some partners, to encourage pupils to identify and address sanitation problems.
As Legal Practitioner and Quizmaster Dan Afari Yeboah, waited for the scores of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation ‘What Do You Know’ quiz competition, that climaxed the competition to be announced, the contestants sat quietly in anticipation of which of them might take over from Maame Akua Ohenewaa Gyimah, the outgoing Diplomat, whose term comes to a close at the end of September 2023.
When the results were announced, Adjoa Gyakoa, had won, with 33.5 points, beating Vanessa Lamisi Asiedu of St Bernadette Soubirous School in Dansoman, Accra, who had 27 points; Hannah Fokuoof Biadan Methodist Junior High School, in Berekum in the Bono Region; and Vanessa Wenaba Adune, a Class Six Pupil of The Great Victory Academy in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region.
Aside being decorated with a sash by the outgoing Diplomat, Adjoa Gyakoa received a cash prize of GHC 5,000, a certificate of honour signed by the Ghana Director of World Vision, a plaque of honour, a Galaxy Samsung A8 tablet, a modem router, a laptop computer and a printer for her school.
The elated laureate, on receiving the award, promised to educate, during her reign, people on how to manage their solid waste and other wastes.
She said: ‘I was very excited when I was announced as the winner of the challenge. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect to be the winner, but I am grateful to God for making me the winner.
‘I’m grateful for my friends and family for their prayers and support in making me reach the finals and win as the Child Sanitation Diplomat. For the one year, my focus will be on solid waste management. I would educate people on how to manage their solid waste and other waste that they produce.
‘I would also encourage other colleagues to learn and study so that they can also get to this point.’
The other finalists were given undisclosed cash prizes, tablets, certificates, plaques of honour, a desk top computer, and other souvenirs.
Dr Freda Prempeh, the Minister of Sanitation, in a speech read on her behalf by the Director at the Ministry of Sanitation, Patricia Dovi Sampson, promised that the Government would ensure better access to proper sanitation, reduce the prevalence of open defecation and improve the overall public health.
She noted the negative effects of poor sanitation and hygiene in schools, communities, and workplaces, and said they reduced productivity due to ill-health.
Dr Prempeh, however, gave an assurance that the Government was passionate and committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of people through the improvement of water sanitation and hygiene delivery services nationwide.
‘Government would also ensure that there are places of convenience in every school,’ she added.
Madam Laura Del Valle, National Director of World Vision commended efforts to empower children to advocate the removal of barriers and promote access to improved sanitation was a noble cause and called on all stakeholders to continue to empower, support and lead advocacy for improved water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Children’s Sanitation Fair is a platform through which students send out sensitisation messages through drama, music, dance, and poetry.
Source: Ghana News Agency