John William Montessori School (JWMS)

In 1997, John William Montessori School (JWMS) was established in Kumasi, Ghana by Nana and her husband, John.  JWMS was named for her late husband, John, a professor, and her son, William, the “main supports” in her life. Nana and John used their personal funds to open JWMS. 

The Boards of Directors for VAM and JWMS voted to include the school as a VAM major project after the loss of Mr. Randall.

Today the school is highly regarded by the Ministry of Education. Enrollment has grown from 36 to over 750 students, an average of 40 students graduate annually and over 100 graduates have moved on to higher education. Charitable donations and tuition is crucial to its continued success.

Center For Children With Autism Spectrum Disease

Voices of African Mothers (VAM) a non-governmental organization founded by Nana Fosu-Randall has formally established a centre to care for children with Autism Spectrum Disease this 2015 academic year at the John William Montessori School (JWMS), which was founded by Mrs. Randall and her late husband Prof. John L. Randall.

According to Mrs. Randall, JWMS has accepted children with Autism over the years and currently has 10 children. However; with this official launching of a formal center, they will be able to help more children.

She also stated that “Some of the Autistic children we have cared for over the years have already been trained to become successful in academic and home economic skills. Based on the good results we have had in the past ten years, we have it in mind to continue this work … that makes me hopeful and happy”.

Mrs. Randall mentioned that the children’s daily activities are structured by a team of nurses and teachers led by Dr. Kwaku Banfo Bandoh.

VAM welcomes all support from individuals, organizations and foundations to help us continue to enroll and educate children who are suffering from Autism Spectrum Disease, instead of allowing them to be neglected.

We sincerely thank our individual donors and organizations for their support over the years!

Reported by: Syxtus Eshun

School to School Skype

In collaboration with the Links, Inc. of New York USA, students from JWMS and Woodlands High School in Mt. Vernon, NY, had the opportunity to communicate via Skype in April, 2015. Topics of discussion included school lessons, sports, family, etc.

The program was very successful and they promised to continue an ongoing relationship.

JWMS Welcomes Students from Equatorial Guinea

In 2014, JWMS received the first of 8 children being sponsored by The First Lady of Equatorial Guinea, Mrs Constancia Mangue Nsue de Obiang, from her country, to acquire basic education in Ghana, as a personal initiative to deepen the ties between her country and Ghana.

Through the Committee for support of the Equatoguinea Child (CANIGE) and her personal initiative, the First Lady has partnered with VAM to provide resources to cover lodging, feeding and tuition of the Equatorial Guinean children aged between 11 and 13 years.

This pilot project is to ensure the African child a quality education, to shore up quality human resource for sustainable growth and development of the African continent. The program begins with a one month intensive foundation course in basic computing and English language usage. After the one month period of intensive studies, they will be able to assess the children, and place each of them in an appropriate class to start a full basic education program.

All the necessary provisions have been put in place to ensure that the target set for the initiative is achieved, and the project will be expanded to take on more children after a successful completion. The program will expose the children to other cultures in the world, and also enable them get access to international platforms to enable them to fit into the global system.

The children were accompanied by Ndong Mba Ernesto Valentin, Director-General, Cabinete De La Primera Dama, and Federico Obama Isono, Special Aide to the First Lady, and were welcomed by Equatorial Guinean representatives in Ghana.

CANIGE is an important institution in Equatorial Guinea’s efforts to promote child and social development through education.