For nearly nine decades, the children of Adarkwa Methodist Primary School in Eastern Region studied in a crumbling classroom block, one so dilapidated that heat, rain, and illness regularly stole school days from them. But on May 22, that long struggle gave way to celebration.
Nestlé Ghana and ECOM Ghana handed over a brand-new six-unit classroom block to the community, complete with offices, storerooms, and toilets. The project is part of a broader push to raise educational standards in cocoa-growing regions across the country.
At the handover ceremony, Nestlé Ghana’s Managing Director, Salome Azevedo, described the initiative as more than bricks and mortar.
“This is about inspiring new hope and creating greater opportunities for the children here,” she said. “In a good classroom, students feel respected and ready to learn. Confidence is built. Dreams are nurtured.”
Azevedo also revealed that the school desks inside the new classrooms are made from recycled plastic, a deliberate nod to tackling plastic waste while building the future.
She added that Nestlé has already commissioned four schools in the Ashanti Region this year, along with another in Akroma (Central Region), with three more underway in partnership with ECOM Ghana, expected before year’s end.
“We source cocoa from these communities,” she noted. “We want to see them thrive sustainably.”
Speaking on behalf of the Suhum Municipal Chief Executive, presiding member Lydia Ohenewa Sarah praised the partners for stepping in where infrastructure had long failed.
“This facility will improve teaching, boost attendance, and lift academic performance,” she said, urging the school and parents to protect the investment for generations to come.
For Headmaster Emmanuel Padi, the moment was deeply personal. “For almost 90 years, we operated in a structure that was falling apart,” he said.
“Children stayed away. Sometimes they fell sick from the heat. In heavy rain or blazing sun, learning simply stopped.”
Now, he believes, that era is over. “This isn’t just a building. It’s a new beginning.”
