Coalville Belvoir Rotary has been part of an ambitious project to provide a new science laboratory and STEM resource centre to a primary school in the town of Agona Swedru in south-western Ghana. 

Until now the school's teachers have had to teach science subjects entirely from textbooks, so for the students, this new facility, which was built in just six months, will bring physics, chemistry and biology to life. 

Coalville Belvoir Rotary is a community-based club with almost all of its fundraising going to local good causes. 

But, as Rotary is a global organisation, it means projects can take place all over the world.

Coalville Belvoir joined forces with lead club Kettering Huxloe and a number of other Rotary clubs in the East Midlands in delivering this £31,000 project. 

Backed by grants totalling £10,000 from The Rotary Foundation, as well as contributions from private individuals and St Giles Church in Desborough, the clubs raised enough money not only to build the science centre, but also to fully furnish and equip it and to provide a healthy stock of materials.  

There was some money left over to cover the cost of two new projectors and a new roof for one of the school's older classrooms.

Such is the level of demand for its facilities, the new science building will be open more or less from dawn to dusk every day apart from Sundays.  

But this is not a place the students of Agona Swedru School will have all to themselves.  

It will be available for the pupils of several other schools in the area to use as well.

As a result, it is expected that as many as 3,300 students will be using the facility in addition to those at the school itself.

Six Rotary club members made the journey to Ghana to take part in the ceremony to mark the official opening of the new building.  

They were completely overwhelmed by the enthusiastic reception they received from the school's students and teachers. 

Many local dignitaries also attended the event which featured much lively singing and dancing as well as many upbeat and appreciative speeches.  

For the visiting Rotarians, the opening ceremony was an inspirational experience. Something they said they will never, ever forget. A whirl of happy and excited young faces against a background of vivid colours and sounds.   

This building project is the culmination of seven years of Rotary support for Agona Swedru School. It all began when Alfred Hanson, who was educated at the school but came to the UK and spent much of his working life in Northamptonshire, retired and returned to his home town in Ghana. Having visited his old school and found how run-down it had become, he determined to do something about it. 

He enlisted the help of his friend and former work colleague, Rotarian Paul Bertin, and over the ensuing years, the two of them have driven a complete turn-round in the school's fortunes.  

This turn-round has seen a huge improvement in the condition and range of the school's buildings but, more significantly, there has been a dramatic upturn in the students' academic achievements – with some pupils even winning national awards in recent times.  

Paul said: "I am so proud of what Alfred and I have been able to do for Agona Swedru School, most recently the completion and opening of this fabulous science building which was delivered on time and within budget.  

"I am so grateful to the members of the other Rotary clubs across the East Midlands that have got behind us with such enthusiasm and of course to The Rotary Foundation for its crucial financial backing.  

"It is reassuring that throughout a time when things have been tough for people here in the UK and when our focus, as Rotarians, has rightly been on supporting our local communities, those who live in poorer parts of the world have not been forgotten."  

Coalville Belvoir Rotary welcomes new members who are interested in the work it does.

Email [email protected] or go to the website at www.coalvillebelvoirrotary.org.

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