Who we are?

The country

Ghana is located in Western Africa. Almost half of the population has to live with less than one US dollar per day.

The country has been independent since 1957. Education is a priority of Ghanaian politics. Since 2005, all children have had the opportunity to attend elementary school for free. In addition, there are private schools such as Midnight Sun International School as well as Koran schools. All three systems can be freely chosen by the students' parents and co-exist as equivalent options. The educational reform of 2007 extended basic schooling from nine to eleven years. This includes two years of kindergarten (preschool), six years of primary school (elementary school) and three years of junior high school (middle school). Children start preschool at age four, primary school at age six or, in exceptional cases, at age five.

There are 46 regional languages and dialects in Ghana. At elementary school, classes are often held in the respective regional dialect. In secondary schools, however, the language of instruction is always English. For this reason, English is already spoken with the children in kindergarten at Midnight Sun International School.
Although basic education is free at public schools for a period of nine years, the students and/or their parents need to pay for the school uniform, textbooks and other educational materials. And even though schooling is compulsory in Ghana, many children do not have the opportunity to attend school. In many cases, children have to overcome a long distance from their home to the next school. In addition, many parents - often illiterate themselves - depend on their children's work for the family and the farm.

The village

Langbinsi is located in the North of Ghana. The village has only one unpaved road that will be asphalted soon. 14 hours are needed for the trip from the capital Accra to Langbinsi with public and semi-public transportation.
The village has around 5,000 inhabitants, including many farmers and shepherds who live in the outskirts. Just as in other parts of Ghana, most of them are subsistence farmers. They produce basic foodstuff such as corn, rice, millet, yam, manioc, plantains, vegetables, peanuts and fruits for their own consumption and only sell what is left. The same applies for products from livestock such as cows, sheep and goats. There is a market every three days where people can buy tomato paste, okras, peppers, tomatoes, yam, coconuts, oranges, melons but also Maggi cubes and spaghettis.
People live in clay houses and sleep on mats on the floor. Water has to be taken from a well. An outpatient clinic ensures basic medical care in Langbinsi. The village is connected to the electricity supply grid.

The school

Midnight Sun International School was founded in 2012 by Richard Bindifrim and his wife Lamisi Yerrow in order to ensure basic schooling for the children of the rural community of Langbinsi. As a vital aspect, the children learn English at an early stage; English is essential if they wish to continue their education later, i.e. at a secondary school or a university.
The school received its name in honor of the first volunteers from Norway. 470 children between the ages of two and fivteen years attend kindergarten,  elementary school and junior high school there. Among them are thirty half-orphans whose tuition fees have to be financed through donations.
The school children meet in the morning on the square in front of the school and perform a little parade. Neatly lined up, they sing the national anthem and the Midnight Sun International School song.

The building

The children are taught by 13 teachers in ten classrooms. Three new classrooms are under construction. The rooms do not have any lockable windows or doors. Therefore, a wall was recently built around the school campus to avoid theft of school materials on one hand, and to keep cows, donkeys, goats and snakes out of the building on the other hand. In addition, small children cannot leave the school without supervision.

The equipment

Besides simple wooden benches and desks, there is a shelf with some books - the cornerstone of a library. There is one textbook for each subject. The books are managed by the teachers, just as the available wax crayons and colored pencils. Each child has one exercise book and a pencil, as well as a ruler in exceptional cases.

School Meals

The children are at school from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. School meals are also served during that time: rice or corn paste with tomato sauce. Fresh meals are prepared every day by a chef on the school campus. A corn field was planted to ensure availability of sufficient food for the school meals. Thanks to the newly created well and the water tanks, there is fresh drinking and cooking water. 

School uniform

School children in Ghana wear a school uniform, also at Midnight Sun International School: boys wear knee-length pants and a matching shirt with short sleeves; girls wear a knee-length strap dress in the same colors. One uniform costs the equivalent of eight euros - an immense amount of money for a family in Ghana. This is why most children have only one uniform and may therefore attend school in other clothes on laundry day.

 school subjects

The curriculum complies with the regulations of the Federal Ministry of Education. Besides standard subjects such as reading and writing, mathematics and natural sciences, it includes the subject "communication & technology". Teaching it is complicated as there is no computer at the school, and most children have probably never seen one.

 Way to school

Many children have a very long way to school because not all of them live directly in the village but in the rural outskirts. The child with the longest way has to walk 8 kilometers to school and back home on one day. Please note that the child does this voluntarily, because even though school is generally compulsory in Ghana, there are no frequent attendance checks. 

The teachers

Midnight Sun International School currently employs four kindergarten teachers and five school teachers. The headmaster of the school is a retired deputy headmaster. Two of the school teachers have completed their professional education while three of them are high school graduates. The latter use the salary they earn at the school to finance the fee-based admission interview at a teacher training center. The degree program takes three years.
The teachers at Midnight Sun International School earn a salary between ten and 25 euros per month. This is much less than they would earn at a public school. There, they would make around 100 euros per month. As only half of the children can pay the full tuition fees at the moment, it is not possible to pay the teachers a better salary. Half-orphans and children of farmers with an extremely low income are dependent on donations. With a donation of 10 euros for the tuition fees, you enable these children to "learn for life".

Volunteer as a teacher

Midnight Sun International School does currently have no French teacher, no physical education teacher and no music teacher. The team will be very happy if you support the school as a volunteer!

Mr. Dabo Abdul Latif, 

born in 1949 
"My pension is very low and I use the salary from Midnight Sun International School to boost my income for the benefit of my children and grandchildren. I am glad about the chance to continue teaching and to share my extensive experience at Midnight Sun International School."

Lamisi Yerrow

born in 1986 
I came to Langbinsi with my husband Richard Bindifrim in 2011. Due to a degree program at the Presbyterian Church, he committed to working as a physician in rural areas for five years - in our case in Langbinsi. At the beginning, it was very hard for me to live there because I did not speak the language (Mampruli) and because I am used to urban life. I only speak English with my husband Richard as we are from different tribes and do not speak the respective tribal language.
I am a qualified kindergarten and school teacher. At the beginning of my stay in Langbinsi, I looked after my son Emanuel. After some time, I had the ambition to return to work and to open a kindergarten in Langbinsi so that the older children would not have to take care of their younger siblings instead of going to school.
My dream was to create a school where children are taught in English from the beginning so that they would have the opportunity to leave this village later in order to start a qualified professional training, e.g. as nurses or teachers. I am very glad to teach so many children from this region to read and write. At the beginning, I had to convince the parents to bring their children to the school; now, already 470 children are joining us.

Akurugo David Ayammdor

born in 1952
I am glad that Midnight Sun International Scholl offered me a new perspective. There are not many job opportunities here in Langbinsi. My professional education is still relatively fresh - it is my first job as a teacher!

The Children

The parents of most of the children are small subsistence farmers. Usually, they are illiterate and have no knowledge of the official language. Many of them cannot afford the tuition fees. They regard schooling of their children as an opportunity for a better future. The kindergarten mostly has the purpose of releasing the older siblings from the burden of taking care of the younger ones.
An average family has four children. Their exact age is often unknown. Only the weekday, on which a child was born, is always known.

 Ayisheitu:

I am 8 years old and attend the third grade since September 2014. My father lost a leg and an arm in an accident. When Midnight Sun International School opened, he was very glad and thankful that me and my brother were accepted by the school for free. I like going to school, meet my friends and play rope skipping with them during the breaks." The teacher Lamisi Yerrow says: "the girl has five brothers. Her older brother does not go to school anymore because the father passed away this year and therefore he has to replace him at the farm. Ayisheitu is a very intelligent girl. At least for senior high school she will need supporters to pay the tuition fees for her."