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SCARSDALE, N.Y. A little bit of Ghana came to Scarsdale on Thursday as the African nations consul-general, Ernest Lomotey, and Head Doctor Benjamin Dodoo discussed their emerging nation with Scarsdale High School students under the auspices of the schools Ghana Club. The students also got a taste of Ghanain culture from the United Volta Association Cultural Troupe of dancers and drummers.
The program was optional for students, but the auditorium was packed to hear Lomotey and Dodoo talk about their nations progress and challenges, especially in the area of health care. Dodooo spoke while racing through a Power Point presentation about health concerns, but lingered on one of the country's pressing problems malaria.
Malaria kills more people than anything, he said, adding that the disease was rampant because it is carried by mosquitos. Ghanas average life expectancy, he said, is 60 years, and 58 of every 1,000 infants die, many due to malaria.
The thing that works best to prevent malaria is mosquito netting impregnated with an insecticide, he said.
That is why the Scarsdale High School Ghana Club began the Ghana Project in 2010. The project involves raising money to purchase and install the netting in poor villages in Ghana. In February, a group of six to eight students will make the trip to the west coast of Africa and install the nets to help save lives.
It's all part of the school district's approach to "giving students an opportunity to understand the world beyond Scarsdale," said Dr. Joan Weber, assistant superintendent for personnel and administrative services. Weber co-chairs the district's Interdependence Institute with Sue Peppers, SHS assistant principal. "It helps give them the skills they need to be successful in the world."
Ghana attained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, the first sub-Saharan colony to do so, Lomotey said. He said Ghana's current goals include strengthening its democracy, expanding education, growing the economy, eliminating disease and making health care affordable and available to everyone.
"I invite you all to visit Ghana," he said to the 700-plus people in the auditorium. "I aprove the visas, so just say 'I'm from Scarsdale High School,' and you're approved."
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