Victims of Sawla SHS fire outbreak receive relief items from Dr. Marita and friends

Doctor Marita and friends in Germany have come to the aid of victims of Sawla Senior High School fire outbreak with relief items worth hundreds of Ghana cedis.

This follows an appeal made by the former headmistress of the school, Evelyne Nabiah, through her social media handles after news broke that fire gutted the girls' dormitory of the school located in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region for the second time in less than two months.

The relief items donated include customized suitcase bags, core textbooks, sets of uniforms, sewing machines, bedspreads, mathematical sets, cakes of toilet soap, pair of footwear, two sets of uniforms each for victims, deodorants, sanitary pads, pens inter alia.

Handing over the relief items to the about 32 affected students on behalf of Doctor Marita and friends at a short ceremony held at the school premises, Madam Evelyne Nabiah thanked God for the lives of the victims, indicating that she felt very terrible when the unfortunate incident was brought to her attention.

According to her, Dr. Marita and her friends in Germany were touched when they saw pictures of the devastation she had posted on her WhatsApp status appealing for support for affected students and decided to raise £2,500 to procure the item for the affected students.

She said though, it may not be possible to put the affected students back to the state they were in before the fire outbreak, the essence of the donation was to draw them closer to the state they were in before the fire, admonishing the students to take their studies very serious.

"As you receive these items, know that there are people who love you without even knowing you. Those who sent the money,they don't know you... They love you without knowing you. So love yourself, study hard so that whatever you lost during the fire, you can regain them back on your own in future.

"I pray that help will come to renovate the affected dormitory," she said.

The headmaster of the school, Issahaku A. Janhafu expressed gratitude to the donors, through madam Nabiah on behalf of the Director General and District Director of Education for the benevolent gesture, describing it as timely and a big relief to the affected students and the school as a whole.

The leader of the school said though the affected students have been relocated, the unforeseen development has the tendency of affecting effective teaching and learning in the school.

He said the Fire Service has conducted its investigation and came out with two possible causes of the fire outbreak which occurred on 2nd November, 2022 following a similar incident on 26th October, 2022.

The Fire Service according to him, attributed the first cause of the fire outbreak to an electrical fault in the building and the second to the case of a possible arson on the building.

From the report of the Fire Service, the headmaster also disclosed that the students' belongings in the building together with the school mattresses and fans that got burnt in the process are estimated at a total cost of Ghc72,360.00.

B"ut if you add the cost of the destroyed building, the school lost a whooping sum of Ghc222,360.00," he indicated.

He cautioned the students to remain calm and desist from engaging in illegal connections in the dormitories.

The Headmaster of Academics, Mr. Atubiga recounted the day as historic and described the crisis as a blessing in disguise, urging the students to put their trust in God all the time.

Atubiga encouraged the students to study hard, so they can become better people in future.

Father Martin Kuusangnayir, the Parish Priest prayed over the items to pave way for the distribution, whilst encouraging the students and the teachers alike to keep the spirit of unity and working together alive.

Speaker-upon-speaker encouraged the students to take solace in the support being given them in these trying times and learn hard to become better in future.

The students, especially the beneficiaries, couldn't hide their joy at the kind gesture and expressed gratitude to Dr. Marita and her friends for coming to their aid at a time when all hope was lost.