PUPILS USE PITOO AS THEIR BREAKFAST

Some pupils in communities like Aprakukrom, Abronye, Bofourkrom and Fawotrikosie all in the Sunyani-West District of Brong-Ahafo attend school along with bottled “Pitoo”, a local wine as their breakfast.

A Driver who applies the Odumase-Bofourkrom road, Stephen Oduro Yeboah affectionately called “Agyaadwo” who disclosed this said it is a common phenomenon to spot pupils some as young as five years early in the morning by the road side with bottled pitoo as their breakfast. Parents confirmed this with passion when asked, saying they do not see anything wrong with that.

According to them, that is what they can afford to give to their children as it is easy to come by in their homes. Even though the communities are deprived, they are not benefiting from the school feeding programme.

This came to light when at a gathering to belatedly commemorate this year's International Human Rights Day at Aprakukrom. It was organized by a Sunyani based NGO, Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF) to school the people in human rights and where and how to report abuses of their rights.

It was a dramatic scene during the open forum after the participants had been taken through aspects of human rights. A middle aged woman emphasized that most of the men in the villages are a disgrace to manhood.

She alleged that the men, citing her husband as a case study have been doing very little to support the up keep of their children as he only invest his income in alcoholic drinks and concubines at the expense of the children's future.

The woman defied pleas to be cautious from others women present who were of the view that she was going out of bounds by disgracing her husband in public. The woman fuming in frustration, called on authorities to check men of such disgraceful character.

The few men who were present at the gathering expressed their displeasure over the development and fled the meeting unceremoniously. They said it was a deliberate attempt by the organizers to embarrass them in the presence of their wives, which they said was against their tradition.

A cross-section of the participants also lamented that they do not see the essence of investing in their children's' education. They alleged that teachers in the communities have been exploiting the children on their private farms, saying why we should buy uniforms and shoes for the children only to be used as “working gear” on their teachers' farms”?