The famous 11-year-old British-Ghanaian kid author of four books, Sarah Kittoe has announced plans to initiate reading and writing clubs in schools across Ghana and Africa to encourage reading and creative writing among kids on the continent. She made the promise at the commissioning of a books’ library and an e-library she refurbished and stocked with books and 21 new computers and accessories for Saint Paul’s Methodist Preparatory School in Tema.
Sarah’s decision to refurbish the school library at St. Paul’s was upon a visit to the school with her dad last year to donate some of her books. But upon seeing the state of the school’s library she decided to use part of the proceeds of her book sales to refurbish it and stock it with new books.
In the course of refurbish the books library, Sarah and her family felt the need to spice it with an e-learning touch by providing the school with 21 new desktop computers and accessories, preloaded with relevant interactive learning materials for kids all the way from kindergarten to second cycle level.
At the commissioning of both libraries, Sarah Kittoe announced that she is in the process of setting up a reading and writing club in the school to encourage reading and creative writing through a competition in which deserving stories will be rewarded with juicy prizes.
Sarah’s dad, Albert Kittoe said the reading and writing club concept as well as the provision of e-libraries will soon be extended to other schools in Ghana and across Africa. According to him, the ultimate vision is to encourage targeted learning across schools in Africa, where the specific strengths and weaknesses of every student becomes the basis for how that student is assisted within the school environment to master their weaknesses as they improve on their strengths.
He said the extremely academic approach to education does not yield the best of outcomes in kids, so the family is riding on the back of Sarah’s passion to drive interactive learning across schools in Africa to ensure that Africa kids realize their best potentials, no matter what their unique strengths and weaknesses are.
The books library and e-library projects for St. Paul’s Methodist Preparatory School cost £10,000 and the Kittoe family in Ghana also donated an additional US$2,000 to the school.
Sarah wrote and published her first three books at age 9. The three books were ‘The Friendship Club’, ‘Lindsey and the Blue Fox’, and ‘Sarah Kittoe’s Coloring Book’. At age 10, she published her fourth book, ‘Ama and the Lost Key’, which has a Ghanaian theme and was launched, April 6, 2024, at Croydon Library in London.
Apart from supporting the school in Ghana, Sarah also donates all the proceeds of her book sales to two charities in the UK – the Wednesday Club at West Croydon Methodist Church, which supports Croydon’s homeless population, and Centrepoint, a charity presided over by Prince William.
Meanwhile, the head teacher at Saint Paul’s Methodist Preparatory School, Nana Kofi Badu was full of gratitude to Sarah and the entire Kittoe family for their kind support, which he believes will go a long way to improve teaching and learning in the school.
