On 2.20.19, Anna, Emmanuel and Harry from Patriots Ghana went to the Akkuful Krodua R/C basic school for an interactive talk session about the importance of saving money to primary school students. This forms part of the Patriots Ghana Microfinance project with the goal of empowering youth with financial literacy skills. 86 students participated in the talk. Before the talk started, there was a pre-test to gauge how much the students had previously known about what savings is, how important it is, how one can save, and so on. Immediately after the savings talk was completed, the same exact test was given as a post-test. Using the pre-test and the post-test, we can analyze the effectiveness of the talk.

After the pre-test was complete, Emmanuel led a savings presentation using a projector in the class. Windows and doors were shut so the projections can be seen more clearly and brightly. Some of the contents covered in the presentation were needs vs. wants, what savings is, why it important to save money, and how one can save money. Discipline was also stressed. An example given by Emmanuel was about ice-cream. You can choose to spend 1 cedi on ice cream every day, or instead save the money. If you had saved 1 cedi every day for a year, you’d have 365 cedi. Although 1 cedi in itself isn’t a lot, when you practice discipline for long duration, your savings will accumulate. Many students live far away from school. They could use their savings to purchase a bike, so they can get to school early, added Emmanuel. Throughout the talk, participation was encouraged. While students were quieter in the beginning, many more warmed up to us and became more active participants in the discussion as the talk progressed. After the presentation, a short video about a playful, short-sighted grasshopper and hard-working, disciplined ants were shown. When the winter came, the ants had enough food saved up while the grasshopped went hungry. Harry led a discussion on the video, and how it relates to savings. Anna helped with collecting and distributing the tests, and took photos.

A week before Emmanuel and Harry went to different schools at or near the community to introduce the organization, its mission, and say that its interested in giving talks about savings to students later on. The representatives of each school were eager to partner with us, and we hope to give the same talk to more schools and raise awareness about savings.  We will be analyzing the data from the tests and using the report to restructure our talks and microfinance project. We appreciate the headteacher, Mr. Kenneth Aurthur and management of Akufful Krodua R/C school for the support.