TRAFFIC SAFETY STARTS IN ANYANO M/A JHS AND PRIMARY SCHOOL

ANYANO M/A JHS and PRIMARY SCHOOL are schools in Kumasi. Since participating in MKFC “SHARING AWARENESS Workshop” in February of 2010, they have adopted the lessons they learned from the workshop. One initiative was to enlighten children on Traffic Safety in their community.

Above are the initiators of the traffic safety project: Mr. Frank Gyimah, Mrs. Dora Afua Pokua, Headmistress of Anyano M/A JHS School, and Mr. Kennedy Mintah. Thomas Atta Badioo, Erica Asare, and Rashid Behisea are students of Anyano M/A School who realize the importance of traffic safety. 

“Traffic accidents are the second leading cause of deaths globally among 5-29 year-olds and the third leading cause of deaths among 30-40 year-olds. Road crashes kill 1.2 million people every year and injure or disable as many as 50 million more.” http://safetytraffic.eu/

Since the beginning of the year (2010), 4 children have been killed through traffic accidents Anyano M/A is not the only school in the community; AL-HUDA ISLAMIC JHS, ST PAUL INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, and BIBLE FAITH INTERNATIONAL are among the schools in the community. Over one thousand students in all attend these various schools.

Discussions with community leaders and other members of the community painted a frightening picture of how unsafe the community is for pedestrians, especially school children, as they head back and forth to school every day.

A snack seller that has been located on the school park for over 3 years talked about how she has witnessed numerous fatal accidents involving children.

“There are no speed limit posts, or any road signs, the drivers therefore drive haphazardly throughout the community. We need more of this to happen here, it’s just sad when children die like that,” she lamented.

10 years old children, walk to school without any adult supervision and cross the main road every day. With no zebra crossings for students to use, the area for crossing has become an “anywhere will do” situation.

The SolutionThe traffic safety project aims to provide a designated location for students and individuals to safely cross without endangering their lives.

Drivers and others alike will be properly educated on safety signs and how to recognize the safety signs. Speed bumps will also be created to help control the speed in and around the school zones. The students, through pictures and personal experiences, talk with community members about the traffic project.

They have all been involved in circumstances where they were involved or were almost involved in traffic accidents. The students have been sharing information with the community since the workshop. They want to save their lives, and realizing the need to educate the general public on how to avoid accidental deaths, the students will do just that.