Yaw Safo's Obituary
The Dr Yaw Safo Foundation The foundation with goals of building libraries for socioeconomically disadvantaged children in Offinso, and other areas of Ghana. Offinso is a district located in the North-Western part of the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Education plays a chief role in the lives of children growing up in the Ashanti region. It makes certain that these children will be able to become productive members of society and help alleviate the poverty that is still prevalent in certain areas of the region. Education ensures that its children are able to read and write, and thus take initiative towards development. However, in Offinso, many children will not be able to reap the benefits provided by education and literacy. Children make up the majority of household members in Offinso. It is telling that these children have illiteracy levels higher than the regional average of 40.4%. In addition, between 40.0% and 50.0% of the population have no formal education or only a pre-school education. It is this disturbing trend about his home district that inspired Dr. Safo to aid in the development of Offinso’s children. Dr. Safo became very successful in every aspect of his short life; however, later on in his career, he felt that something was amiss. He recognized that, despite his socio-economically disadvantaged background in Offinso, he attained success through education and hard-work. Therefore, he decided to renovate a local Offinso library and stock its shelves with books. He planned to set up the Dr. Yaw Safo Foundation with the purpose of building libraries across Offinso and rural Ghana. Eventually, he wished to build schools and provide scholarships to brilliant, but socio-economically disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, Dr. Safo’s life was cut short before his plans came to fruition. Many have been blessed by knowing and encountering Dr. Safo in his short life on Earth. He had goals of reaching as many children as possible through reading and education. Even though Dr. Safo is no longer with us, his plans to build libraries in order to help disadvantaged children still remain. Those who wish to support may contribute to his foundation: Dr. Yaw Safo Foundation, P. O. Box 4299, Cedar Hill, Texas 75106-4299.
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