Participants with judges after a successful Masters Encounter
World Vision Ghana, in collaboration with the King Hall Media Limited, Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Sanitation as well as GAMA SWP and the Zoomlion Foundation has organised the 2nd Master’s encounter (semi-final 2) of the 5th School Sanitation Solutions (Triple-S) challenge 2024.
The Triple-S challenge which was launched on May 22, 2024 started with the publication of the invitation for entries and seeks to create advocacy, awareness and behavioral change to improve sanitation solutions.
The second Masters’ Encounter (semi-final 2) took place at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra, and had nine student participants from the Volta, Central, and Greater Accra regions grouped into the Tilapia and Coconut zones for the challenge.
The students were challenged to give their ideas on the question, “If you were to participate in the Parliamentary or Presidential position, how would you prioritise sanitation and why” with two finalists selected from each zone.
Also, the first masters’ encounter held in Sunyani focused on participants from the five Northern Regions; Ashanti, Eastern, Bono East and the Ahafo regions, divided into the Shea and the Cocoa zones with two finalists selected from each zone.
The four finalists from each zone will proceed to the finals on September 23, 2024, at the National Theater.
Speaking with the media, the Wash Technical Specialist, World Vision Ghana, Yaw Attah Arhin, said the challenge is a response to a certain missing link that was identified in their programming for improve sanitation, which is the limited participation of children in providing solutions.
The motive of this challenge, he said is to cultivate the interest of children about issues of environmental sanitation, and build their capacities to be able to create their own sustainable solutions to the challenges around them.
He said the move is also to equip them to advocate for improved sanitation across the country and to influence their peers and also act as change agents when it comes to environmental sanitation.
According to him, World Vision implemented other competitions including Open Defecation-Free cartoon contest.
Mr. Arhin revealed that the winner will be decorated as the child sanitation diplomat, and will be supported to implement a year-long sanitation project across the country to create on proper sanitation advocacy and visit schools, and communities.
“We expect the winner to be a diplomat when it comes to improving sanitation, be able to advocate, influence peers and policies and to promote positively improved sanitation in the country wherever he or she finds him or herself,” Mr. Arhin said.
The participants were awarded with certificates, cash prizes and notepads.
By Janet Odei Amponsah and Najat Ibrahim Abdullah