Announcement of the 2008 WANGO Education Award
Challenging
Heights is a nonprofit organization in Ghana dedicated to promoting access to
quality education and health for young people. It works to protect the rights of
vulnerable children and youth, assists in the development of their talents, and
strives to prevent child labor and offer support for its victims. Challenging
Heights provides educational scholarships and materials so that children can
enroll in school and has built a classroom structure to enable children in
communities to be able to learn in the evenings. It operates a school with
youth ranging from the ages of four to fifteen, offering about 80% scholarships.
Challenging Heights organizes community presentations for parents on protecting
their children from child labor and the need to send their children to school.
Challenging Heights was founded in 2003 by James Kofi Annan, who used close to sixty percent of his net salary each month, from his employment in the business world, to provide scholarships, educational materials, and medical care for children. A victim himself of child labor, who worked as a child from the age of six to thirteen before liberating himself, Mr. Annan used his own means to fight against the things that mitigated against him – poverty, disease, child labor – to work for the empowerment of children and youth. From being a child who could not read or write, he worked his way to completing a University education and securing a job to fund his dream of protecting vulnerable children and youth. Even at the University, Mr. Annan used portions of his student loan to help children have adequate access to food, books, healthcare, and clothing, paying their fees. Since 2007, he has been working full time to fulfill the goals of Challenging Heights.
In taking the decision to present Challenging Heights with its 2008 Education Award, the Awards Committee and the International Council were impressed particularly with the selfless work of the organization and Mr. Annan and their effectiveness in addressing a pressing need. Through their effort, the children of Ghana can have a brighter future and individuals in other nations can be inspired by their example. We are delighted to recognize and bring greater worldwide attention to Challenging Heights accomplishments in awarding them the Education Award for 2008..