The Prince
of Wales School Alumni Association- Georgia Branch held its 2008 annual
celebration and fundraising event at Atlanta Georgia
from Friday
May 23 - Sunday May 25. A high point of the celebration was the raising
of $10,000 from the fund raising golf tournament at the Southland Golf
Club. It was clear at the business meeting that this Diaspora association
is very serious about supporting their alma mater, the Prince of Wales
School in
Sierra Leone.
Among the recent projects of this association is the unprecedented accomplishment
of raising about $60,000 to set up a computer lab powered by solar energy
and ready to go with a technical trainer supported by the Georgia based
association. The president, Mr. Samuel Atere-Roberts will be in Freetown
sometime in June to launch the lab in conjunction with the Sierra leone
based Alumni association and principal of the school Mrs. Millicent Oogu.
At the annual
business meeting the alumni association of Georgia registered an appeal
to younger old students Prince of Wales School in the diaspora to
consider activating
their commitment and support for the organization.
Thanksgiving Service on Sunday May 25, 2008, at the Druid Hill Baptist Church, Atlanta |
The Business Meeting. L-R Melborne Garber, President New Jersey Chapter, Kayode Robbin-Coker, Vice President U.K. Branch. Samuel Atere-Roberts, President Georgia Chapter, Robert Strasser-King, Acting President Washington Metro Area and William George, Social Secretary. |
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Flanked by Preacher, Crispin Cole Sr. and Christopher Davies |
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Snippets
From The Sermon
Rev Crispin R. Cole |
Sierra Leone set for solar-powered school PC center Background Information on the Solar Powered Computer Center for the Prince of Wales School On February 1, 2006, Mr. Eben Strasser-King, a member of the Board of
Governors submitted a document that listed his personal views about the
needs of the Prince of Wales School, including estimated cost for implementation.
This document was circulated amongst Princewaleans in the Diaspora.
One of the needs in that document dealt with improving the operations of
the Computer Center. He listed the following problems associated
with the existing Computer Center:
The document recommended that additional computers be purchased and that existing computers be repaired. Also recommended was the purchase of a Generator for power a, provision of internet service and the employment of a Manager/Teacher and Assistant for the Computer Center. Mr. Samuel Atere-Roberts, a Professional Engineer and then the Vice-President of the Prince of Wales Alumni Association (POWAA) -Georgia Chapter, reviewed the document and developed a project to address the Computer Center needs. In May 2006, he presented his proposal to the POWAA Georgia Members to raise funds to implement a project to create a new Computer Center powered by Solar Energy. He estimated that the capital cost will be between $60,000 and $70,000. The Georgia Chapter accepted the proposal and committed to an initial funding of $25,000 to this project. Presentations were also made to the other Prince of Wales Alumni Chapters including Maryland/Washington DC, New Jersey California and the United Kingdom/Ireland. All Chapters gave their support to the project. A Global fundraising drive for the project was then started and Princewaleans from all over the world were encouraged to support the project. All the four other Chapters contributed generously to the project in addition to individual contributions from Princewaleans and their supporters from all over the world. While fund raising was going on, Mr. Atere-Roberts took the lead in developing project specifications for procurement of solar equipment and computers. A Technical Committee of Princewaleans was formed to prepare a plan for implementing the project. Solar Equipment and Computers were purchased in the USA. Some Computers were donated by Princewaleans and Non-Princewaleans. Mr. Atere-Roberts also procured construction services for the new center and also installation services for the solar power system from local firms in Freetown. By December 2007, $61,000 of pledges was received with actual cash received at $55,000. The New Computer Center will have 21 Laptop Computers powered from 14 solar panels totaling 2,310 Watts. There are ten (10) Deep Cycle Batteries for storage of power generated from the solar panels. Plans are in place to have a Backup Generator to use to charge the Batteries during the rainy season or poor weather which results in limited sunlight. Internet Service will be available at the Computer Center and both Students and Teachers will have access to the Center. An IT Teacher/Administrator will be employed that will be responsible for developing a curricula to teach students at the Prince of Wales School. The Commissioning Ceremony will be attended by two members of the Technical
Committee including Mr. Samuel Atere-Roberts and Mr. Denzil George-Stone
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