The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in the Upper West Region has organised a bicycle heritage ride for children drawn from basic schools in Wa, as part of activities marking this year’s Chocolate Month celebration.
The initiative, dubbed: “Ride, Explore and Learn: Celebrating with Chocolate,” and undertaken in collaboration with the Wa Municipal Education Directorate and other stakeholders, took the pupils on a guided tour of key historical and cultural monuments within Wa.
About 150 children drawn from twelve schools rode to visit the George Ekem Ferguson Tomb, where some prominent personalities in the region had been buried, the Dondoli Ancient Mosque, and the Wa Naa’s Palace.
Mr Abdul-Aziz Pelpuo, a tour guide in the region, took the pupils through the historical and cultural relevance of the monuments visited, with a spectacular reception at the Wa Naa’s Palace, where the students were ushered through the palace amidst traditional drumming and dancing.
Addressing the pupils, Mr Kwesi Anim-Larbi, the Upper West Regional Director of the GTA, explained that the initiative was to promote domestic tourism among the youth while celebrating the chocolate month with heritage education.
“Basically, the Chocolates Month is for us to celebrate the rich cocoa of Ghana, so we decided to energise these young people with cocoa or the chocolate drink so they can ride around and enjoy the sights and sounds of Wa, while exploring and learning”, he said.
He encouraged the public to explore the attraction sites in their communities with a cocoa drink to celebrate the month.
Pagnaa Fati Issaka Koray, the Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, commended the GTA for the initiatives, as it had enabled the schoolchildren to experience some of the tourist sites in the area.
While encouraging the children to share their experiences with their colleagues at home and schools, she also encouraged them and the public to patronise the many great and lively tourist sites in the region.
Mr Pelpuo said the initiative was deliberately targeted at children to encourage them to appreciate the culture and heritage of their communities, the region and Ghana in general.
“We are specifically targeting the young ones because we know that once this is embedded in them at a very tender age, they will grow up with it and preserve the cultural heritage or the sites that we have,” he said.
He expressed concern that many of the children had lived in Wa for a long time without knowing about the sites they visited, but said initiatives like this would expose them to those heritage sites.
The participating schools included the Wa Model, Fongo and St. Andrews cluster of schools, and the Ancilla, Dorbile and Our Home Schools.
Cathrine Kpeba, a pupil from Fongo Junior High School, said the tour had broadened her knowledge of the region’s heritage sites and called for more such initiatives to educate children while selling the region’s culture and heritage.