Ghana
Ghana
Celebrating the Centenary of O.H.P. in Ghana
This year marks a remarkable centenary: one hundred years since the founding of the first St Monica School in Cape Coast, Ghana. This anniversary is not merely a milestone for a single institution, but a celebration of a profound Anglican mission that has shaped a nation, initiated by the courageous Sisters of the Order of the Holy Paraclete (OHP).
Responding to an appeal from the Anglican Bishop of the Gold Coast colony, Prioress Margaret and three young Sisters, Dorothy, Lilla and Gertrude, sailed from Liverpool to Takoradi Port. Their mission? To set up education for girls in the colony. That initial act of faith and obedience, blossomed into an extraordinary legacy. From that first St. Monica’s School in Cape Coast, (named after Monica, first African woman canonized saint, and mother of St. Augustine of Hippo), six further institutions grew across Ghana:
1. St. Monica’s Elementary Girls’ Boarding School, Mampong-Ashanti, (1930)
2. St. Monica’s Teacher Training College (now a University of Education). Set up in 1930 but moved from Cape Coast to the Mampong campus in 1936.
3. Bishops’ Girls’ School, Accra (1936)
4. St. Monica’s Secondary School, Mampong-Ashanti (1946; Sixth Form added in 1954?)
5. St. Margaret’s Midwifery Training School & Maternity Hospital, Mampong-Ashanti (1954)
6. The Babies’ Home (Orphanage), Mampong-Ashanti (1967)
The year has been full of celebration and fundraising to ensure the future of this legacy. As part of the celebrations OHP was joined by a group of the Union of Old St Monicans, U.K. at St Hilda’s Priory where we enjoyed fellowship, worship and festive food together.
Responding to an appeal from the Anglican Bishop of the Gold Coast colony, Prioress Margaret and three young Sisters, Dorothy, Lilla and Gertrude, sailed from Liverpool to Takoradi Port. Their mission? To set up education for girls in the colony. That initial act of faith and obedience, blossomed into an extraordinary legacy. From that first St. Monica’s School in Cape Coast, (named after Monica, first African woman canonized saint, and mother of St. Augustine of Hippo), six further institutions grew across Ghana:
1. St. Monica’s Elementary Girls’ Boarding School, Mampong-Ashanti, (1930)
2. St. Monica’s Teacher Training College (now a University of Education). Set up in 1930 but moved from Cape Coast to the Mampong campus in 1936.
3. Bishops’ Girls’ School, Accra (1936)
4. St. Monica’s Secondary School, Mampong-Ashanti (1946; Sixth Form added in 1954?)
5. St. Margaret’s Midwifery Training School & Maternity Hospital, Mampong-Ashanti (1954)
6. The Babies’ Home (Orphanage), Mampong-Ashanti (1967)
The year has been full of celebration and fundraising to ensure the future of this legacy. As part of the celebrations OHP was joined by a group of the Union of Old St Monicans, U.K. at St Hilda’s Priory where we enjoyed fellowship, worship and festive food together.