By Paul Eduarko Richardson
Accra, Sept. 15, GNA – The Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana (VOLU) partnered with the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), Ussher Fort, and community youth to refurbish the Ussher Fort.
Through a three-week work camp, VOLU volunteers teamed with Ussher Fort staff and community youths to paint the Fort’s front and right facades, exterior and inside of the museum gallery.
The facades have not been painted in over ten years, while the museum gallery was last repainted two years ago.
The initiative, which was on the theme “Engaging youth in preserving cultural heritage for posterity,” was carried out as a UNESCO World Heritage Volunteer Camp.
Mr. Bernard Agyiri Sackey, Head of Monuments Division, GMMB, Ussher Fort, described the work done as “impressive, with massive output.”
“The work we did was amazing. Passers-by and community folks appreciated it. And I believe it will attract more visitors to the Fort,” he noted.
Mr. Sackey emphasized the partnership’s rationale, stating that all heritage belonged to a community, and that “it will be meaningless” unless the host community owned and valued what they had.
He called for continuous community interaction to enhance people’s understanding and appreciation of history and its preservation.
Before the painting works, management of the Fort took volunteers through a two-day orientation on the history of the Ussher Fort and the Ussher Town, followed by a general cleanup exercise there.
Volunteers also visited Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and the Christiansborg Castle to deepen their knowledge and appreciation for heritage preservation.
Mr. Kwame Owusu-Amoako, National Chairman for VOLU Ghana, said the association would continue its partnership with the Ussher Fort to promote and preserve the heritage site.
He urged the Fort’s management to also give VOLU the needed support “so that VOLU would be more empowered to assist the Fort.”
“As VOLU members, it is our ambition that we spread our working scope across all areas that are relevant to the Fort.
“We will thus be very happy to see the Fort co-opt us into their development programmes, so that, anywhere the need be, we can also come in to help them,” he said.
Joseph Nii Akrashie Sackey, Leader, Aid of Accra, the community group that joined the initiative, stated that they got on board since the land belonged to the people, and it was the people’s obligation to protect the things on the land.
“We should revere the Ussher Fort because it carries our history. We should not urinate, defecate or throw rubbish around the Fort. We should keep an eye on each other and ensure that we all maintain the place.
“Ghana belongs to us all. So, it is important that we all unite and collaborate to preserve the treasures of the nation,” he said.
Ussher Fort, originally called Fort Crevecoeur, was built in 1649 by the Dutch.
Located in the capital city, Accra, the Fort is part of the 28 forts and castles on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in Ghana.
The Fort has a complex history as a trading post, slave dungeon, police station, and prison.
It also served as a military detention camp, a tribunal or court martial, a refugee camp for Liberians and South Sudanese, and are now a museum.
VOLU, founded in 1956 by Gordon Green, is a non-governmental organisation focused on coordinating volunteers to provide selfless service for community development.
GNA