Long before secondary schools in Ghana were re-christened as senior high schools, the Huni Valley Secondary School, with the acronym HUNIVASS, was born at Huni Valley on November 15, 1975, in the then Wassa Fiase District in the Western Region.
The school, then in a very typical rural area, was to serve communities such as Wassa Damang, Subri, Ateiku, Bompieso and others barely accessible by road.
Huni Valley was popular for its main rail link, connecting Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
Fifty years ago, there was no electricity nor potable water in the small town, so students and teachers fetched water from the river Gyeatuo and sometimes from the river Huni near the railway station.
The school compound, with its fresh school buildings, had the fresh green forest as its walls, which, up to today, is the case and has made it easier for encroachers.
Without electricity, students had kerosene lamps, and the school had a Kerosene Prefect, who ensured that kerosene, a scarce resource for students and teachers, was rationed well to serve all efficiently.
Determination and resilience
It is worth mentioning that it required a lot of sacrifice and determination from the teachers, who were mostly fresh graduates from various public universities, to support students from all regions of Ghana through the five years needed to obtain their GCE Ordinary Level certificates.
Old Students
Fifty years on, the HUNIVASS Old Students Association (HOSA), nicknamed Gyeatuo, can boast of distinguished men and women who are recognised as professionals in fields such as corporate executives, lawyers and judges, the clergy, professors and academics, farmers, bankers, senior police officers, miners, accountants, politicians, journalists, as well as businessmen and women in Ghana and on the global stage.
Wikipedia describes those who passed through HUNIVASS: “the past students of the school are referred to as Gyeatuo, a word in the Akan language which means ‘to take bullet’, in a contextual sense meaning to be brave”.
HUNIVASS has enjoyed the leadership of Gyeatuos as the chairs of the school’s board of governors, among them a former MP, as well as others, such as a professor of high repute.
The immediate past Municipal Director of Education in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality is a Gyeatuo.
50th Anniversary
The school is preparing to mark its 50th milestone with activities beginning Monday, November 24, and crowning it with a speech and prize-giving day on Saturday, November 29, on the theme: "50 Years of excellent secondary education: The role of stakeholders".
Tribute to founders and teachers
Tribute must be paid to the Founding Father, Dr Anthony Kwasi Appiah, a former Commissioner of Finance in the 70s, who pushed to get HUNIVASS established in the then remote setting as a lamp to glow in the area’s growth.
We must appreciate nananom of the Wassa Fiase Bosomtwi Traditional Area, who provided the resources to start. Special tribute must be paid to the pioneer headmasters, C.K. Ainoo and C.W.O. Kwakye, who were disciplinarians and gave the school a perfect beginning in sound academic standards.
After them came Markwei, Nyameke Cudjoe, Amande, Joseph Nakti among others and today, HOSA must be proud that one of their own, Daniel Aidoo, is the Headmaster.
Pioneering and former school teachers must also be eulogised for their great sacrifices.
Teachers such as Mina, S.S. Kontomah, Francis Oduro, Ocansey, Kwakye, Solomon Amoah, former MCE of Sefwi Wiawso and Wassa West, ACOP Andoh Kwofie of blessed memory, Dr Jehu Appiah, George Awere, Quaidoo, Dr Ndur of UMaT, Andoh Wilson, Afful, Hagan, Atta, Ofori Asante and others, including two American Peace Corps Volunteers, Ricky Fordyce and Rottenberg, who sacrificed to teach in the school when there were no social amenities and incentives to motivate them to accept the challenge to teach at HUNIVASS.
Call for support
The school still lacks basic infrastructure such as dormitories, classrooms, a modern kitchen and accommodation for teachers.
The President of HOSA, Kofi Arhin, together with Dr Nana Toni Aubynn, the Chairman of the Anniversary Planning Committee, is appealing to old students worldwide and to corporate entities, especially those operating in the Western Region, for support to unveil legacy projects in celebration of the school's half-century milestone.
The Writer is HOSA 83, a Journalist, Pastor and academic Faculty Head at the Rosebank International University College (RIUC) in Accra.
