The school Michael Blackson built for his hometown in Ghana is scheduled to open its doors to students in January. In a Twitter post on Wednesday, the 49-year-old comedian and actor also announced that admission is free for everyone.
“My village is so excited about their new school I built,” Blackson shared alongside a video of the edifice. “Opens January and it’s free for them all.”
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Blackson cut sod for the school project after he returned home in 2020. Taking to his Instagram, the Meet the Blacks actor shared a video of the supposed site currently under construction. “Only thing that matters to me are the kids,” he captioned at the time. “Education can help them understand everything so I’m building them a school in my village. By the grace of God they will be in class next year.”
In the video, Blackson was surrounded by some excited kids and was also in the company of Ghanaian Afrobeats star Fuse ODG, assuring them the educational facility would be completed soon.
Blackson’s initiative follows a similar gesture by Lil Jon. The award-winning rapper and producer has so far built two schools in the West African nation.
“I’m all about helping children,” he told CNN in 2019. “Children are our future and every child deserves to have an environment where they can learn and flourish and gain knowledge.”
According to the musician, he was inspired to provide support when he visited the West African nation in 2017.
“When I saw the conditions where these children were trying to learn, one community they had a big mango tree and two classes were sitting under the mango tree and that’s not a condition conducive with learning,” he said. “Kids are going to get distracted, plus it’s extremely hot. It compelled me to want to do more.”
He added that being a father was also a contributing factor. “Children shouldn’t have to suffer for any reason,” he told CNN. “One of these kids could grow up to be a scientist, a lawyer, an astronaut, the president of their country. I could create an environment where all these things could happen.”