Earlier this year, I wrote about the remarkable milestone of the Keta Government Hospital as it marks a century of service to our people. I argued then that the centenary of the hospital should be more than an anniversary. It should cause us to reflect on the history we have inherited, the institutions previous generations built, and our responsibility to preserve and improve them for those who will come after us.

Now comes another remarkable milestone. This November, Vodza Roman Catholic School (a school built by the Roman Catholic Church) will also mark its 100th anniversary.

Think about that for a moment. Within the same municipality, we are celebrating a hospital that has served generations for a century and a school that has educated generations for a century. This is more than coincidence. It tells a much bigger story about Keta and the depth of our history.

Sometimes, discussions about the development of Keta understandably focus on what we do not yet have. We speak about roads that must be improved, jobs that must be created, communities that need better infrastructure, opportunities that our young people deserve, and the enormous economic potential of our coastline and lagoon. These conversations are necessary. Indeed, they are essential to imagining the Keta we want to build.

However, development must also begin with an understanding of who we are and where we have come from. The centenaries of Keta Government Hospital and Vodza RC School remind us that Keta possesses a remarkable institutional history. One hundred years ago, when much of what we now take for granted did not exist, people here were already building institutions around two of the most important foundations of human development: health and education. The hospital cared for the body; the school developed the mind. Together, they helped build generations.

Consider how many lives must have passed through the classrooms of Vodza RC School over the last century. Indeed my friend, Joshua Mawuli Kukuia attended this school. Children entered those classrooms learning their first lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic. They grew into teachers, nurses, fishermen, traders, farmers, public servants, professionals, entrepreneurs, mothers and fathers. Some remained in Keta. Others travelled across Ghana and around the world. Yet somewhere at the beginning of their journey was a classroom and a teacher who helped them discover what was possible.

That is the power of an institution. Its contribution cannot always be measured by the physical size of its buildings. It is measured by the lives it shapes, the opportunities it creates and the generations that carry its influence forward.

These two institutions have witnessed extraordinary change. They have existed through colonial rule and independence, political and economic transformation, technological change and the movement of generations. They have seen communities grow and circumstances change. Yet through it all, they remained.

There is something important in this that we should recognise: Keta’s history is itself an asset.

Across the world, communities build identities and even local economies around their history, culture and heritage. Keta has an extraordinary story to tell. It is a story of the Anlo people and their traditions; of communities shaped by the sea and lagoon; of education, commerce, migration, faith and public service; and of people who, generations ago, helped establish institutions capable of surviving for a century.

We should document that history much more deliberately. Our children should know it. Our schools should teach it. Our festivals should celebrate it. Our elders should be encouraged to record their memories before valuable pieces of our collective history disappear. Our historic buildings and institutions should be identified, documented and, where possible, preserved. The history of Keta should become part of how we present ourselves to Ghana and to the world.

But celebrating history must never become an excuse for living in the past. There is little value in celebrating 100 years if the next generation inherits institutions weaker than we received them. That was the point I made regarding Keta Government Hospital, and the same principle applies to Vodza RC School. A centenary should honour the past, but it must also prepare us for the future.

As Vodza RC School celebrates its anniversary this November, therefore, we should ask ourselves what the school should look like when it celebrates 125 years. What facilities will its pupils need? What role should technology play in their education? What improvements are required in classrooms, sanitation, libraries, ICT and teaching resources? How can former pupils, traditional leaders, churches, businesses, philanthropists, government and the wider Keta community contribute to preparing the school for its next chapter?

These are questions that should extend beyond Vodza. They should cause us to think about the future of all our schools, hospitals and other public institutions across Keta.

The greatest tribute we can pay to those who established these institutions is not simply to praise what they built. It is to build upon it.

When Keta Government Hospital celebrates a century and Vodza RC School reaches the same milestone, they quietly pose a question to all of us: What are we building today that will still serve our people in 2126?

That, perhaps, is the most important question these centenaries leave us with. Every generation inherits something from those who came before it. Every generation also has an obligation to leave something for those who will come after it. Our predecessors built institutions that have endured for 100 years. The challenge before us is to determine what our own generation will build, strengthen and preserve.

As Vodza RC School celebrates 100 years this November, I congratulate its pupils, teachers, past students, the Catholic community, the people of Vodza and everyone whose contribution has sustained the school through the decades.

May this centenary not simply remind us of how old the school is. May it remind us of how deep our roots are, how rich the history of Keta is, and how much responsibility rests upon our generation to continue the work begun long before us.

Keta has a proud past. Our responsibility now is to create a future worthy of it.