The students of the St. Kilian Roman Catholic School have a brand new playground. Former pupil of the school and current Chelsea player Michael Essien returned to his hometown of Awutu Senya, last Thursday to commission a playground funded by his foundation, the Michael Essien Foundation. The foundation as part of its 5-year development plan built the recreational facility to be used by the kids when on break from the tedium of learning. The Champions League winner’s delegation included ex-Ghana skipper and close pal Stephen Appiah; Rahim Ayew and chairman of the Michael Essien Foundation, Mike Gizo. A rapturous welcome greeted Essien and his team followed by a short ceremony after which the Chelsea icon visited a few classrooms to interact briefly with the star struck kids. Michael and a student of the school together cut the sword to officially mark the opening of the playground. Speaking after the brief ceremony, the Chelsea star was of the firm belief that it was his duty to give back to society considering all that society had given him. “This is my home. It is always nice to come back home and do something nice for the kids and see them happy. It means a lot to me. When I was growing up I did not have this and thought it would be nice to give back to the community. It makes me happy as well.” Essien promised further developments for the kids of the St Kilian Roman Catholic School including an upgrade of the school clinic to a hospital capable of serving the entire community. Essien advised the kids to learn hard in order to scale the heights he himself has attained.