February 21, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Another busy week in Ghana!  We can not believe how fast the time is going.  We start for home in only three weeks and two days.  Unbelievable!

We went to church for Ash Wednesday after mailing our last update.  We were told that it started at 7:30 p.m. and arrived about 7:20.  They were actually doing the readings when we arrived.  It was scheduled for 7 and they had started somewhat on time.  There was no Priest but they did have ashes.  We could understand from the announcements in “Twi” that there would be Stations of the Cross on Friday.  We looked on the wall and could count only ten—is that the new number Father Jack?  Of course, some could just be missing.

Thursday is our busy day with both of us scheduled for double periods of both classes.  However, the practice marching takes priority!   They need to be prepared by March 6 for Independence Day.  We were told that Joan would not have her afternoon class so Harry gave her half of his morning class.  She has also missed class in the morning because they sometimes march at the start of the day and don’t stop for the first period time slot.

Because we had Thursday afternoon off we made a trip to Koforidua.  Thursday is their Bead Market day.   We have not been able to go yet this year because of our teaching schedule.  They have about twenty five venders with all kinds of hand crafted items for sale.  The prices are lower at the market than at Cedi Bead Works or at some other craft places.

We purchased a little tie-dye cloth and some more books for the school.  We love to walk around the regular market because it is so colorful and full of people.  The tro-tro ride was better than our last trip.

Friday there was a PTA Meeting at school.  Eighty two parents came.  We told them that we could not get that number to show up in America for a meeting.   We were introduced and thanked for what we have done for the school.  The teachers were at the meeting so the kids were being watched by some of the older students.  Joan had an early class and she was able to teach before the meeting got started.  The meeting was scheduled to start at 9 but they were still putting up the canopy at 9:45 and bringing in chairs and other items until almost 10.  The meeting lasted until noon.  The great majority was in “Twi” but one of the teachers sat with us and translated the gist of the conversation.  We met several parents after the meeting.

Saturday we visited a rural village named Gboloo Kofi.  It is located off a main road on a dirt road about 25 min. from Adwoso—about half way between Akropong and Koforidua.  We took a tro-tro to Adwoso and then a shared taxi.  The shared taxi was the oldest and most decrepit cab that we have been in so far.  There were no side panels on the doors and the driver sat on the very left side of his seat so that he could hold his door closed.  They pulled the cab under some shade and we waited for other passengers to fill the car.  After twenty minutes of sitting and sweating we asked how much more it would be to pay for the additional seats.  For about $1.30 we could leave immediately.  Be assured that we did!  The village mainly has mud huts with metal roofs.  It is a farming community.  It is literally in no man’s land.  We had been invited to visit this village by Neil Kerfoot.   We met Neil and Anna at the Durba about a month ago.  He is from England and she is from Ireland and they have created an NGO called “Village by Village”.  They install water pumps and latrines in rural villages.  Their goal is to do 85 villages by 2016.  The couple met on Cape Cod at her brother’s wedding.  Her mother was very pleased that she had not met him by picking him up off a bar room floor.    

In addition to the bore holes (wells) and latrines for Gboloo Kofi they have also built a concrete Primary School in town.  The Junior Secondary is a very old wooden structure similar to what we found at Akuffo Tom when we first came six years ago and is in need of replacement.  Neil and Anna have built another building which contains a large living room/bedroom for them, a bunkhouse with bunk for volunteers, a small library room, and a large covered open area where they can show movies.  The village has about 300 people and almost everyone comes to the movies.  They have made a couple of sanitation videos using the local kids which they show in the middle of the movie.  Neil has a generator.  According to Anna, the kids love to die dramatically from whatever disease they are trying to warn against.  They are a great couple and are doing wonderful work.  They spend about four months a year in Ghana and the rest of the year they are raising money in England.      

This morning we attended Mass.  There was a Priest but he came an hour late—not too bad by African time.

At noon we were picked up by Meri Jaine, the women whose beautiful home we visited a couple of weeks ago.  She drove us to a very nice restaurant about twenty miles from here.  It was very western in terms of the food available.  We both had “Obama Cheeseburgers” with French fries.  We sat in a large thatched hut pavilion which overlooked the valley below and the mountains in the distance.  They had a real swimming pool!  Most of the patrons were “obronis” but there were several Ghanaian families also.  The food was very good but the service was a bit slow.  The grounds are extremely well maintained.  The main building has a conference center and a bar with a lounge.  There appear to be rooms to rent but we are not sure if they are open yet.  It was a bit pricey. 

While we were eating Meri Jaine received a phone call from her Real Estate agent and someone was coming to see her home this afternoon.  We hope that she is successful in selling it as she would like to complete her move back to the U.S.  She has dozens of stories about her experiences here in Ghana over the past ten years.  She is going to pack up some of the books she does not plan to ship home and donate them to Akuffo Tom School.  On the way home we showed her where she could drive and park her car near the top of the hill as the road going down to the school is very bad.  We will have some students transport the books from her car to the school.

Some one has asked about our problem with books for private schools like Akuffo-Tom.  Since the government afforded free schooling in the gov’t schools 2 years ago, it gives the schools government issued text books.  However, they do not supply every student in the private schools with books.  Basically, what is left over from the gov’t schools they give to the private institutions.  A private school like ours may get none or 5 or 10 copies for a class.  These books are not for sale at present—we can’t even go to the “black market”.  However, we do have a good supply of old books for our classes—not as up to date as the gov’t books.  Because of wear and tear, some of the old paperback texts are gone.  We use plan Z now.

We hope that everything is going well for you all..

Love and Prayers,
Joan and Harry