Ghana lost to Egypt Sunday in the final of the Africa Cup 1-0.  There was no score until about seven minutes remaining in the game.  Ghana is still very proud to have made it to the finals.  Two years ago they came in third.

Sunday morning we attended the 8:30 Mass which started promptly at 9:15.  It was a big week at Mass as approximately 25 youth were inducted into the CYO.  They wore white uniforms which reminded us of a Navy uniform.  They processed in together in front of the priest and sat together in the center isle of the church.  There was more music and activity because it was a special occasion.  The priest spoke in English and was translated into Twi.  We would guess he was from an eastern European country but we are not sure.

They also inducted the new church council who will serve for three years.  The old members were thanked before the new ones were introduced. 

We left at 11:30 after the Mass but before some of the announcements and other activities had taken place.  We stopped at the Internet Café to send our last letter and pictures. It was almost 1:15 by the time we got home.

In the afternoon we walked over to Okuapemmen Senior Secondary School as the sign said that they have an open house on Saturday and Sunday on the last weekend of the month.  Harriet and Dave Borton, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer friends, taught there in the late 1960’s.  We asked if anyone from that era was still around and they said no.  The school is a boarding school with 1,500 students.  It has one of the best reputations in the country.  The open house was designed as a parent’s weekend and there were several expensive cars parked there.  The school is on the top of another hill and we hear their calliope music every day which gets them up and puts them to bed.

We walked around the campus and met several students who invited us to join them in the Rec. Hall where they were singing and dancing.  We went into the Dining Hall and they insisted on showing us the kitchen.   Several women and a few men were making the next meal while others were still doing the dishes from lunch.  Some of the women were rolling dough into rolls while others were preparing Jollof Rice in huge pots over gas burners. The kitchen is huge, maybe 20’ by40’.  There were several gigantic pots cooking rice over gas stoves on the floor.  They used a large gigundo wooden paddle to stir the rice..  They showed us a huge container of chicken which would be served with the rice. The place would not pass state inspection, but not much would anyway.  It builds immunity.  It appears that this is the standard Sunday evening meal.  It is an amazing operation to be feeding that number of student’s three meals a day out of the facilities in which they have to work. One of the kitchen ladies has a daughter in class 3 at our school.  She ran over to give Joan a big hug when she eyed her.

Sunday evening the Form 3 students moved into housing near the campus for intensive study until April when they take the big government exams to get into High School.  The students will be tutored every morning starting at 6 a.m. and in the evening from 6-9 in addition to the regular school day.  Teachers (not us) have been assigned times when they will be expected to come to present the additional lessons.  Vera had the evening shift on Monday evening.  Since Akuffo Tom is a private school it is important that they do well so that more students will register at the school next year.

Of course the big disappointment on Sunday was the Football game!

Monday is one of our big days with six classes.  Workmen had been on the campus all weekend working on the windows.  They cemented up the holes they had made last week when they knocked out the wooden frames.  This was in preparation for the metal frames which are being installed this week—during class.  They put the frames together all day on Monday and started to install them on Tuesday. 

The big excitement on Monday was they turned on the water again!  It had been off for a week and we were beginning to run out. We were talking about hiring some kids to fetch it for us.  Veronica and Vera were able to come home early and they filled all the big water drums which we have in the house.  Harry took a shower when we got home just because he could.  He took another one later after Joan gave him a haircut.  It is good that we did all of this as the water was gone again by dawn on Tuesday.

Tuesday is one of our lighter days and we stopped at the Internet Café to read our mail and contact family members.  We saw the Irish guy, Brendan, who plays the guitar on Wednesday evenings in Mamfe.  We also saw Alex, the principal of the Young Souls School which we visited last week.  If you hang out at the café long enough you would most likely meet most foreigners in the area.

One of the big changes in the past six years is that most people now have cell phones and they are constantly talking on them.  We saw a sign at Okuapemmen School that students could not have them in class and that cheaters would be punished if they were caught using them.  They did have several pay phone booths available for student use. 

We forgot to mention that we have a piece of luxury in our room—Vera put a fan in our room.  It is heaven!!

Classes— today were accompanied again by all the construction work.

Hope all is well—take care.

Love and Prayers,
Joan and Harry