| From: |
Joan and Harry Thornhill harrythornhill@hotmail.com |
| Subject: |
Water, water everywhere, even in the sink - Number 8 |
| Date: |
2/1/2008 |
Dear Friends and Relatives,
We are finishing up week three and we have water! It came on
Wednesday evening about 6 pm and we both took a shower because we were
told that it might not stay on for long. It has been on ever
since. We have seen some breaks in the line on the main road
where water is spewing like a lawn sprinkler. No one seems to be
doing anything about it yet. Most likely it will not rain here
until March. The Harmatan winds off the Sahara Desert have been
quite strong - they create little dust storms whirling around the
ground. Sometimes it blows into the classroom and blows the
papers. It looks like heavy fog in the air but it is dust.
You may have the Superbowl on Sunday but we have Ghana playing again in
the Africa Cup! We're psyched! We believe that it starts at
5 pm but it always seems subject to change. Ghana has made it to
the quarter finals. The finals will be next weekend.
We worked on the "library" again. Joan found some of the teacher
materials that we left 4 years ago. She had torn apart an old
literature book and created story books which were stapled together, so
that the students could have some "books" to read. The staples
were all rusty and the books were not in bad shape, but we are so
pleased that we actually have other books this time. The books
are shelved; however we have to categorize them. Mind you, there
are not a whole lot of books, but enough to get started and for the
students to make choices. Some of you have asked about sending
books and materials. A big need is books and learning materials,
like games or educational toys for the pre-school - they have almost
nothing. Books for pre-k through grade 6 would be fine..
English is a second language for all students, so even our JHS kids
enjoy the lower level books for their library needs. We do have a
community library, but you have to pay a fee, which most cannot afford
and they do not live in town. It is expensive to mail, and it has
to go through the post office since UPS and Fed-Ex doesn't come
here. If you use our return address as an NGO, the administration
here may not have to pay a fee to pick up the bulk mail. The
return address is: Friends of Akuffo Tom School Complex, 23 Jennifer
Rd., Glenville, NY,12302. Send books or whatever to: Akuffo Tom
School Complex, PO 183, Akropong-Akuapem, Eastern Region, Ghana West
Africa.
We visited the nursery school on our way home one day when we were
finished teaching early. The nursery-pre-k is located at the top
of the hill. One of the young teachers expressed her frustration
over the lack of toys and learning materials for the little ones.
Joan has invited her over to our house to help make some materials out
of stuff that we brought - not much, but we can be creative - even with
sticks and stones!
We have discovered some students who can't read or are far below the
other students in the class. We are going to tutor as much as
possible during their big break at lunch time. They will sit in
class and just say "Yes, Madame or Yes sir" and not know how to copy
from the board or read. Their English is very weak, but not bad
or maybe we are just getting used to it - Like bucket baths! - never a
dull moment! We were trying to find index cards here - never
heard of them and we've used up our supply that we brought. We
might find some in Koforidua.
We have a few distractions when we are teaching. Not only do we
compete for being heard with the teachers next door bellowing out their
lessons, but also the construction on the mammoth house next
door. We have no doors or windows. The construction
involves the building of a tall wall with concrete, blocks and
headloaded water-less than 5 yards from our window - evidently the
owner has crossed over the school by 2 meters! Palaver to
follow! Delightful distractions are the beautiful butterflies
that flutter through the class - the kids don't pay attention to them
nor to the lizards that are constantly climbing the walls. It is
funny to watch Harry teach and then see a lizard come out from behind
the chalk board - literally boards painted black!
For entertainment last night,we watched Naomi, the mother of Stacey and
Michelle, wash Stacey's hair outside. She usually does this
outside because it is a process. Stacey straddles her mother's
lap facing her and hanging backwards over her mother's knees. The
hair is washed and rinsed several times using dipper of water from a
bucket. Stacey is 3 and loved it. After the washing and
towel drying, Naomi combed it - no conditioner or de-snarling
stuff. She then plaited (tiny braids) it which stays for two
weeks! Interesting! Then came the questions on how often
Joan does hers and if she braided it and about her color-hmmmm.
Only her hair dresser for sure! Of course, their were questions
about Harry's hair too - what hair he has!
Naomi washes our clothes every Friday. She soaks them in some
kind of solution and then scrubs them. She was at it at 3:30 am -
We marvel at their work ethic. She did her own wash too and they
wash their shoes!
Joan had a little spill down the ravine this morning - only her pride
was injured with a little scratch on her leg and hand when she caught
herself. There was a little girl about 8 yrs old who witnessed it
and waited until we passed and walked behind us. She was watching
over the old obroni's - cute!
We found the great chocolate bars in town - made here! Have to
run - out of time. Thanks for all the rain dances and prayers -
keep them coming. Also, thank you for the comments on the news
article in the Gazette. We were able to download it - took a long
time, but worth it.
Love to all and prayers,
Harry and Joan
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