Dear Friends and Family,
We are a bit in
mourning! Ghana was defeated by Cameroon 1-0 in the Semi-Final
match last Thursday. They played the Ivory Coast yesterday for
3rd place and won 4-2. Egypt won the final game against Cameroon
1-0. The power had been off for 24 hours in many parts of
Ghana. It came on here at 6 pm, and we made a dash for the
Internet Cafe.
This past week has
been very busy. We continued with our classes and work on the
library. Part of the frustration in the school business is when
students don't show up for class, they really miss a lot and catching
up is next to impossible. So many of the kids come from a long
distance, and if they don't have money for the car ride, they stay
home. A second problem is lack of school fees. The parents
may be able to pay; however, they haven't or the kids don't remind
them. Even if the kids bring a reminder on paper, the parents may
not get it (sound familiar). And then their are the cases of
those who can't afford the fees - we are trying to get a handle on
it. About 20% are on a scholarship. The serious problem are
like Michael who can't read and hasn't paid his fees. I'm willing
to do home visits, but for some reason no one is keen on the idea - we
are working on it!
We visited the library
in town because Joan is doing a unit on poetry and wanted African
poetry. The library had two small books from which she copied
some to run off for her students - on our trip to Accra we will find
some African poetry books for the school. With the new reforms in
education, poetry is becoming a required topic - but their are few who
read it let alone teach it.
We hear rumors about
the marching preparations for Independence Day, March 6th. Four
years ago we were amazed by the amount of time used to practice
for this event - all for a certificate and a juice box. They
compete against 20 schools at the teachers college campus in front of
local and regional officials. The students arrive at 7:30 to form
their lines and start marching at about 10 or 10:30 in the morning - of
course it is in 100 degree heat!
Yesterday, Saturday,
we had another excursion. We went by shared taxi - you
stand by the road and hail a cab down that is going in your direction
with other people. Our first stop was the Cocoa Farm of Tetteh
Quashie, the man who brought the first cocoa plants to Ghana. The
farm is in Mampong which is only about ten miles from here. The
tour was given by the caretaker's son, Theo, who was very
knowledgeable. He took us around the farm and explained the
relationship among all the different plants that are planted with the
cocoa. Some are there for shade, others because they hold water,
and some for the leaves for harvesting and drying. They have a
small museum and sell a few items related to the cocoa.
Valentine's Day is now Chocolate Day in Ghana and Nestle will be at the
farm giving out free samples.
Our next stop was
about ten miles further south at Aburi Botanical Gardens. These
were started by the British over 100 years ago and there are plants
from around the world planted by people such as Queen Elizabeth.
We had lunch in one of the two restaurants in the garden. There
were two couples from the Seattle area there and we had a nice
conversation with them. They are on a three week trip to a couple
countries in West Africa. The garden is very nice. We were
surprised by a downpour of rain - the first that we have had in the
month that we have been here. It lasted for about 30
minutes. We started taking shelter under a tree but got soaked -
felt good in the heat. We moved to a covered shelter with a group
of kids from Accra who were on a field trip. They had lots of
questions for us and we had a great time with them.
On the road on the
outskirts of town there are 30 wood carvers with their stands of
merchandise - mostly carvings, drums - all done by hand. We
visited all the shops before purchasing anything. We did get a
few items but will have to go back. It is on the road to Accra so
we could always stop on our way home from there.
Irony!! Guess
who is coming to Ghana!! - George W will be here this Friday (we
think). We saw a small ad in the Daily Graphic with George's
picture soliciting greetings from businesses. We thought we
should go to Accra with our Obama or Hillary buttons! Actually,
we have made arrangements to be in Accra on Friday where we will spend
next weekend. We have avoided the city while the Football games
were in town.
It's either power or
water but not both at the same time. We prefer the water except
for access to the Internet. The Cafe where we are now is very
nice and they do have a generator so it is available some times when
the power is off.
Will close for now -
we are at the mid point of our adventure. Still lots of work -
still having fun. Keep the rain dances going - we could feel the
dances yesterday - thanks! Keep the e-mails coming.
Love and Prayers,
Joan and Harry
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