Dear Friends and Family,
Another week has flown by and there is not enough time to do everything that we had hoped.
Last
Monday's big event from our perspective was the installation of windows
and doors in the Form 3 classroom. The "Friends of Akuffo Tom
School Complex" (all you wonderful people) paid for them. It took
two days for the workmen from Accra to install and adjust. They
first hammered out the wood frames, breaking some of the concrete in
the process. They patched the concrete and immediately installed
the windows and doors into the wet mixture. There are four large
windows and two larger doors which were installed. The cost was
approximately $1,500 for the complete room. The quality seems
very good with strong metal frames, sliding windows, and
Plexiglas. This will keep the rain (when it does arrive) from
coming into the room, offer security and cut down on the wind blowing
through the room. Joan's concern is that the butterflies may not
be able to get in - but she will keep the window open. There are
about five more rooms to do but this is a good start. We
"Friends" will pay for things as we go. We do have a wish list
from the school for other items as well so we will make decisions as to
how we want to spend the money we collect.
Last week during
Joan's English class, she was reading a poem about butterflies and in
flew a beautiful butterfly - the kids were so amazed that she had such
power - so was she!! What is the chance of that happening in the
states? We have lots of lizards crawling up and across the walls
and a few chickens walking past the room and a few sheep in the
compound - but the butterfly made an impressive visit!!
Marching practice
starts tomorrow for Independence Day, March 6th. That means class
time may be reduced and the students will be really hot and sweaty. We
will adjust our plans accordingly - the last time we didn't realize how
important this event was - we're ready this time. The
Independence Day event is held at the teacher training college and all
the schools in the region have a marching competition. Akuffo Tom
has won and placed over the years. It is an all day
celebration in front of local and school dignitaries. In the
afternoon there is a big football (soccer) game. There will also be a
rehearsal day - two days before the big day!
A couple of the
teachers are trying to plan a field trip to Cape Coast for the students
to see the slave castles and museums. A trip to nearby Kakum park
with its suspension bridges that go from treetop to treetop .
There are about seven bridges - we did this four years ago - a great
adventure.
Some of you were
concerned about the seemingly lack of parental support for some of the
children for paying school fees. We don't think that is the
problem as much as it is the ability to pay for them as well as other
cost of living expenses. Most families make less than $100 a
month and they may have two or more going to school. We've discussed
this with the administration and several students are on
scholarship. It is difficult to explain how it all works - we
marvel that it works at all!! Considering that families and
particularly the children work very hard, we are amazed that some of
them get to school at all. Most of the children wake up between 4
and 5 am to do their chores (fetch water not only for themselves but
also for the adults and tiny ones, sweep the house and compound,
prepare food, bathe and iron uniforms, help with the little
ones). Some come from a great distance which means they may have
to take one or more car rides to get to school - that means they have
to wait by the side of the road for a taxi to pass by - there is no
real time schedule. There are no easy answers.
Friday we went to
the eastern coast of Ghana for the weekend. Our intention was to
meet Jim and Ann Marie Virgilio who have sponsored an orphanage in Old
Ningo. Ann is a retired teacher from Shaker (she taught with our
niece, Shelly Krogh). Jim will retire from teaching this
June. They planned to visit the orphanage, named after their
three children who died (we think in an accident). The orphanage is
named the Josh Kris Dan Home for Children. The NGO that their orphanage
is operating under is called Heart of the Father. We tried to
connect with Jim and Ann Marie before their arrival on 2-14 but we were
unsuccessful. Shelly had told us the dates they would be here and
we took a chance that they would be there on Saturday. We
traveled on Friday by trotro and taxi - about a 3-4 hour trip. We
stayed in New Ningo about 8 miles from the orphanage at a beach front
"hotel". We were in a suite - two bedrooms, shared bathroom with
a SHOWER, living room and kitchen facilities (no stove) - running
water! Harry went in the ocean, and we both walked the beach and
found some beautiful seashells and rocks. This hotel
didn't serve food so we walked a short distance to the Comme Ci resort
which only served food and had no lodging! We had some fried rice
and chicken - good but not as good as Vera's. We sat and watched
the beautiful blue green waves until dark.
Saturday we got up
at 6am. We had kudo bars, peanuts and water for breakfast.
We walked to the main road - about a half mile dirt road - and took a
taxi to Old Ningo - about 5 miles. We walked around town and
asked where the orphanage was and they pointed down the road. We
started walking and an elderly lady "said" she was going in our
direction and would show us the way. 2.5 plus miles later she
directed down another dirt road which had a sign for the home.
When we arrived we were greeted by the housemother and an 18 year old
nursing student, Grace. They said the Virgilio's were not there
and were expected on Sunday. They and another girl, Linda, gave
us a tour. It is a delightful home for 28 children - some were
placed by agencies and some were found on the streets of Tema or at
garbage dumps. They range in age from 3 to 18. There are
about 18 boys and 10 girls.
The compound is
isolated from the town and the kids walk to a government school - 2
miles away. The building is one floor with an open court yard in
the center. It has a large living room with TV, dining room,
kitchen, boy's bathroom, boys dorm, girl's bathroom, girls dorm and two
bedrooms for house parents and a big storage room. The children
have chore to do before school and have plenty of space to play outside
surrounded by a wall. They haven't had running water for 2 months and
have to pay to have it delivered. They have huge tanks for water
and a big septic system and a couple of outside latrines. Some
were taking baths outside so we didn't go in that area. They have
two very nice dogs, a cat and several kittens. They also had some
beautiful shade trees. We were very impressed! We
left a note with the cell phone #.
We found out that
the Virgilio's were going to stay at a hotel in Pram Pram Saturday
night which is about 15 miles from the orphanage in the direction of
our hotel - next town over from New Ningo. We decided to stop by
the hotel this morning (Sunday) and visit. After our visit to the
Home we took a taxi back to Old Ningo. We walked around town and
took a path to the beach to see the beautiful fishing boats - they look
like huge canoes. Some of the fishermen were gathering their very
long nets and children were helping. Children were walking with
us - they speak Ga - so we had absolutely no idea what anyone was
saying - but we took lots of pictures of the little ones - they loved
it. The beach needs a waste management system -
desperately!!! Ghana has beautiful beaches, but there are many
dumps. Plastic bags and everything else is in the water.
Some beaches are ok for swimming as ours was on Friday, but by
Saturday, Harry opted out because of too much litter!
<webmaster's note: a line seems to be missing here.>
and we think a
seminarian or deacon. The service was wonderful Sunday we went to
the hotel in Pram Pram to connect with Jim and Ann Marie. The
receptionist informed us that there was a change in plans and they
would be arriving later in the afternoon today. Alas, we missed
them again. However, on our way to the trotro there was a
Catholic church named St John the Baptist with the Mass just having
started - so we went. The church was very small - about ten
wooden benches - had a priest, Fr. Jerry - very inspiring and the
church became standing room only as the service progressed. Music
had drums and beautiful singing and clapping. They made us stand
and introduce ourselves - they were very welcoming. We talked to Fr.
Jerry for a few minutes after Mass.
After Mass we took
a taxi and to trotros back to Akropong and got home about noon or
12:30. We felt like it should have been 4pm. The Virgilio's
called about 1:30 from the hotel and were sorry that we missed
them. They had all the kids from the orphanage at the hotel (it
is a very nice place with a swimming pool). They are going back
home on 2-24 and we will connect in the states. This is their
first time in Ghana!!
Well - this was
quite chatty huh! It was a great weekend and we are still having
fun and our time is really running out - George arrives in Ghana on
Tuesday and stays until Thursday! We plan Accra nest week.
Liesse, give us the place where Chuck's mother has her school and we
may try to contact - please.
Love and prayers,
Harry and Joan
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