Dear Friends and Family,
We are coming close to the end. Two weeks from tomorrow and we fly
home. The time has passed very quickly. This will be our last real
teaching week so we are both planning to give exams and to try to wrap
up our paper work. Next week Independence Day is Thursday with no
school on Friday. We know that they will have a rehearsal of the
marching earlier in the week so we are kind of writing that week off.
The students did start practicing their marching this past week and
they are really very good!! They have new uniforms this year which look
a bit like business suits - very nice but they look hot - are hot. They
are a pea green (form Joan) or forest green (from Harry) with a neon
yellow green blouses and shirts. The boys have vests and the girls have
jackets with the school insignia on them.
The teachers running the practice are funny. If they don't think a kid
will look good they are pulled out of the line and they have to sit and
watch. The march is kind of like a goose step march with a little moon
walk thrown in. All the schools do the same type of march.
We mentioned that some teachers were trying to pull off a trip to Cape
Coast Castle and Kakum National Park for March 7. The "Friends of
Akuffo Tom School Complex" - our NGO - you wonderful people - is going
to finance half the cost of the trip. We have also told the school that
if some students can not pay anything that we would pay the full cost
of their going ($10). We are asking the students to come up with $5 if
possible but for some even that would be difficult. We think that we
will have about 60 students and ten faculty. We are planning to go
also. We are about four hours away from Cape Coast so will have to get
a very early start. We need to pass near Accra and the traffic is very
bad there so the length of the trip really depends on Accra traffic.
The Castle was a slave trade fort and contains a very good museum as
well as the dungeons. Kakum National Park has a canopy walk. During the
dry season we will most likely not see a great many animals but it is s
till worth a visit. Most students have never been to that part of the
country. We will be packing aspirin for the adults!! Does anyone have
any spare Ritalin for the kids? They are already excited!!!
This weekend we spent in Accra. We stayed with Comfort Nukator, a
friend who had hosted us four years ago when we first arrived in Ghana
without our luggage. We stayed with her for about one week until the
luggage arrived and then stayed a few weekends while we were here last
time. She has a fascinating background. Her former husband was a
foreign diplomat for Ghana in Britain, France, and a few other places.
Her two children now live in London. She hosts volunteers for Project
Abroad and we met two of the volunteers this weekend.
We went to the National Culture Center which is a huge arts and crafts
market!! Hundreds of kiosks selling wood carvings, textiles, paintings,
clothes, and everything else you can imagine. There is more hawking and
pressure to buy than in most other markets. It is not for the faint of
heart! You have to bargain!! Harry loves it. They quote a price, he
responds with something equally ridiculous - and everybody laughs. It
can be overwhelming and tiring. They did have a place that we could sit
down and get a soda just for the respite.
We walked into the city to Makola Market - not far - an outdoor market
filled with more vendors. We purchased eight English textbooks, which
Joan had to bargain for - and they dashed her an African Poetry book
that she was looking at. We bought the books for the school to enable
all students in the class to have their own text.
We bought books four years ago but the government issued new books last
year and our school did not get enough for the current enrollment.
On Friday we went to the Ghana National Registry to register our
organization in Ghana. What an adventure! In the middle of huge
construction we had to find the right forms (for which we had to pay
$9.50) to complete. We then had to find someone who could help to
explain exactly who needed to sign the documents. A very nice young man
saw us in the hall (the only obronis) and rescued us. He explained that
our Board of Directors in the States needs to sign the documents - thus
we will be bringing them home with us to get signed. He also said that
our document was too much for him to read and that all he wanted was a
couple of sentences saying what we are all about. (Pat, we need to
include our ages!) You would not believe the scene. At first we were in
a hallway with people milling all over the place - then we were in a
very small office with no chairs and people trying to walk by us. The
desks in the room were stacked with paper work where people were
registering for everything from businesses to NGO's. We did get the
young man's name so we will direct any future correspondence to him.
There will be a registration fee.
We are running out of time on our internet clock. Still no running
water - and sometimes no electricity. They keep us guessing. Now we are
used to it.
Love and Prayers,
Joan and Harry
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