Dear Friends and Family,
Uh
OH!! We are having water problems already! Do your rain dance now!
Last night, Joan was able to get her shower in before Harry - she was
very lucky, even though the water was a trickle - just picture how she
managed with trying not to use all the water and have enough to get the
soap off - the hair did not get washed. Alas! Poor Harry had not shower
and no bath! Never mind the toilet business. Vera to the rescue this
morning - she brought some buckets of water for us to take care of
hygiene needs.
Today is the start of the Africa Cup, and the country
is in full festival mode. People are wearing flags, cars have flags
across their hoods - this is a big event - something like Mardis Gras.
We are hoping to get our school work done and watch some of the madness
on someone's TV. The opening ceremony is at 5pm and the first match is
Ghana vs Guinea at 7pm - That's only if everything starts on time ( very
unlikely). Harry bought a paper hat and Joan has a scarf to show our
support - now, most of you know what sport fans we are--we are
stretching ourselves for the home team.
Friday , Harry has one long
morning class which follows singing of hymns for 45 min (this is not a
religious affiliated school - this happens all over Ghana). The
children are very respectful and inquisitive. They are willing to talk
about their lives and enjoy hearing the contrasts of American student
lives. On our way home from school we took the long way home - still
hilly - -a little obsessed with the hills. We wanted to see our old
haunts of 4 years ago. Some have been replaced by better kiosks and
there are many more "shops". Our friend who did copying for us,
Faustina, has a better shop and the copies are better. She now carries
some school books and some stationary - she is doing very well and she
was very pleased to see us. Friday evening we were greeted by a former
student - Millicent and her sister, Mavis who is a current student.
Millicent is 19 and waiting for her grades from the government exams
which allow her to go to the university. In the mean time she is
teaching at the nursery school. She was visiting us only because her
father knew who we were. She is not allowed to visit her friends,
unless at school. She is not allowed to go to her friends' house.
This is quite common for teenagers here, especially girls. Parents are
fearful of bad influences and keep a tight reign until they are at the
university.
Saturday we went to Koforidua about 45 minutes away by
trotro - the van with 15 to 20 new close friends! The trip takes us
through many small villages with thatched roofs - children playing
outside and vendors selling palm oil, vegetables, bananas, oranges,
pineapples, toilet paper, auto parts, hair gels, and some kind of
skinned animals that have long tails. The scenery is beautiful even
though the dry season has covered plants with dust - especially along
the road. Koforidua is the capital of the Eastern Region and is fairly
large market town. We were stopped just before we got into town and
the driver was given a ticket for not having a license! He paid a
"fee" to the police. The people on the van were yelling at him as they
feared they would have been stranded along side the road if the
policeman had been "strict". We enjoyed walking around town and had
lunch in a shop we had visited before - chicken, rice, salad, and two
bottles of soda for about $3.50 total. To reward ourselves we had an
ice cream in what is really a bookstore. Of course, we did have to buy
some books that will help us with our teaching. We met a Peace Corps
Volunteer girl, Jackie, who is from Pennsylvania outside of
Philadelphia. She has been here five months and is doing small
business development with an NGO. There are about 150 PCV's in Ghana
now - most in the Southwest part of the country. She is a graduate of
Vanderbuilt and worked in the business/finance world for four years
before joining the Peace Corps. We returned home about three, read,
and took a nap. Last night we played Scrabble - Joan won again - just
like four years ago.
This morning we went to Mass at the local
Catholic Church. It was scheduled for 8:30 and started at 9. Most of
the service was in Twi bu the reading and sermon were given in both
English and Twi. People were friendly and remembered us. We got out
about 10:30 and walked to the center of town for a chocolate milk bar
and to pick up the Ghana souvenirs for the game today. We are at the
Internet Cafe on our way home.
This week we hope to help "organize"
the school library. The books that we sent earlier were in a cabinet
that the termites are feasting upon the shelves - they appear to have
left the books alone! We want to divide them by grade level and
availability for students and teachers. The administration wants us to
show the teachers how they can use the books and materials as resources
for their teaching. We will also be going through the 501C3 documents
with them.
Will close so that we can do our lesson plans before the big game. Don't forget your rain dance!
Love and Prayers,
Joan and Harry
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