Fica enye e chi le fe? (Where is the bathroom?)

I purchased 35 boards for doors and windows about six days ago. As the boards came in they were worked on by an honest carpenter that I met through Kieran. He said that he was able to assist in all future projects without having to hassle over a price each time a task would be assigned. The week following the parent teacher meeting I have noticed more parents giving towards fuel for the van, which was a fuss beforehand and may continue to be one in the future. Despite that, I know that an understanding was made at the PTA, and I look forward to the next meeting in December.

The meeting with the other volunteer organization went well as free labor has been promised in exchange for accommodations to house at least seven Canadians. We will be setting up a painting and desk building project while they stay near the school.

More discussion in regards to future plans occurred, such as when and where the toilet placement would be on site as well as repairs to the existing structure. As far as labor was concerned several days were wasted by laborers claiming to come and finish but then not showing up.

Yesterday could have been the most difficult day so far. The start of the day was slow but had me skipping lunch to stain frames in the school structure. While staining, a student frantically shouted my direction in ewe about some kind of scuffle near the road. As I approached people gathered and explained that one of the students had thrown a rock at a passing vehicle, which struck a girl in the head. After using very basic first aid, and being disgusted, I traveled back to Ho for a meeting. However, before the meeting began I got pretty sick. Just before going to the meeting, police decided to raid the home my friend and I went to, falsely accusing us of a drug deal. They insisted on a search and then attempted to take us away. We almost were taken to jail but my friend (Kakra) knew two of the officers who instructed the other officers to leave us be. Thursday (today) could not have come any sooner...

Ending on a positive note, the carpentry is coming along great, thanks to Deon and his team.

Me dekuku mije suku fea (Please give money for school fees)

The last several days have been a whirlwind of events and meetings. After learning plenty about water sanitation and production, I moved to Kpetoe and readjusting. I noticed it took me about five days to get acclimated to the food, climate, people, transportation, and of course, the toilet. Last week, I traveled to Wodome, which is a very small village nearest to Godwin Amway School. While there, discussions of what to do next ensued, and the plastering took place almost immediately thereafter. Currently, we are working on the frames for the doors and windows. All the frames, doors, and windows will be set in place by the end of next week.



Good news came early last week as I was able to meet with several familiar faces. DIVOG (another volunteer organization based in Ghana) will be assisting in the completion of possibly two projects; painting the outside, and building desks. This was certainly a great thing to know, as more volunteers can give their support to this very cause. Organizing such a project takes quite a bit of effort, so I am already attempting to set things up -purchasing, cutting, and transporting wood. I was also able to meet with a rep form CrossCause (Kieran), who has been very helpful to me, and a great contributor to Godwin Amway School.

As usual that day was followed by another day of frustrations. Discussing the project with one of the carpenters didn't exactly coincide with my hopes, and has slowed the project. Even another frustration is that we must wait for the dry season to be in full swing before digging for the start of toilets. Again it seems as though time is not working for me, but I'm certain that these important tasks will come to fruition in due time.

Monday I traveled to Accra to bring another volunteer (Tianna) to the village of Wodome to volunteer teach in the school. And as usual the transportation system in Ghana isn't reliable, as I arrived much later than anticipated to the airport. Ironically, they don't give out tickets to everyone that purchases them, but then later in the midst of your trek they decide to check for everyone's tickets...

To finish, today was another important day for the school. When I first arrived I requested a parent teacher meeting (PTA) to take place relatively soon. Today, Thursday, the PTA was able to start somewhere between 9 and 1030AM. Little by little the parents were able to gather in the room. Unfortunately, not all could make it to the meeting but roughly 36 were able to attend. The agenda consisted of being introduced to the parents, explaining what I was there to do, and then describing that I do not have all the money to support everything (as is the case with the other foreigner investors), so I introduced the idea of small school fees, which would be a great accomplishment in relieving some of the financial hardships.

Ichee lay-jaja (It is raining)

I have arrived during the wet season. My arrival happened without any problems or delays. In fact it went so smoothly that I was able to start at the site immediately, and witness fast progress. Being in Ghana for nearly one week and seeing progress is amazing -at least that's all I had hoped in my arrival... Each airport I was at had at least a one hour delay, followed by a two hour wait in Accra, and finishing with a congested road to Ho (the city near Kpetoe) which lasted lasted four hours. Exhausted and tried, I greeted several familiars when I made it in. Perhaps it wasn't the best greeting, but it was positive nonetheless. During the next few days I slept and then hauled bags of water at the volunteer organization (GCS). The organization is trying to be more self sufficient by launching this water project, while continuing to maintain the lowest fees to volunteers.



The first day working with the new water project we taxied 30 bags of water (15 liters each) down the roadways repeatedly. In the midst of delivering water we got a flat tire, which wasn't a real big deal. But it happened again the next day during more deliveries -an abrupt reintroduction to their lifestyle. I also learned the few things there is to learn about the water project. There are three main components: distribution, storage, and production. Production has two branches which require more thought; purification and packaging. A machine drops an enclosure of 500 ml water about every three seconds. 30 of these are then manually, and uniformly packed into a larger bag. The large bag is stacked and eventually distributed. I have read that clean water is becoming more scarce and it's true. In a way one can see that in the high demand for water here, even in such a new project as this one.

I am really hoping to readjust soon. Work at the school started today and I will be 'picking' another volunteer from the capitol later this week. I have noticed that some things have not changed over the last year... time is still a casual concept in Ghana, the kids in the orphanage still go to the school, work hard, and always look forward to visitors. Delile is still a considerate caretaker at the orphanage. The kids at the school continue to stare and chant "yavoo" (white). Two teachers remain from nearly two years ago; Israel and Madam Francisca. To contrast all these similarities are a few noticeable differences, both negative and positive. One of the regular visitors to the orphanage had been murdered months ago, a girl (Innocent is her name) at the orphanage had a baby boy, and everything at the school has progressed!

It is great to know that the community has taken to the school. There is much more work to be done in the upcoming months, but it feels great to be a part of another growing and beneficial institution in this community. "the school looks beautiful" -many have said.