Pics from the TACCO creche 25.5.06

Happy days...

(Fixing the Roof and the children of KG1 and KG2 enjoying lunch)

Week 18

The first day back, with a roof on three of the classrooms, I was more excited than the children! I jumped around pointing and running around from classroom to classroom. The kids too, seemed different now that they are separated by walls, and have windows and a door and everything! It makes a change from teaching under the trees, where the goats and chickens used to join in lessons every five minutes, and every falling leaf, or passing lizard was a distraction.


It makes me feel so happy to be a part of the life of these kids. I know they won't remember me, but I will always remember them and especially the day they got their roof!

We have been fetching water in the evenings this week, as we not only lost power several nights, but water too... The nearest bore hole that was working (pump) is over the hill and round into the next village, and even better, when we went to fetch water it was muddy everywhere, we just knew it would be a messy event! A lot of people were shocked that we were joining in with carrying water on our heads as they expected us to send someone else to get it.

At the centre, Charlotte has been recieving some lessons from Lawrence and Sly on the Culture and Social background of Ghana, with a bit of help from Irene. It fills in the pieces of the puzzle about the country that we don't know about, and also helps the culturalm practices make more sence.

The work on the centre has involved building steps into the ground by the school this week as the rains have been eroding the paths and changing the shapes of the whole area. The steps may not be permanent, but will last for at least a decade, and keep the children safe when they are playing around. It also looks so neat now it has been done.

There has been more block moulding now, and we all feel confident that we are getting stronger. It was so tough in the beginning to lift a block or move the wheelbarrow, and now we are competing with the guys from the Culture group!

The whole area around the centre is having a bit of a face lift and we have been weeding the grounds too. There are tonnes of mosquitos breeding in the hole we dug for the safety tank, that bite your ankles while doing the weeding, but its good hard work. I feel like I am gaining all sorts of hands on skills here!

I used my pac a mac for the first time this week, the rains have invaded so much. It was fun for me, but so many street traders lose business during this time due to people staying in and avoiding the rain if they can. I am sure whatever novelty factor is at work right now it will wear off for me in a few weeks too!

(written by Lucie)

Something else (part two)

The Muslim wedding we went to last week reminded me I wanted to elaborate some more on things that have no real time frame. Here is the second installment of things that have no place anywhere else.

Occasions.

It may have been Charlottes first experience of a wedding here, but Caroline and I have been to many occasions now that are worth a mention…
The first weekend after our induction we were a little bit confused to be invited to a wedding of someone we had never met. Similarly, the confusion arose the very next weekend when we were invited to attend a funeral. We have also been to a Graduation like no other.

Unlike our weddings, there are no table plans here, invitations by post or Bridesmaids, but some things remain the same as our ceremonies. The all-important sound system features highly, and usually comes in the form of a rig you might find at a small rave! The huge speakers blast out High-life songs at a constantly distorted volume loud enough to hear in the next village. The DJ's like interrupting these songs with their own invaluable comments on the dancing taking place, or general observations about those who have chosen not to dance.

Drinks and snacks are provided usually in the form of a bottle of coke or sachet of water and a rock cake. At the end of most ceremonies, guests are presented with a polystyrene box containing their 'take-away' meal, usually rice, fish heads and hot sauce!

At the Funeral we went to, the Culture Group were performing some of the traditional dances, so we had front row seats with the Directors of CEJOCEP. All these occasions cost the families involved a lot of money, so it is customary to provide a small donation to them to help cover the costs. When our Culture Group were dancing, they also received donations for their performance and in the same style as sexy dancers, had the money tucked in their skirts or shorts by the crowd.

The Graduation was very entertaining and we felt even more special as this time, we knew the person who it was all for. Faustina was Graduating from Hairdressing school, as her master – our mate Esther had believed she had reached the right level of skills and she could go on to open her own Salon.

We arrived an hour late at 11am, but after two more hours of waiting for more people to arrive we realised it had not been a faux pas! We were made honourary chairpersons for the proceedings by Lawrence, who was MC-ing the event. Caroline and I were not expecting this at all and had hoped we could sneak out of our very prestigious positions and go and sit among the crowd, but no such luck. With speeches to give, we were brought up on stage and seated in important places in front of everyone!

The guests all need to bring lots of money (in low denominations) as the party lays on food to takeaway and drinks, all which cost a fortune here, and the way in which the host gets their money's worth is usually quite fun!

The ceremony included hiding Fausty at the start and making her family pay money for someone to go and find her and bring her. She was brought in covered in maybe 15 cloths and the guests had to dig in their purses and pay to reveal them all. (When each cloth was removed we were one step closer to seeing her and the new hairstyle she was sporting.)

The games hadn't finished as more money had to be paid to protect her beautiful hair style being spoilt by talcum powder! It was loads of fun, and when they had decided she was ready and could graduate it came to our turn for speeches. Luckily, the microphone was playing up by then and we kept cutting out, so Lawrence had to repeat everything we had said in Fante and made us sound really great as we got a lot of applause!


Animal magic

I am personally a big fan of animals, although, mostly just to look at and only if they are not too dangerous.

Before coming to Africa I was a bit nervous that there would be tarantulas in my room, and snakes in my boots, that sort of thing, but so far I have just been amazed at all the different wildlife I have seen, and none too close up. It has become a little joke between us volunteers in the case of insects, as every time we are walking somewhere and I spot another various pretty winged creature I stop dead in my tracks to get a closer look and get left behind, saying 'Wow!' Everyone says 'Another 'wildlife thing' is it Lucie?!'

The most impressive animal and insect groups that I have got used to seeing now are:

Dragonflies and Butterflies – absolutely beautiful, they appear in their dozens and brighten up any dull morning. [Ghana is home to more butterfly species than anywhere else.]

Fireflies - They can be found glittering in the bush like fairylights. Garenteed to guide us safely on the path home at night.

Birds – in particular, the tiniest little birds I have ever seen are especially cute when you walk past some tall grass, not even noticing them and all of a sudden 14 of them flutter past with a chirp and land on the nearest telegraph wire.

Frogs – Since the rain has increased, so has the frog population. They have been spawning in millions and I've even had dreams of them taking over!! Every dry night you can hear the chorus of hundreds of frogs just outside our window!

Goat / sheep hybrids - Is it a goat? is it a sheep? Most of them are distinguishable, but some of them look worryingly like a cross between the two!

Migrating ants - These have fascinated me at all hours of the day, on all sorts of paths, weaving their own walkway and carrying their luggage across a gap of maybe 2 metres in their hundreds.

Giant Spiders - I was reluctant to mention them as it may put people off coming, but the ones we have been sharing a house with are very harmless and we have overcome any problem with them by calling them Ananse to make them go away. (He is the African folklore hero who is both a spider and a man in many good stories.) We had a mother spider carrying her huge egg sack in our shower room and the idea of all her babies hatching was the only scary spider moment we've had really.

The most annoying ones (or ones I won't say 'wow' to) are:

Mosquito's – as you would expect, these pesky things can irritate even the people most cautious of them. And every bite has the possibility of the malaria parasite being transmitted, which both Caroline and Charlotte have had already. I have squashed plenty of them so far, and there is a sense of satisfaction if you get them just as they land, before their proboscis gets you!

Teeny flies - At altitude these things appear from nowhere in their dozens and lazily fly around your head and even into your eyes at times.

Teeny ants – I have nicknamed them the Critters. They are much smaller than normal ants and not entirely black, but slightly dark reddish. They hold residence at Jeffrey's house and appear in swarms on any surface they like at any time. It is very annoying to find them crawling through the bread we have for breakfast, or being woken up with a group of them playing around my ankle! Pesky critters!
(They are even crawling across this keyboard as I type!)

(written by Lucie)

Back again...

Week 17

Right! Hello again! The Tour - yeah, that was well exciting and a bit scary and all of that. Don't worry though people, we're away from the sea and back to the village for the time being. I'm sure there will be more dramas ahead, but for now its back to the quiet life! (I've finally found the time to add Week 14 as well, so better late than never, if you scroll down you will find it there…)

Debbi and Matt packed up and headed to Jachie this week near Kumasi to sink their teeth into the project with Africachild and TACCO. (For more information go to www.Africachild.net) So we said goodbye for a while and let them go off for a more promising second half! They will be a lot closer to the Internet café's while there too, so we are hoping to hear more from them soon!!



This week was particularly special because on Friday we got our first aluminium roofing sheets on three of the classrooms! It has made such a difference already, and it is by far the most expensive part of the project but its also definitely the most important, as the dreaded rains are coming our way every minute!

The roof sheets have caused a drama of a different sort though, as the price of them has been increased twice in the last few months due to the fuel increases. The Petrol prices increased by only 500 Cedis (less then 4p) while we were on tour and yet the hardware stores have taken it upon themselves to put up the price of every roof sheet by 10,000 Cedis (about 70p). To roof the 6 classrooms was originally totaled at 13 million Cedis which was the largest part of our raised funds gone in a flash, but with the extra price on every sheet we now need to find 1 and a half million more.

For the most part of our first day back at work, we trawled around Cape Coast Hardware stores checking prices and unsuccessfully bartering with the owners to try and get the original price. It's so disheartening to know that the people of Ghana are affected so much by every fuel increase. The taxi drivers went on strike a while ago because of the same thing. They also needed to increase their fares (much more necessary being fuel users too) and as Taxis are everybody's main form of local transport it caused mayhem.

Now the price of petrol will never go down, as everyone knows, but the owners of big businesses like these are making unreasonable leaps that the average person cannot keep up with.

We also know a couple with a baby who we are friends with from the Culture group who are being evicted from their rented property in a month. We have helped out with some roofing sheets for the house they are building, (which is basically one room) as they have real financial struggles, but if the price keeps on jumping like this, they will never be able to finish their house and will end up homeless.



While we were on Tour, Caroline and I missed the children and spent time filling Charlotte in on all the personalities in the groups. The lively ones, the jokers, the brilliant and the bossy, this was Charlottes first week of meeting our horrible, wonderful kids. I am happy to say it was a good meeting and they have done us proud. They are all extra excited to have another Obruni teacher now as well.

Our first morning was a mini riot with both KG1 and KG2 together, and lots of singing and mucking around involved, Charlotte was instantly a favourite with so many of them as she definitely has a natural way with children!



Caroline has met a lovely lady from Theresa's family who makes Tie and Dye and Batik clothes on order. She is called Gloria and Caroline is going to be helping her out from time to time with the various methods and prints. Gloria works just outside her house, under the baking sun, as her building has not been finished yet. She has to mix the dye by hand and has no mask or anything to protect her from the fumes. Her work is beautiful though, and when the finished products are drying in a row at the top of the hill it creates such a beautiful sight of vibrant colours and patterns that you can see drying in the breeze.

Eventually it is in the plans of CEJOCEP to create a workshop where women in the village can go and print on their fabrics and cloth. They would then be able to sell the designs and create some money for themselves, maybe under one name. The workshop would also become a training centre for the benefit of the younger women who would be trained up in that skill.



The work at the centre this week was mainly weeding the grounds just near where we used to teach. The area is full of trees and some small plants and the job is done with rakes and larger versions of the gardening hoe. The area is so nicely shaded that even at midday it is cool to work in and with enough people working, you can get quite a large area done in a short space of time.

The only downfall of this job is the mosquito population in the area. They are black and white striped and come out in the daytime. Effective repellant and a pair of trousers is always the best way to avoid being bitten, but these critters were interested in any bare flesh found, so got us anyway. I have found the bites to be annoying, but as long as you don't scratch it when it is itchiest it goes down pretty quickly! Although dangerous, they are no way as annoying as the tiny ants that take a bite and won't let go. Ouch!



Our friend Amponsah invited us to his Sister's wedding this week in Abura. They are Muslim, so we covered up completely, donned the customary headscarves and got approval from the rest of the family before going. The weddings in Ghana last three whole days, and we were invited to the final part – the Sunday afternoon ceremony.

After preening, we walked to the place where it was all happening to find that we were arriving late. Not to worry in Ghana though, as there is no official time for anything, and even if there was, it would never be held to! There were tonnes of people there, all on the obligatory plastic chairs, and we took our places at the back of the courtyard. I was surprised to see Amponsah's mum sitting just one row ahead, rather than at the front of her Daughters wedding, but then as the whole thing seemed quite free, I realised no-one minds where you are or when you come as long as you make it.

The Bride, Groom, Best man and Maid of honour all sat on stage to one side of the 5 Imams. Amponsah's sister looked absolutely stunning, and not at all nervous considering the marriage had been arranged. The two families had known each other for a while though, and we were told they were happy to be getting hitched. The service was in Fante and Arabic, although Charlotte, Caroline and I could never have told you which was which! There were prayers, a short sermon, love songs and some rites performed that I don't know much about. Then Amponsah whisked us off at the end to appear in his family photos!!

(written by Lucie)

Word up from Jachie

The latest news from Debbi and Matt.

Well, it's been a few days since we arrived in Jachie near Kumasi and we're settling in nicely. We're still finding our feet but there seems lots for us to do. Our job is made much easier by the support of David Boateng, the director, who although based in Reading, UK, is very much on hands with helping TACCO - The African Child Charity Organisation - run as smoothly as possible.

COMPUTER ROOM

The computer room is an excellent facility but is currently not being used to its full potential.
Our main aim is to get as many children using it as possible both during school hours and after school.

The schools were initially reluctant to timetable formal computer lessons because of the token charge and the lack of consent from the District Education Authorities.

In order to rectify this, David Boateng has waived fees during school hours.

We have also met with the District Director of Education. She seemed very impressed with the facility and requested that we write a formal letter stating our intentions. We have sent a draft of this to David Boateng and hope to submit it to the office as soon as possible. Once we have permission from the District, we will start to approach individual head teachers and begin to schedule classes. We are confident the computer room will be full of children every day by the end of the month.

Currently 24 out of 31 computers are fully functional. The remaining seven will need to be connected to the server before they will run Edubuntu (the educational software). We hope to help resolve the networking problems as soon as possible through our connections with network experts in the UK and by working with Bernard and Solomon.

CRECHE

The creche appears to be well used, with an average of 40 or so children attending every day. Despite the cramped conditions and minimal resources, the children seem to enjoy their time here and the women in charge are excellent.

We have consulted with the Creche organisers to find out what they most urgently need. Following our discussion we have arranged for age appropriate toys to be sent from England (they are already in transit). We have also commissioned a local carpenter to build a toy box for the children, which we will paint and present in the next few weeks. This will occupy some of children's time and also teach them responsibilities such as tidying up, looking after things and sharing. Playing will stimulate their imagination and some of the toys will be educational.

On the reccomendation of the Creche helpers, we also intend to use some of our donation money to buy more mats for the children to sit on, as well as a supply of spare underwear for when the children soil themselves.

LIBRARY

The library is small but well stocked. However, there is always room for more books. We have arranged for two boxes of books from WH Smith to be donated to the library. These are currently in David Boateng's safe hands.

The library is already patronised by a small number of school children, who visit it weekly. Once the computer room is full on a daily basis, we will approach the schools again and encourage more formal use of the library.

We hope to finish cataloguing the books that are already there and, if time allows, install a computerised system for registering and borrowing books.

We have spoken to the librarian, Mr Arthur, who has said that the shelves need painting to avoid the books being eaten by bugs.

JACHIE DISABLED CENTRE

We heard about this centre from a Peace Corps volunteer and were keen to see it for ourselves. We visited the centre and were very impressed by their motivation and hardwork.

Currently the centre trains disabled people to make local cloth and crafts, including kente, shoes, school uniforms, wooden crafts and leatherwork. They have many workshops, which are fully equipped with machinery and their training programme offers an alternative to disabled people begging on the streets.

However, the centre is having trouble marketing and selling their goods. This means trained disabled workers are now unemployed because they are unable to continue their craft due to the lack the money to buy more raw materials.

We have already arranged for a web designer in England (a former Africatrust volunteer) to build a website for the centre, which we will put on line.

We have suggested that they design some posters, which we will place in guesthouses in central Kumasi and Lake Bosomtwe (a major tourist destination). Jachie Disabled Centre is located on the only road between Kumasi and the Lake, which means it is in the ideal position to pick up some tourist trade.

In addition, we have already comissioned the woodwork department to make some sturdy, educational toys for the TACCO creche.

Accomodation

We are extremely happy in the house in Atonsu Agogo. The food is plentiful and excellent and we have plenty of water. They are always quick to provide us with anything that we ask for.

The children are delightful and full of energy and the adults are also friendly and good fun. We feel part of the family already and Daniel has promised to take us out clubbing in Kumasi on Friday!

Thank you David B for arranging our taxi to work and back - Adu is the most punctual Ghanaian we have met so far!!

The Tour!

...according to Debbi

It was a drama of elephants, baboon fights, waterfalls and near death experiences. If you want to know more read on - if you require something slightly less surreal I do believe Lost has started again on C4.

It should have been 14 days of hedonistic fun but our tour consisted of outrageously early starts (we're talking around 3.30/4am here!) and the most uncomfortable, long, dangerous bus rides ever.
We left Kumasi for Tamale (that's in the Northern region -check a map!) It was a seven hour bus ride but luckily we'd splashed out and left the battered tro-tro's behind in exchange for a relatively luxurious bus, which played very bad Nigerian films all the way.
Watching the landscape change from lush greenery to flat dry lands was very interesting. The abundant church buildings were replaced with mosques as we entered the Islamic north (basically the missionaries couldn't be bothered to go that far.) Houses were merely round clay huts with thatched roofs - making the cement brick and tin roof houses of the south seem like relative luxury.

TAMALE
Ironically, considering it's Ghana's third largest city, there's not much to do in Tamale except get ripped off by the helpful guides - one 15 year old showed us round, gave us advice, then hit on us for money for school books - we found out later that he'd quit school last year because fleecing tourists for money was much more profitable. I don't feel too bad because as I handed over the money (only a few pounds) I gave him the full force lecture on how he shouldn't waste his life and even if he was tricking us. I informed him he wasn't going to be a cute school boy for too many more years...

Fresh from our seven hour trip we got up at 3.30 to head to bus station for our next bus. It was quite interesting to walk through the streets while it was still dark, stepping over the sleeping bodies and seeing people preparing for their day.
At the bus station there was a disorganised scrum for tickets. We got numbers 60-65. Considering there were only 48 seats on the dilapidated bus, this was going to be interesting. And it was. Firstly they filled the seats - 2 on each side of the aisle. Then they put down a flip down seat and rammed 2 onto that seat. Moving/breathing was impossible. I decided I was going to get DVT but then after reading in the guide book that we were about to go on some of the worst roads in Ghana, I settled on straight death.
After lots of loud complaining from the Ghanaians that they had packed us on like animals, we set off. After 30 minutes of tarmac road we hit the rough stuff. Red, bumpy roads that almost threw us off our seats (if we hadn't been wedged in so tightly) as it hurtled along.
Three hours and a taxi drive later we arrived at our destination: Mole National Park.

MOLE/LARABANGA
Although, in the middle of nowhere, this place is a dream.
On getting there (alive) Matt and I decided to celebrate by getting the most expensive room in the place which overlooked the watering hole where elephants came to drink and bathe.
It was worth every penny as baboons and warthogs wandered past our balcony to a backdrop of gorgeous forest and elephants spraying themselves with water and mud.
Also, the swimming pool just metres away added to the luxury of it all.
We went on a walking safari where we stood just metres away from the elephants - they're even bigger than you expect them to be. There were antelopes galloping around and bird and butterflies of all descriptions. We even saw some antelope bones that had been ravaged by a lion but unfortunately/fortunately there was no sign of it.
But the baboons proved to be a bigger problem.

LUCIE Vs BABOON
Relaxing by the pool, Charlotte ordered some toast but then disappeared the room. The toast sat on the table untouched but was soon sniffed out by a huge and hungry baboon.
He galloped over on all fours. I promptly legged it to a safe distance but Lucie stood her ground and tried to shoo him away with a pair of trousers. He backed down for a moment but then stared at her with his beady eyes and unmoving, mask-like face. She hesitated, so he took the chance, grabbed the toast and ran. It was very scary as they are so strong and, well, hairy really.
One tried to get in our room later that day - it actually opened the doors. Matt very bravely hid inside the room while we all cowered behind Lucie - now known as Dave Baboon for her ability to fight the hairy apes.

BIKES BUT NO BRAKES
We hired some bikes to cycle to Larabanga - a local village which is home to one of the oldest mosques in sub-saharan Africa. Although, that was exciting in itself, the most exciting thing for me was finding out exactly what was wrong with everyone's bikes. Matt had no brakes - yup - he fell off but only once. My bike had dodgy steering - it was kind of like those BMX's they stunt up at seasides so when you turn the handlebars right the wheel moves left. But we made it. The mosque itself is pretty amazing - legend has it that a holy man threw a sword and it landed on the site of the mosque. When they started digging they discovered the foundations were already there - Hmmmm.

ON THE ROAD
Up and on a bus by 4am - we got back to Tamale at 8am and decided to push on to the Volta region. It was a 14 hour trip so we needed to break it at Bimbilla - a small village en route.
We sat on the Bimbilla bus and waited for it to fill up. And waited. And waited. Two hours passed, then three, then four. It was nearly five hours of waiting when we finally moved. By which point we'd gone through the various stages of madness, seen a woman get run over - I could see the tyre of the bus that was on her leg as she screamed in pain - it was horrible.
It's amazing how much happens around you when you are sat in one place for hours. We got talking to a man on our bus - whose dad only happened to be the Chief of Bimbilla - the village where we were headed. Fantastic! His name was Jacob and he was very funny. Eventually, our bus set off. We bounced and rattled along terrible rocky, untarmaced roads, just grateful to be moving after hours of stasis.
And then...the bloody bus broke down in the middle of nowhere.

We piled off, covered in our usual armour of red dust and sat despondently at the road side while the driver and his mate tinkered under the rust bucket that was our bus. Somehow, they managed to get it going again. We arrived at our destination around 7pm - making a neat 15 hours since we'd left that morning.

BIMBILLA
It is a great little village - everyone was very friendly, just shouting hello and not asking us for money, which does make quite a nice change. It helped that Jacob came to show us around - escorted by the Chief's son is always the best way to see a place. We also went to the palace (a small collection of clay huts - although they did have a horse!) to see the Chief - Jacob's dad. He was very interesting - he'd been a mechanical engineer before being made chief 4 years earlier.

WATERFALLS AND MOUNTAINS
The next day we arrived in Ho Hoe - a mountainous village surrounded by lush green forest in the Volta region.
Wasting no time, we went for a hike to the waterfalls, it was only an hour walk through some quite nice forest. It was beautiful and we went for a swim
in the plunge pool and watched the bats flying at the side of the mountain.
There was the option of climbing to the higher falls but frankly, why risk your life when most water looks the same?
However, I did decide to tackle the country's highest mountain - at 885 metres it's probably a hill - but the highest I've ever been is to the top of Primrose Hill, North London to celeb spot...

Hill or not - it was bloody hard work. We had to stop a few times to rest and often were scrambling up on all fours. But it was worth it - the view from the top was amazing.
The trek down was slightly harder work - my lack of balance soon became apparent as every few minutes I would slip and slide a short way, while a stream of expletives came out of my mouth. One of us - not me I assure you - had to have a 'toilet emergency' up the mountain! That's got to be one of the most inventive places to go to the loo!

KOKROBITE BEACH
To recover from our hectic schedule we spent the last two days on the beach in a hedonistic hippy paradise owned by a British woman.
It was lovely and we met lots of fellow white people. One American girl had even gone to UEA and knew my friend - small world and all that!
I even met a Jewish Canadian, although after a few drinks I started to talk at him in that 'I'm the most interesting person ever' way that you do when you're drunk. After about an hour he excused himself to the bathroom and then never returned, leaving me sitting there like a muppet waiting for my friends to return. Nice to know I still have the ability to talk a guy into bed - kind of!

There wasn't much else to do at the beach except drink fresh banana daquiris, get massages, eat lovely fresh fish from the sea and sunbathe. All very relaxing you would think. But no - enter Lucie...

THE LUCIE DRAMA
Caroline and I were lying on the beach sunbathing when a Ghanaian man jumped over us and started stripping off his clothes. Immediately this caught my attention, along with lots of people standing on the beach and pointing out to sea. We jumped up and immediately my innate journalistic abilities kicked in.
'Something's going on,' I informed Caroline.
Then Charlotte, our fellow volunteer, ran up.
'I can't see Lucie,' she said.
All of a sudden it stopped being interesting and started to be pretty scary. We desperately began scanning the sea in the place we had last seen Lucie - who, although proud of her individual style of doggy paddle, is not the strongest swimmer.
There was no sign of her.
Then all of a sudden we saw her head bobbing above the water far out to sea. About 10 Ghanaians were swimming over to her.
All we could do was stand on the beach, saying 'no, no, no' over and over again.
Thankfully, the tide pulled her back in to shore and she was able to stand up.
After what can only have been a few minutes, she was back on the shore and was fine. She said she realised she was in a bit of trouble but was focussing more on keeping her head above water rather than panicking. She was more embarrassed about all the fuss that had been caused.
The sea is so strong that one minute you're standing up near the beach, the next it's pulled you out so far you can't stand up.

After that scary moment I decided I'd skip sea swimming for the rest of the weekend and take my chances at the bar.

Sorry for the wait...

Week 14

So… I never managed to finish writing about Charlotte's induction into our cosy part of Ghana last time… As the boys who managed ours (Charles and Joe) had gone back to Accra, and the induction is now only for one person, we decided to enjoy the fun ourselves. (All the challenging things like Fante and Culture lessons we would leave to the experts at CEJOCEP!)

Charlotte has now been to most of the tourist things we did all those months ago. We spent a morning at Elmina Castle and the afternoon in the town, and then lapped up the luxury of the pool at Coconut Grove once more! Charlotte also managed to brave the walkway at Kakum and spotted Crocs at Hans Cottage Botel.

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As custom demands, when there is a new arrival to the village, the Chief must be informed. All the rest of us had our glorious meetings with the Chief and Elders of both Kakumdo and Bawdia during our induction, so it was only right that Charlotte's time had come… Armed with the usual bottle of Schnapps (a gift to pour libation to the ancestors) we dressed up as smart as we could and proceeded up the hill to the Chiefs Palace.

Kakumdo is 'between Chiefs' at the moment. Their old Chief popped it just beforf the wonderful work that had been going on at the centre. They were all pleased we had come to help in their village and should other (nothing like ours) will address all these qualities in the prospective Chief.
When they have selected the lucky person, they will make some arrangements for that person to come back to the village and send for him.

Then on the right day, the chosen Chief would be grabbed from his house and brought back to a closed room for 6 days of preparation. (In the closed room, he will be taught the entire history of the village and also any other information he might need while he serves as Chief. He will also use this time to decide on a new name for his Stool!)
On the 6th day they will 'Enstool him' as Chief of the village in a 2 day ceremony and party.

There are about 10 Elders in Kakumdo and one Queen Mother and they are all Elders of different clans. Each Clan has its own symbol and cloth, but once in the Chiefs Palace it is the Linguist who rules over all. He speaks on behalf of all the Elders and more importantly, keeps hold of the bottles of gin, schnapps and various other spirits, that have been presented as gifts!

Although I have been practicing Fante as a language for three months now, I am not fluent enough to understand what is being said much of the time, which is a little frustrating, but the ceremony went according to plan, and we all introduced ourselves and explained why we were there as expected.

The Linguist in turn welcomed us all and said he had heard of the wonderful work that had been going on at the centre. All the Elders were pleased we had come to help their village and we should begin to pour libation to the ancestors. This custom is a dangerous one (especially if you haven't eaten first.) The Elders and guests all get offered a generous sized shot of the spirits. You can drink it all or choose to pour it on the sacred ground of the Palace for the ancestors to drink.

Most of the Elders had huge shots poured, and the most potent drink was a local one, which was a type of gin that left your mouth glowing. Needless to say, once the ceremony was over we all piled out grinning and merry, Elders and guests alike!! I even bagged an Elder as a Husband as he quite charmingly said I had a small face, but plenty nose and he liked it! ;)

Unfortunately for Charlotte, she got ill the same night. If it was the strong alcohol or the usual Western adjustments to climate we will never know, but a dodgy tummy kind of fits into the induction course as something we all had been through – sorry to say it was like a final initiation. :(

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Things for Charlotte did not go according to plan in the beginning. It was hard to place any blame as the circumstances are just unfortunate, but, Sally Honny, the amazing Pharmacist in Cape Coast, who supplies ATN volunteers with health lectures on arrival, was not there at Charlotte's arrival. We were told she has traveled to the UK! And this proved to be even more harsh because Charlotte is studying Medicine and was hoping for contacts in the hospitals around Cape Coast.

Although new to things, there was ATN business to be getting on with too, and Charlotte along with Charles, Joseph, Caroline and I all made our way to Saana Lodge. This Hotel has been hosting Gym equipment for Africatrust Networks and had started charging customers to use it, but never given any of the money promised to Africatrust's Partners. The Hotel said they had not had many customers in the last few months and was even changing owners in the near future, so to bring it up with them. The new owners would be able to shed some light on whether to keep the equipment there at a loss or find it a new home.

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The week before Easter, with the children off school, I assumed we would be getting dirty and doing loads of work (digging - my favourite!) But instead it was suggested that we rest a bit before traveling North on our tour of Ghana. (Boring!) So the others rested and I opted for the only work available…

Monday and Friday, I got the chance to be a brickie! (Or at least a Mason's helper.) I loved it so much I may have found my new vocation! There is so much to be said for standing on the roof of a structure and using a trowel and mortar board! I used a spirit level too and the Mason didn't have to correct my work too much. Dead chuffed about that!

We also spent one afternoon playing LUDO up at the centre. The game is played so fast here, and for every volunteer playing there was a Ghanaian helper shadowing, moving our pieces for us and yelling to speed the game up. Cheering, encouragement and jeers to the other players about their pieces having to go back to base made the game hilarious! I never thought LUDO could be so much fun!

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Tuesday, Caroline and I went to help Ben from the Culture Group paint his new shop. He has been working on it for the few months we have been here and now it has finally been erected and is in need of a fresh lick of Paint. Boga and Amponsah were also there to lend a hand. We painted the majority of it white and the lowest few layers of wood in dark green. Ben named it 'Clubino Collection' which we don't understand, but he likes the sound of it, so that's good enough for us!

It was such a fantastic day, as we are good friends with all of them and to be able to help in this small way just by giving up some time was really nice. We had a real giggle painting too! The shop sells very new designer men's clothes to the young men of Abura. T-shirts with 50cent on the front, some Tommy Hilfiger and Von Dutch, that sort of thing.

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Debbi and Matt have been experiencing things very differently in Bawdia and have come across some major problems. They are going to be leaving Bawdia and the project there in the hands of the retired headmaster Mr Okoe as they feel that it is not appropriate to be spending time and money on a Government School after they found out the plans to refurbish the School had already been made.

The School will be using money from the Government to work on the old Primary building and not to invest in a new structure as Debbi and Matt had been led to believe.

The whole team are upset about what has happened there, most of all Matt and Debbi as they have grown to love the School children and members of the community, as well as begin valuable computer lessons with the teachers and also extra reading lessons for the under achievers. All their hard work will not go to waste, but we all feel deeply saddened that this has had to happen. However, Africatrust wishes Bawdia to remain an outreach placement for future volunteers and has not lost all hope in the future working relationship there.


Good news for us though because Matt and Debbi arrived to stay with us in Cape Coast on Thursday, so the house was now very full but very happy. We caught up on all the news and heard about the situation in full. It seems the experiences can differ greatly due to a few factors, but it made us feel much more lucky to be working with CEJOCEP. In Bawdia there was no NGO to work for, with a common goal for improvement.

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We went to Mobil spot on Friday night for a bit of fun at Ladies night, and Caroline, Debbi and I enjoyed a good dance to the Hi-life and rap music. Then Sunday morning, Charlotte and I went to Abura to The Roman Catholic Church and met Ben and Joseph there. It was The Easter service, and as usual it was in Fante so we didn't understand much of the content, but there was lots of singing and very beautiful clothes to look at.

The Tour starts on Tuesday and I am going to let someone else write that one up as I have done so much writing now… It will be nice to have things from someone else's perspective.

(written by Lucie)

City lights and soap boxes...

Week 13

The children broke up from School this week and Caroline got all the fun! They had a party on the last day with fizzy pop and party games! They were all allowed to bring in a toy and also wear their own clothes, a sight I wish I had a chance to see! :)
Caroline has told me it was an incredibly noisy but happy morning and that she had not much more to do than supervise them playing and sing songs with them. Bliss!

(My last morning of term with the tresures, I sang my heart out to teach them a new song. The subject was inspired by none of them knowing their colours right in the exams last week.
The song was made up on the spot, and involved some dodgy rhyming and a stolen tune.
'Yellow is the colour of the Sun' .. 'Green is the colour of leaves' ..
'Blue is the colour of the deepest sea' .. 'And red is the colour of berries!'
I even drew a picture using coloured chalk! Nope, no good. It doesn't rhyme. nor was the tune any good. Nor could they sing it. Must have been a hippy moment. Back to the drawing board with me!! )

Its not rainy season here for another month yet, but when it comes I can assure you I will be losing my tan quickly and probably catching the cold I so very narrowly escaped before coming in January!

Last Sunday we spent the whole day in the house because of the rain... it would have been boring, but lucky for us, some of the guys from the Culture Group had come to visit. We must have watched 6 films in a row!! We had bought The Matrix on VCD for Jeffrey as a present, so we watched that one first, then some third rate 80's films that had been recorded from the back of a cinema! Next was amazing ones with Jet Li, and all the while the rain was getting heavier, the thunder and the lightening more intense. (All added to dramatic effect for the Jet Li ones though - Ace!)

Charlotte, our new recruit to the Cape Coast team was arriving this week, and Caroline and I had our last night just the two of us on Monday, wondering what Charlotte would be like, and what she would make of us, and the project. Now we have been here for three months we both feel so at ease with some things. Remembering back to the first few weeks we were here, there is so much to take in and adjust to, we could tell how nervous Charlotte would be feeling.

I left on Tuesday by STC coach to Accra, which is the Capital of Ghana, similar to London in many ways. On the journey it seemed to me that so much of Ghana is currently Under Construction. Moulded blocks lying everywhere in neat stacks. New buildings sprouting up all over the place, half finished ones and some left altogether in a state of abandon.
Many of them are indistinguishable, guesthouse, house or spot, so alike in their curvy architechture and different brightly coloured walls.
The closer we got the more the buildings took on the characteristics of places for business, not residence. Then more Adverts started springing up.

The advertisments in the small towns here are mostly painted on the walls of the houses on the roadside. Key Soap or Nestle or Cadbury's, for all the passers by to look at and start thinking of. In Accra, the modernity sets in and the painted ads are replaced by only huge billboards and posters with the latest mobiles or perfume or watches...

Soap box moment...

In comparison to Cape Coast, Accra is free of rubbish at least. I have been used to a town where my usual incessant recycling is lost because no rubbish gets collected. The floor is the nearerst bin. It is a criticism of the Government that I observed and found out about when I first got here, because people somewhere get paid for the removal of the rubbish, and yet it remains, builds up, scatters everywhere into the landscape, spoiling that lush view. Then it occasionally gets raked into a pile and burned, which unsurprisingly stinks. Our local rubbish tip is right next to a whole group of houses and where the local children play football.

Also I have found that Boycotting Brands is impossible - the biggest 'no-no' brands like Nestle and Nike are everywhere, and nobody would understand why they are seen as 'bad'. My ramblings in the UK about multi-national corporations are only brought to life even more when I see the hold they have over developing countries.

Almost all coffee is imported from America, and the menu will even state 'Nescafe' instead of 'Coffee'. This seems stupid considering that Ghana grows its own coffee beans. The most widely available soft drink for children is 'Coca Cola' or one of it's other formats such as Sprite or Fanta . Yuck. There are also three different types of evapourated milk (all with different names but all made by Nestle). Double yuck.

So leaving them all behind I have been scoffing the traditional Ghanaian dishes much more and I am mildly annoyed for growing a bit of a tummy since being here! Being a Vegetarian I thought I would lose weight but it all tastes so nice, I keep having seconds!

Anyway...

Accra smells. It has the same horrible smell of any city its size. And the same amount of traffic jams! The air literally stops when you are in a traffic jam here.
Luckily I had Charles picking me up at the STC station to take me across the city.

Once we had Charlotte safely bundled inside a Taxi I got to find out how things were for her. After an interesting flight sat next to a drunk lady, she was beginning to see her first glimpses of Ghana, albeit at night so slightly strange for a first view. The heat had gotten to her instantly, so when we arrived at the Golden Spoon in Tesanao she was pleased to find the bed and the fan to cool her down!

Next day we went to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. It was the second time for me and made a lot more sense than the first time!! I think it helps to have had lots of converstaions about him too, as he is such an influential figure in the history of Ghana, and yet was so controversial in some of his ideals.

On to Cape Coast and time for millions of Introductions. I am sure Charlotte faced the same thing we did when first arriving - not knowing who anyone is , if you have met them already, or if you will ever meet them again!! Saying that she has been doing a stirling job of trying to remember names and faces.

My time is up in the cafe now so more next time...

(written by Lucie)

Sun, Moon and Lightening!

Week 12

The Technical men came to finish the concrete roof/floor of the toilet block at the Centre on Monday, so Lawrence and Sly worked all weekend to complete the grid of iron rods that would hold the conctrete in place.

Early on Sunday morning we were summoned to look and take photos, and we know they were still hard at work late Sunday night. CEJOCEP have won so much respect in my eyes by doing a lot of the work themselves and therefore saving money at every step . For example – hiring someone to bend the iron rods, would have cost 2 million cedis. The hole that us volunteers and Culture group members are digging would have cost 5 million cedis in labour! This money can then be spent on what is really needed like bags of cement, trips of sand etc.

Setting a great example, these time consuming, sometimes tedious tasks have all been done by the very directors of the NGO itself. Lawrence is often the one sweating the most, but he gets a kick out of learning how it all works, having a go and then mastering every step of the building project. Sly puts in countless hours going around sourcing the cheapest (and best) raw materials and Theresa works tirelessly to feed everyone, collect water and oversee that the men as well as us are looked after in every way.

They work so well as friends and they work so hard for the benefit for the project. It's an honour to be part of it all.

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A different sort of busy, but Caroline and I had been working over the weekend too – on the exam papers that Sly wanted us to give the children. As this week was EXAM WEEK!! With no real knowledge of what to do, we bluffed our way through a few questions and tried as much as possible to make the papers easy!

We got grossly overcharged for the photocopying, but the colouring-in was good fun and Ben came over to help with that.


Monday was the Oral exam, so one of us taught while the other tested students one by one. They were asked to recite the alphabet as well as count and various other tasks. We has to see how their singing was too, and Christopher made me chuckle with 'Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star' as he didn't seem to know when to stop and sang it four times in a row!

We both made up the marking scheme ourselves and were probably a little bit generous with the scores, but they all did really well in this exam.

Tuesday was written exams - much more difficult to guess how they would do...
To put things in perspective a bit – most of the younger children have never had an exam before and some of the older ones will have only tried a few tests in learning books that their parents have bought them.

The baffled looks on their faces was so cute. (They had the luxury of tables to sit at.) You could tell they weren’t sure what was going on! One of my younger students –Theo spent the whole time looking anywhere except the paper and found the whole thing very curious. Top of the class was Kofi with 94%, but at 7 years old, and having attended a different school before this one, he has a clear advantage over the others.

Exams have always stressed me out and being the teacher this time was no different. I was biting my nails on behalf of all the children and just hoping they understood what we were trying to ask them.

The Government Schools have been holding their exams too, and the situation up in Bawdie has been a stressful one. The School Governers had spent some of the exam budget on sports day instead and so couldn’t afford everything their students needed. Debbi has quite rightly been getting upset about this and has tried to speak to the (paid) Teachers and sort things out on the children's behalf. Her group are at a much more crucial satge of learning when it comes to exams and the mountain of work she has had to mark at the end of this week is now ridiculous!

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The highlight of this week was the Total Eclipse which I have been talking about since before I came away to Ghana! I was even more excited because the path the eclipse takes goes directly over the area we are living in!! So with Wednesday off school (after much umming and ahhing about whether to keep school open or not) we headed down the beach with Sly Esther and the kids.

Irene bought us some Eclipse glasses to look through, which were totally black unless you look directly at the sun. We sipped on coffee and waiting for the event to happen. Once it started we were all in complete awe of the whole process and especially the speed at which it all takes place!

The moon covered the sun from the top right corner like it was biting a chunk out of it! We all took turns looking through the glasses to see where it had gotten too, and then this nervous energy started up when the sky began getting dark. There were so many people on the beach by then (mostly ‘Obrunis!’) and everyone let out a gasp as the moon completely covered the sun.

It was really dark and this pure glowing halo of light in the sky was immense! I was so impressed by how it looked and we figured out it wasn’t damaging to look at without glasses when it was total so we all took as many sneeky peeks as we could!! When the light came back it seemed so intensely bright all over again and the beach was full of people swapping photos and talking excitedly. I feel so lucky to have been among them and we didn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the day either!!

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Another interesting day was Friday, when we were invited to the School where Lawrence teaches. His class are about 12-15 year olds and the day we were invited was also the day of Football match between teachers and some older students.

We had to get up stupidly early and travel quite far to get there. It was now we realised how easy it had always been for us to get to the Centre where we teach, from the house we stay at. Also just how far Lawrence has to travel every day before coming to the centre after School!

Once we had arrived at Biriwa (the village before) we had to wait half an hour for a cargo van to come along and give us a lift. We piled in with about 10 other people all bringing maize or other products to sell.

The village we visited is called Asofura and in complete contrast to Kakumdo it has no electricity and no running water. There are plyons being set up all along the main road to provide electricity sometime near in the future, although some of the older members of the village say it will be too expensive and not needed. The villagers are used to a small journey to the river that provides drinking water, a place to wash clothes and bodies too. But the town could really benefit from a bore hole or water pump.

The children seemed a lot poorer than those we has encountered before, and Lawrence has explained that there are severe problems in School due to some of the children skipping exams because they need to get the crops in for their family. It makes sense from a survival point of view, but hurts to hear when you know the child has already stayed back a year or so in school because of this and there is no alternative.

The football match was slightly difficult to follow as we had a crowd of children from age 3 to 16 all around us watching, giggling and daring each other to say someting to us. They went a bit more shy when the Teachers were around but were a good audience to my jokes and faces when they weren't.

Lawrence also introduced us to Palm Wine, which is abundantly tapped from the Palm trees in the area, and we got to sample some for ourselves the same day! Its smells rotten, but has a charming sweet taste as well as a kick, once it has had time to brew. We got given a bottle to take home and Caroline and I dispached it quickly in an evening! Nice!

(written by Lucie)

By the sea... (Lucie, Caroline, Matt, Debbi)

Animal strife...

Week 11

On Tuesday this week, during lessons in the morning, Sylvester interupted us to let us know that an Owl had been spotted behind someone's house, and would we like to look? We were both keen to see for ourselves so we followed him round. In the small pathway behind a house was the most beautiful and statue like owl. It was so still I thought it was dead until it winked very slowly...

Sly told us that it must be injured, because it would never usually be out in daylight. It was his second time ever of seeing an owl, but the masses of crows that were squawking and circling the roof just above it didn't bode well for the Owl. The only thing stopping them attacking it, was us being in the vicinity.

It was scary stuff. We decided to try and help, and me being animal lover extrordinaire wanted to have a go at saving it from a certain doom of pecking. Sly and I went round the other side of the alley and I crawled up behind it with a sheet. It didn't move at all as I covered it with the sheet and picked it up. Then after I walked two steps towards Caroline with a triumphunt 'I could be in the RSPCA' smile, it's magnificent wings opened up and it flew off in seconds.
I was gutted.

The crows and a hawk chased after it and I felt even more rubbish. I have since been comforted by Sly saying he heard an Owl in the night, but we never did find out the fate of that poor Owl. And to top it off, that night, Jeffrey's dog - Timmy decided to follow us all the way to the Centre, finding the shouts of 'shoo' to be a marvelous new game! Poor Caroline had to walk all the way back to the house with him and peg it at one point to leave him behind!

My teaching has taken a downer again as well. I can't seem to over-estimatimg them as if they were all 10 year olds with a wonderful grasp of English, rather than 4-7 year olds learning English as a second language. My lesson the other day (which involved trying to distinguish between what is alive and what is not) went badly to say the least! Maybe I was still worried about the owl? Blank looks and every answer wrong made it obvious that my tangent was lost on them. Back to 'C A T spells cat' it is!

Anyway, we are writing their exams now so I have been trying to find a happy medium for what they do and don't know. The topics will include the Alphabet, Numbers, Colours, Shapes and Grouping. Ben came over last night to help me colour in 20 exam papers with funny little boxes and pictures.

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The first half of the week we spent digging the big hole, and the second half of the week we were bending iron rods (Popeye rather than popidol!) And for one afternoon I got to be measurement lady and draw out a very accurate plan of the roof for the toilet block, and label all the measurements. My Dad has trained me well in this skill, (or I have seen a million of his drawings before at least) so I felt confident I was up to the task.

I think I may have overdone it with the pride in my picture as well, showing it to the mason, the carpenter and anoyne else who would look at it!! It's only become apparent this weekend when they laid the Iron rods to form a grid, that my numbers were not accurate every time. Oops!

Today was stress free as we went to Brenu Beach which is just down the coastline. It has a nicer feel and look to it than the beach at Oasis. We had help from Esther's Fiancee Charles, in a lift there and back (Taxi's can cost a fortune as they have to stay in the carpark til you are finished) and Esther's son Unkofi and Sly's children - Ruth, Pious and Afia came too.

They are all still getting used to the sea (although Afia refuses point blank to step anywhere near it!) so anytime a big wave comes in they all screech and giggle and run back in. I have been practicing cartwheels too (still laughable) as the sands nice and soft to land on!

(written by Lucie)

Batik and Birthdays...

Week 10

This week, we have been sweating our little bottoms off digging more of the 15ft hole that will house the safety tank. Its flippin' hard work, but well worth it as we both feel stronger already - Team Areeba! My favourite 'weapons' are digging with the pickaxe and spade, and Caroline's choice is to transport the earth on her head.

The hours we are working are the hottest of the day, so its no wonder we end up looking filthy and pouring with sweat (not a pretty sight) and we are always joined by the lads from Abura to put us to shame with their strength and speed. (Just when we don't want anyone to see us looking so nasty!) Anyway. the toilet block is coming up a treat and we are bending rods again next week to make more towers to support the ceiling/floor.

The children have been lovely this week as well (don't understand why!) for example Priscilla has been stroking Caroline's arms a lot while giving a cute sideways look of 'Oh madam!' We had more rain as well on Thursday and Friday so we are now used to the manouvres involved. We have to peg it out in amongst the trees to bring our blackboard and benches into the nursery area.

Entertainment then comes in the form of me - acting like a 5 year old by tongue rolling, making animal noises and good old sing songs. I am getting used to the constant chatter in another language now, as the children don't seem to care that we don't understand a word they are saying and just spout all sorts of stories at us. The facial expressions are what counts and my favourite little 4 year old Francis Acqua is the best at those.

I am guessing that his converstaions go a little like this:

"And then Madam, I would run over and bop him on the head and karate kick him in the stomach, and there would be an explosion BOOM! and then I would make my escape in a helicopter..."

Caroline has fallen in love with a small boy called Anseku who kind of resembles a small giggling bull dog with bandy legs flailing and wonky eyes. He has fallen in love with Madame Caroline as well, she shares her ice cream, and he dribbles affectionately on her in return!

They are all gearing up towards exams before Easter. It will be their first ones ever and the whole thing is new to us too. We've been asked to write the exams! (How do you test 4 year olds on the alphabet?!?) We are nervous about how they will perform but have a few weeks to revise with them what then need to know so hopefully we can swing it so that they all pass and make us look like excellent teachers!!!

On Friday Debbi and Matt joined us so that we could get ready for our Evaluation meeting with Charles and Joseph from Africatrust Networks. We were all a bit unsure as to what was going to be brought up in the meeting, and wether it was an evaluation for us, or of us. But everything went well as we had to fill in a questionnaire neatly typed up by Joe and then add any other comments in a group discussion afterwards.

We have so much praise for CEJOCEP as our experiences have been almost entirely positive so far, but for Debbi and Matt things have not been going well at all and they have felt let down by the situations in Bawdia. This has made things hard for them, and when we meet we can tell the stresses they have been under (and most of it caused by the Government of Ghana) but we know that after spending a weekend with us by the sea it is a little R&R for them both.

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Saturday was Esther's Birthday - a night we have been looking forward to for ages! Originally the idea was to have a cocktail party for about 25 people under the trees where we usually teach, and a sound system would surely make an appearence, but this all got changed last minute to Tina Tavern with dinner being taken with us. (There are no problems with bringing your own food into spots here provided that you buy at least one drink from the bar!) Esther's cooking is always so good that it puts the food anywhere else to shame!

The night was great fun!

They gave us plenty of plastic tables and chairs, and we sat out to the side of the spot in front of a closed shop, so we had loads of room to ourselves! The beer flowed, the music thumped and we all spent a couple of hours laughing with each other and repeatedly singing Happy Birthday to Esther. Here they like to embarrass at every opportunity (with no real harm done) by adding a chant of 'How old are you now, how old are you now' in the same tune as 'Happy Birthday'!

Something else (part 1)

(18 minutes left of internet time is never enough!)

There are so many things I want to talk about that I haven't had the chance to mention...

This blog is constantly keeping me awake at night, where I write witty little one-liners (and then forget them by morning) but turns into a race aginst the clock when I am in front of a screen...

So this is nothing to do with time, and everything to do with the things I haven't spoken about yet but want to...

The Rain.

We have not experienced anything like the rain the Debbi and Matt have been caught in yet. But when it has rained here it has left its mark on everything. AND THERE IS PLENTY MORE TO COME!!! We have experienced a drizzle and a downpour so far. Both have interupted morning classes, and because we have been teaching outdoors we have been caught in it. The Children all sing 'Rain rain go away, come again another day' while all the adults clap their hands with happiness at the crops getting watered, the well filling up, and the temporary relief from heat with the coolness of the air.

I actually got goosebumps for the first time since being here - it was lovely! The animals didn't seem too impressed by it though (wet cockerels look so funny!) and the mud afterwards was remeniscent of Glastonbury Festival, which made me think I should have packed my wellies!

Rainy season will be interesting at the house where we are staying as we have been told the roof leaks, and the entrance becomes flooded! It starts in late April, and ends in September so we are oly here for a bit of it, and no doubt I will write more about it when the time comes. Nevertheless, the sight of a humungous thick black cloud darkening the whole sky, and everything becoming drenched within seconds with thick heavy rain drops, has been an eye opening one, no matter how much rain I have seen at home.

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Taxi's

The main transport systems here in Ghana are Tro-tro's (like minibuses) for medium distances and Taxi's for a short hop. There are more taxi's than any other vehicle and they provide a constant flow of customers with 'a lift down the road'.

I like getting taxi's since I know what to expect now, but at first we were sheltered from all this by our main man - Henry - the smiliest Taxi driver in the world.

Reasons to be a taxi driver in Ghana:

1. No apparent speed limit (although they are never in much of a hurry)

2. No need for seatbelts, or indeed any safety features other than a mini fire exstinguisher strapped to the window nearest the passenger (which luckily we have never seen being used yet.)

3. If you are a cheeky type, you can try upping your fare to any tourist that gets in. Just make up your own number and swear blind that it is normal! And then try proposing to them as well...

Driver - "Hellooo"
Me - "hello.."
Driver - "Where you from?" (not "where are you going" like most drivers would ask!)
Me - "England"
Driver - "Oh, fine fine, so I'll be marrying you then, and we can go back there together, isn't it."
Me - "That's a bit quick for me driver, I like to know someone's name first at least!"
(Turned out to be Gabriel, and then he charged me normal price, which was nice!)

4. You can take on board as many bodies as you can fit in.
(Except when there is a Police barrier further up the road)

The most I have counted so far is 9 people other than the taxi driver (4 of them were children but it was still a squash!) Great fun when you are with people you know, (me and Debbi on the front seat - lovely times!) not so much fun when its people you don't know and they smell!!! But who can blame anyone for sweating in this heat?!

5. You can honk your horn at potential customers, you can honk your horn to signal the car is full, to ask people to move out your way (no pavements in cape coast so constant pedestrian / vehicle fights!) you can honk your horn cos' you feel happy - i.e whatever, whenever and at whoever you like, you can just keep on pressing that horn!

6. Decoration is the key to success. Every taxi is individually decorated with sticky letters on the back windsreen, CD's and rosaries hanging from the rear view mirror and furry seat covers. Makes your favourite driver more noticable amongst the others and even starts competitions for who can write the silliest slogans.

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Churches

In the old days, there were many Gods for the tribes to worship and worry about, but traditional values like these are being over-shadowed by Christianity and Islam - Ghana's main two faiths. The European missionaries came in from the coast and set up schools as well as huge lavish buildings, so the coast is mainly Christian and Islam travelled in from the north of Africa.

So far we have been invited to mostly Churches, but we did get the chance to go to the Mosque in Abura as well! There is also a Synagogue in Accra that all four of us are going to pay a visit to when we get a chance. As Caroline puts it "we're on a whistlestop tour of Religion!"

One thing I don't understand is why Christians have so many denominations, as they have been given more importance here than I have ever found before. Everybody is keen to know your religious background and especially the denomination...? The services we have visited for those that want to know are Pentecostal, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Jehovah's Witness so far!

My favourite observation while living in Ghana is that you get used to African time (which doesn't involve any watches) and the Church is no different. The service will start with a half empty congregation and be full to overflowing after about an hour, which always makes the singing incredible because of the sheer amount of people. Most Churches have had their own choir, or a band at least, and although some sing old school hymns, most of them have beautiful Fante worship songs.

None of which Caroline and I know though!

In fact, every service has been in Fante. Which means we don't understand a word of it. So we get to spend a few hours daydreaming and thinking about all sorts of things as well as admiring the beautiful cloth that the ladies dress up in.

It is lovely to see that the Christian and Muslim faiths can co-exist here so peacefully. The train of thought seems to be that if you love and serve God then that is the best way regardless of which faith helps you get there...

The best service we have been to was the one we stumbled across at night.
Picture this if you can...

Caroline and I had just gone for a quick drink and chill out at a spot in Kakumdo.
We were walking along the main path and heard the most faint sound of drums and something else. Getting closer we also heard singing. It was happening just behind a row of wooden stores.

We decided to go and investigate more.

There was about 40 men and women and there was a lot of Red cloth. There were candles in the ground as the only source of light and everyone formed a circle around them. The inner three people were jumping about excitedly. All this at the same time as the drums were making a constant crescendo with the bead shakers. The beads are draped over the gould on a kind of netting thing. Then the netting is yanked and shaken to make the beads rattle against the gould. (Does this make sense?) Anyway it provided the most beautiful and difficult to master instrument I have ever tried. You see, we came into sight (just passing don't you know) and got thrown right into the throng of it to join in.

The ladies began a song, it would rise and fall and the beat would get faster and faster, then some wailing (all in time perfectly.) They were offering up prayers, but we could not understand what about. Caroline and I having finished our trial of the bead shakers then stood on the side to watch and were encouraged to clap along until our hands wanted to fall off.

I could not stop smiling and feeling lucky to be watching it all. Still clueless but curious as to what we were watching happen, and who these people were. We found out they are from the Twelve Apostles, and then got invited to their service the following morning, a Friday. It seems they like odd times to meet, but as we were teaching we could not accept. If we hear the drums at night though, it makes us want to go and explore again... : )

(written by Lucie)

The Voice of CEJOCEP

Message To The Youth Worldwide.

1. All can be achieved through hard work.

2.Nothing comes on silver platter.

3. Failures are pillars of success.

4. Challenges are ingredient for successful life.

5. Endurance and perseverance are the keys of success.

6. Achievement is always possible.

7. Just get something started.

8. Be determined to achieve it.

9. Dedicate yourself solely to that.

10. Work deligently.

11. Never give up.

12. Success will surely crown you.


PHILOSOPHY OF CEJOCEP

*All great men were people who had SOMETHING (time, energy, wisdom, knowledge, etc) sacrificed."

*The time to test a true GENTLEMAN is to observe him when he is in contact with a RACE/BACKGROUND that is less fortunate than his own."

Thanks,
Lawrence & Co - CEJOCEP, Ghana.

Strange yet familiar...

Week 8

Monday was Independence Day in Ghana to mark the 49th anniversary of being free from British rule. The day is a public holiday and anyone who can, tries to make the most of it by going to watch the 6th March 'marching.' We were invited along to the main march for Cape Coast that took place at St Augustines College.

Along a palm tree lined road, right opposite the beach, St Augustines boasts a huge arena for the marching, and several hundred people had come along to watch and offer support. Every school, college and organisation like to represent themselves here and all the preparations have taken weeks. There was a brass band, several lines of cadets, soldiers and police, and all the marching is judged for performance.

It was quite frightening to watch children as young as 7 being carried off in stretchers due to fainting from the heat. We even saw a few soldiers keel over, but I am not surprised as the sun got to us after only being there for 10 minutes, and most of the marchers had been out all morning.

Overall though I have to say it was a fantastic experience and the pride of any of those who got selected to march for their country was wonderful. 6th March next year will be spectacular as it marks 50 years of Independence, and I am quite gutted that I will miss it.

After the march, Caroline, Ben and I walked the whole length of the beach from the marching to the Castle and then scaled the hights of the 'Lighthouse'. This is the extra fort they built on the highest hill near the Castle, as a lookout from land to sea. It is now privately rented to a rather large family, and kept in fairly good repair and we were extremely lucky to be allowed right to the top to take in the view.

The whole of Cape Coast was paved out below us, the random palm trees that line the coast, the hills and lagoon in the distance, the huge old churches that look so sturdy and expensive among the tiny tin roofed houses that fill the rest of the area. It's such a mixture of a town, and this bird's eye view seemed so privallaged that it will stay with me forever.

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We have been lucky enough to meet a wonderful couple who live in Holland that began a project quite like CEJOCEP. It is called TACCO www.Africachild.net and has been set up to benefit the community of a small village near Kumasi in Central Ghana.

The couple are called Afia (Ghanaian) and Jan (Dutch). We met them at our local - Tina. Jan was smoking Rolling tobacco (which Caroline and I are missing very much!) and we were cheeky enough to think we could ask for a roll up each from the Obruni! It paid off and once a conversation had been struck, we began to chat about their project and about the role of Africatrust in Ghana. Several drinks later, Jan was likening Caroline to his daughter and we were talking politics as well as exchanging rude jokes!

These two are truly a lovely pair and compliment each other very well. It was really nice to meet other people with a similar vision and they were so complimentary of our work that we both couldn't stop talking about them the whole way home! (And the fact it had all started from the cheekiness of being a smoker is the only reason I am glad I haven't given up yet! I will one day I promise.)

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I missed telling you before but I made Pancakes on my own to celebrate Pancake day! Anyone who knows me will realise that is a real feat, as I have no cooking skills, only eating skills!!!
I was very proud, and shared them out between the workers in the afternoon between digging foundations. There was no lemon though, so we improvised and used a lime. I recommend it for next pancake day! Very nice!

We also went to Wiomwa on Tuesday to check out a Junior school which has been up and running for over 50 years. It was after an invitation from Irene, their administrator/ headmistress. (She lives near us, and has helped us with some hints on teaching.) It was really encouraging to see that some of the methods we have been using to teach the alphabet and songs etc are also used at the Wiomwa school. We are also going to copy one of their popular tricks - using the lids from drinks as counters. After a few nights out I am sure Caroline and I can gather a whole bunch! Ace.

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On Friday we were invited to the Mosque in Abura with Amponsah, and both of us couldn't wait to go, mainly out of curiosity as to what it is like inside! We both hear the calling to early morning prayers from our house. (Not sure if it is in Fante or Arabic!) So at midday we walked to Abura, after changing to cover our bodies sufficiently.

When we got to Abura, Amponsah asked us to learn the positions we will need to adopt as we will not be able to accompany him, and instead will be going upstairs. We then recieved cloth to cover our head.

Once inside, we were in awe of all the beautiful women on the upper floor. There are no seats, so everyone gets comfy on the floor and some of the ladies begin their prayers. At a set time we joined in the prayer positions with everyone else, and I must admit I think I did it a bit wrong, but no-one noticed. The chanting was beautiful and the whole thing quite humbling!

(written by Lucie)

You're watching us, while we watch you...

Week 7

The work this week has been a bit more exciting as we have been making huge iron rods into towers that will support the window frames. They will be surrounded by concrete once put into place, and have involved lots of wire bending and shaping.

We haven't missed out on the digging either as the Toilet block is on its way up. There are going to be four ladies on the bottom level and four gents on the top level. We are carving out foundations at the moment, but we have been assured it won't be long until the bricks are laid, and the whole thing is complete!

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The evenings have turned into a mixture of films or books, and to date I have read about 4 books, and watched maybe 15 films! A complete mixture of western action, fiction and comedy films, and a whole new sector for me - Nigerian movies.

The house we are living in has a VCD player (Video CD) which is identical to a DVD except most films come on two disks. (We have only watched half of Desperado with Antonio Banderas as Disk 2 is missing... what happens next??)

The Nigerian films are great fun and not too hard to follow, as the bad guys are blatent and the end always has a definite moral to the story. The funniest one I have seen so far is 'Valentino' basically the story of a love rat! He's worse than one of the characters on Eastenders. Living with his 'Sugar Mummy' and secretly dating her daughter, he also ends up with plenty of other girls in tow, from the advice of 'Prof in Human Affairs' his best mate. (Are you still following?)

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We have become accustomed to the fact that we stand out like a sore thumb here because of our colour, it's obvious when you step off the plane really, but the children of Ghana seem to find it so fascinating to see us 'Obrunis' (white people) that it never wears off completely.
The nice thing about seeing people regularly is they tend to regard you as less of a novelty, but if we go anywhere new, we quite often get the fresh chant of "Obruni, how are you, I'm fine, thank you, and you..." and from the nursery behind our house this chant takes place every morning. They never get tired of it!! haha!

The afternoons are definitely my favourite time as loads of kids come to the site of the school building to help us out. (Something never encouraged in such a health and safety conscious environment of the average building site back home!)

These boys range from 7 - 15 and are so enthusiatic to help and strong too! They don't care about our colour any more, they are more worried about taking the pick-axe from each other or carrying a heavier load of earth, which is funny to watch as there is a definite pecking order - namely all young boys are called 'small boys' and if one boy is even a fracton taller or stronger he will order all the littler ones around.
(And because there is no teaching involved in the afternoons, I get to pull silly faces at them all and act 9 again! Hooray!)

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This week was also Jeffrey's Birthday, and as his family are all away, we took him out for a drink at the local spot. Everything is served in its bottle - no pulling of pints in these places, and if you're looking for a cold version of Ovaltine, try 'Malta!' the non alcoholic Guiness drink.

(written by Lucie)

Hopping and other things...

Week 6

This week has been one for lovers with Valentine's Day on Tuesday, (Happy Valentine's to you all!) a tradition which Ghana seems to embrace as if they began it!

The easiest way to explain it is that the popular music in Ghana is called High-Life, and about 90% of the songs are in fact Love Songs!! They are also big fans of Westlife, Celine Dion, Elton John and Dolly Parton ??!! I have had some of the High-Life songs translated for me and the favourite so far is a guy saying to a sexy lady to 'Shut your legs love, I'm married!' Hahaha!!!

The tradition is to wear red, and to give some flowers or a soppy card to your loved one. Some people choose to go a bit overboard and wear red from top to toe, and tell every woman they see that "you are my sweetie treasure, light of my life, I love you, I miss you" etc etc (yuck!)

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Caroline and I are not the type to enjoy the croonings and slobberings of this romantic day, but we got invited by several of the CEJOCEP Culture Group boys to the local bar (or 'spot') to watch the festivities unfold. Plenty of dancing, couples having fun in dark corners and one resemblence of a fight later, we realised it was past midnight and headed for home.

(The 'nearly' fight was quite funny, as Ghana is such a peace loving place, the DJ stopped the music before it happened to announce that if any blows were struck the night would be over. This prompted everyone else to seperate the two quarellers and sheild any lady in sight!! That was the very short end of the matter.)

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The Culture Group have been very good to us since we got here, made up of about 10 guys and 3 girls, they meet up on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to practice their drumming, cultural dances and freestyle. In particular we have been be-friended by about 5 of the boys, who now insist on accompanying us anytime we go to the next town (Abura) or to events in Cape Coast.

The rest of the group have been helping me to learn dances and both of us have been practicing drumming. Its usually better to watch them rehearse though, as we both feel a bit self-conscious when we are involved - but that's down to years of social conditioning I have been told!!!

The traditional songs are beautiful, and we have mastered a few, we are just hoping that they are not going to ask us to spring a rendition at some awkward moment in front of a crowd!

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Our favourite drinking 'spot' so far has to be Tina Tavern in Abura. It has been the location for Valentines evening, and also became our home on Friday night, which was (and always is) Ladies night in the region. We did try to go to Cape Coast Hotel for Ladies night with Esther, but the bouncer wouldn't let her in because of her shoes... (Are bouncers the same all over the world?!)

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We are trying to encorporate some more fun into our lessons with the children at the moment. It's definitely a hard job, and even the fun things are met with either blank faces or bored looks! The one thing they do love though is Incy Wincy spider. Its a sure fire hit to get them off their wobbly bench and making shapes with their tiny hands.

We now lack any form of tables as they were broken last week, so any written work is done on their laps or on the floor with a stick in the dust. It's a crazy situation, but until the school has a roof there is no way they can start using the money to buy anything else.

If the school is finished in time it will open in September, so during the Rainy season (May - September) the members of CEJOCEP will be harvesting the Casava plants they have been growing. This is then processed into 'Gari' which is one of the favourite foods to add to meals in Ghana. Its nice with evapourated milk and sugar added (kind of tastes like sweet bits of cereal) and also nice as a savoury dish with stew and sauce.

The Casava that is harvested, and the Gari that is made will be sold to make a profit for the organisation. This is how they have funded some of the former projects, and could be the way forward for some proper tables and chairs.

(written by Lucie)

Internet woes...

Week 5

Things on the internet never run smoothly here!

The blog is in need of updating, but each web page can take 20 minutes to load or the whole thing can log you out when you have just written an entire essay. It's very frustrating, so please bear with me and ignore any dates on the blog - they are almost always inaccurate. (I miss broadband!)
Like everything else it's a learning curve or something!!!

Apart from the internet though -

This week has been great for muscle building! We have been moulding more blocks and sweating tremendously while digging the foundations for the toilet block.
It is quite gross the colour of the dust and sweat all mixed together!! Haha! I have big boots that fill with hunks of mud as well, so all my socks are brown coloured! Truly gross!

The children are getting used to us now. We have a class of 20 at the moment, (although more keep coming!)and just like any good nursery we've been encouraging the sing songs as often as possible.

The biggest characters so far have to be a 4 year old called Francis (who obviously watches his father's action films as he comes pegging across the dust doing karate kicks, and quite often gets the girls in headlocks) Joseph, who is 5 or 6 and makes the funniest faces when he doesn't know the answer to our question (said question being something like "where is 'B'?") and a very beautiful but very vaccant girl called Fatti.

The teaching is not physically hard, but it is so mentally demanding, and you spend so much of the lessons willing with all your might that they can just get from 1-10, that it is clear that I have wronged all my past teachers when I was a student myself!! (I was the one always talking at the back - now I know how annoying that can be - sorry!!)

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This weekend we went to went to a place called Busua on the west coast of Ghana, about 45 minutes from Takoradi by Tro-tro.
We met Matt and Debbi there for the first time since the induction course. It was a good time for catching up on the current projects and people we have been meeting.

Busua is breathtaking! I don't want to go on like the Ghana Tourist board or something, but this place had (unlike many) a completely pristine beach, water safe to swim in, and plenty of nice places to eat and drink. (We chose a French owned Restaurant in the evening, which to Caroline and Debbi's delight sold the much missed bottles of wine!) We spent a lovely relaxing saturday sunbathing, strolling and filling up on fresh Mango, Banana and Pineapple juice! Lovely!

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From the sounds of it, Matt and Debbi are not having the easiest of times in Bawdia though. I am hoping they will be able to explain more at a later date, but with the Power cutting out twice a day, and water running out (despite heavy rains) its making things a little unpleasant to say the least.

The children are between the ages of 11 and 17 in Matt and Debbi's classes, and the number of them who are unresponsive is making teaching a bit of a headache. Also things with the local welder have not gone exactly to plan, as he took it on himself to change the design they wanted and use up all their metal, creating the wrong shapes for the windows.

However all is not lost yet, and the good news about the computers for the Library are waiting in Accra to be brought by the lovely Charles to Bawdia, so the first stage will soon be complete. The Football is in full swing at the school too, and Debbi's girls are going to give Matt's boys a run for their money! Ha! Go on Debbi - show them how it's done!

(written by Lucie)

Cape Coast... 18.2.06

Week 4

Caroline and I are now working with the wonderful NGO called Centre for Job Creation and Environmental Protection CEJOCEP in Kakumudo, Cape Coast. Run by the most enigmatic and humbling people - Lawrence, Sylvester and Theresa, for the benefit of the community in Kakumudo and eventually other villages in the area.

We are not the first volunteers who have worked with them, as they have hosted Operation Crossroads Africa OCA from America for the past two years, but I am hoping that we bring a bit of British flavour to the project as we are staying for six months and the previous helpers were here for only a few.

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CEJOCEP's vision is very large and we will only be here for a minute part of it. Namely the first school building. It will cater for the children from age 4 to about 8 and after we have gone the next part of the plan will be a four story building to cater for the older children. (After that there are clinics, farms and all sorts of other wonderful ideas on the CEJOCEP list!)

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To give you an idea of what we are experiencing, here's a rough guide to our daily timetable:

5.30am - Wake up to hear cockerels squawking just outside the window (sounds as though they are right beside my head though!!) doze back off for a bit

6.30am - Jeffrey, now our only housemate for two months, hums past and turns on the radio in the hall to a station that seems to play as much fuzz as is does songs.

6.45/7am - Get up to wash in the shower room but in the mornings there is never running water so it is always cold water from a bucket! Sure helps with waking-up though!

7.30am - Breakfast is cooked by the lovely Esther - our favourite person in Ghana so far! Variations on Pancakes / Porridge / sweetbread / omlette sanrnies(?) / something called Pap (tastes like it sounds!) and a good old cup of Tea!

8am - Start work at the centre teaching a group of 4 and 5 year olds. We are teaching them under a group of trees until their classrooms are finished.

We are teaching them the alphabet and basic number skills. (In the two weeks Caroline and I have been teaching so far, we have found out that we are by no means natural teachers and we are now actually getting lessons in how to keep their attention for longer than 5 seconds!)
We are lucky to get to the letter 'd' before they all start running off for a wee or a herd of goats take over the classroom!! Great fun even though it is thoroughly knackering!!

12pm - Lunch!!! YUM! Red red and plantain / egg stew and rice / mashed yam and palava sauce to name but a few of the meals!!

2pm - Manual Labour!!

Yes, we have been allowed to use pickaxes and everything! Its a get your hands dirty kinda job, and we are building muscles where we never knew they existed.

We are brick moulding(breeze block size) to finish the 6th classroom.
We will also be involved in the roofing / plastering / painting of the building during the time we are here.

Any of you who have helped with fundraising - this is where your money is going! It's so exciting to watch the building grow!!

5pm - Work over time for some culture!
We have a range of afternoon activites from drumming (the bongo and congo kind) to cultural dance, or my favourite - freestyle dance (imagine lots of 80's style robot movements, and a few moon walks etc, but far far better).

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Last weekend Caroline suffered a bout of Malaria, which put us out of action for both days, and by Thursday I had developed a foot infection from a mosquito bite that turned nasty. So we are hoping we have had our illnesses for the whole trip now. And we are both excellent nurses now too!

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To date we have had our fair share of marraige proposals too! In the market this morning as I was looking at some tops I was asked to marry a guy called Ben before he had even asked my name!! It is light hearted enough though, as if I had taken them all seriously I could have a male hareem by now!! (Ooh the thought of it does appeal!)

We spent this afternoon with Sylvester and Esther on Oasis beach and the waves there are so strong it would be crazy to try and even swim there, but paddling to the waist is fine and sandcastles are always good. Esther's son and Sylvester's two oldest children came with us and this was their first time in the sea!! They were so cute! Completely bewildered by every wave that came along, and in awe of all the local children playing around so unafraid.

(written by Lucie)