THINGS ACCOMPLISHED PART 1

FINISHED SCHOOL YARD

After the hard work of all the children and teachers, the school yard is now a great place to play. The headmaster still wants grass but until that happens, I was very happy with how it turned out.

REPLACED OR REPAIRED CHALK BOARDS

Many of the Plywood boards were worn out so I replaced them. One of the plaster boards had started flaking so I had that one replastered. I had all of the remaining boards recoated so they all look great.

ENCOURAGING GIRLS

These are 2 of the first year HS students that Tomorrow's Stars Sponsors. They have promised to read one book during this break as well as coming to some review classes being held by 2 of our recent HS graduates.








While I was encouraging girls, we included some boys also from the first year group.












I spent alot of time on reading and acquiring books during my stay. I found that there are books that have stories that the African child can relate to and enjoy. They are available right in Ghana saving us dragging heavy bags of the wrong books.





MADAM KATHY'S BUSINESS CLUB

I invited these boys to the resort for a business lesson. After cokes and fries we got down to the business of costing the making of little African Spirit dolls. It involved a lot of measuring and math skills and when we were done they had a plan to make dolls to sell to the tourists. Shortly after their first sales they dissolved the partner ship due to disagreements. I guess I did not do a good job on the finer points of a partnership! But the good news is they are still friends.

THINGS ACCOMPLISHED Part 2

Now that I am home, it is easy to look back at the things I accomplished while I stayed in Elmina these last 9 weeks. I am posting them in no particular order. As I gather pictures for this posting, I am already thinking of a return visit and the things that are possible.


20 COMPUTERS FOR EDINAMAN HIGH SCHOOL

We purchased 20 computers from World Computer Exchange last December and they were received at Edinaman High School just before we arrived in May. Unfortunately there were only 13 that were working so we set about fixing them. While the computers were waiting to be fixed the carpenters got to work building tables for the new computer room and the electricians ran the cables that Tomorrow's Stars also donated. Before I left most of the computers were working. When school restarts in September both computer labs will be up and running. Enkei America donated a projector for one of the labs so I am sure there will be a rush to teach in that lab!

REPAIRS TO BROKEN COMPUTERS AND NEW TABLES AND ELECTRIC

LIBRARY OPEN UNTIL 8 PM

AFRICAN BOOKS TO CHECK OUT

SCIENCE REFERENCE BOOKS

While working at Edinaman High School with the

computers I found out that the school only had enough money to keep the library open until 3 PM. I also found it sadly lacking in books that were used in class or reading books that would appeal to young Africans. So Tomorrow's Stars is paying for a Library Prefect to keep the library

open until 8 PM and on Saturday's till noon.

We purchased over 150 novels that the students can relate to from the African writers series and will be available to check out in the new term. While I was shopping I also purchased science books to be kept in the reference section. I purchased 4 copies each of Integrated Science, Physics, Chemistry and Biology even though they were $20 each as hardly anyone can afford to purchase these books that the teachers use in class.

SPENDING 2 WEEKS WATCHING AMAZING WOMEN TEACHERS

This is my favorite picture of Nancy teaching in the Kindergarten Class. The volunteer teachers devised a short list of easily accomplished tasks and teaching methods for the teachers of the lower primary grades. What a great achievement in only a 2 week stay. I was truly impressed with the depth of understanding they achieved in such a short time. All four of the volunteers contributed so much more than their time and expertise. We are very grateful that we had them help.

Michelle was great at getting involved with the class one children.

Kellie in the middle of some nursery children.

Michelle and daughter Katie always smiling. Walking home from school.

Helping with the teaching at Sound Foundation School.

Looking great honoring recent graduates at a ceremony.

And because they still had energy and love here they are handing out treats and gifts to the children that lived near the Hut the girls stayed in.

THE WEEKEND

I tried to download this short video. It is Saturday morning at the school. The girls hostel and spend Saturday morning doing chores together. It is so Ghana. Singing while washing clothes by hand in cold water. Cooking over charcoal, having to fan the fire to keep it the right temp.

Bakatue festival started on Tuesday, the first Tuesday in July. Town was very
crowded. Music was loud. Regatta a sight. It ended on Saturday, with a parade of the chiefs and queen mothers through town to the castle park where there was a ceremony and then a few hours later a recessional back to the palace. Another day of merriment. I did not stay long, but if I had to guess, it went late, was loud and if you were a local, much fun.

On Sunday, I was invited to attend a naming ceremony at a church. I was told it started at 9 AM so that is when I got there. Now I have been here for 7 weeks and I really should have known that 9 was way too early to arrive but old habits die hard. So at 9AM I was one of 3 in the open air church. Soon there were 6 of us so we started SUNDAY SCHOOL BIBLE STUDY! Then they thought I should have my Sunday School in English so a second black board and benches were move so we could have 2 classes. By now there were probably 10 of us. I found a clock and it said 10 minutes until nine. People kept arriving and the clock continued to say 10 minutes before 9. Soon (well not really soon) Study time was over and then people really started arriving (my phone registered 10:30) .When I guess enough people had arrived (still not the people who had invited me) They removed the clock that said 10 minutes til 9 and I guess then everyone up until that point had arrived on time and only the ones who came later were late. Pretty cool unless you had been there since 9AM real world time. Of course then worship starts. You have never worshiped until you have done it African style. I find it very moving. Singing, dancing and a real feeling that it is great to be alive. Of course then the preachers start. I think that there were 3 of them. Luckily I still had many things to thank the lord for, a breeze that kept me cool, an unforgettable adventure, friends that were so glad I could bring some color to their Church service and George and Nancy and friends coming on Monday. The naming ceremony was very similar to a baptism not very African at all but by 1:15 we were done. With church that is. There was still a visit to the house where Malta and a meat pie were proudly offered. Luckily a meat pie only has a teaspoon of “meat” in it. I wonder how sick a spoonful of “meat” can make you? Anyway, Lorinda is a beautiful baby who appears healthy and happy. Her sister Liza (formally baby Liza as she is named after my daughter Liza when she was here in 2003) is growing big and is proud to be a big sister.

CATCHING UP

It is Saturday June 28. It is odd how fast the time is passing all of a sudden. I can not believe George, Nancy, Kelli, Michelle and Kate will be arriving a week Monday. I will try to catch up with everything that went on the past 2 weeks.

The people (who soon became “my People”) who were to do the video arrived on Tuesday early afternoon. They had no sooner arrived at the hotel, when the skies opened up and it rained heavily for the rest of the day. They could not shoot the school so they did the interview with me with the rain in the background and got a bite to eat and rested up after the trip. Wednesday morning the sun was shining and the filming at the school went great. Kimberly, the gal who founded “good tube” is a real pro as well as Lori who volunteered to do the filming.(she works for KDKA in Pittsburgh so of course you know she was also lots of fun). It was great to see Minette again; we had met her 2 years ago while we were here. She was the person who started the ball rolling on the video project 2 years ago. The video should be finished by October. It will be posted on http://www.goodtube.org/ . You might want to check out the website, as it has many great videos.
The rest of “my people” included Marie and Corbie who had won a raffle to accompany Kimberly on the trip; Katie, the bookkeeper for Good Tube; Carl, the very good driver and Charles, whose school was scheduled for video latter in the trip. While they were here I finally went to Kakum rainforest with them. It was OK but you really do not get to see much of anything except the tops of the trees. The seven rope bridges were very scary for me but I made it through without the guide having to come rescue me.

On Sunday I took the bus to Accra and on Monday met “my people” to go visit Charles’ School, Tuskegee International School. We had a great day and met up with a teacher from Chicago “Greenie” who comes 2 times a year to help at Tuskegee. The filming went great at that school also and then we went to the craft market and on to dinner. They were a very fun group. I got a great travel hint from one of them. You put vodka in a spray bottle and use it to kill germs on things such as silverware, pop cans etc. I was also thinking it may come in handy if you needed a mid day pick-me-up.

Their trip came at a great time for me personally as it totally rejuvenated me.

While I was in Accra I visited the OSU Children’s Library and purchased some books from them for both schools. They are great books for the younger children, written with themes they know. I also met with the company who does the narrowband internet and have an appointment on Monday to see it in action at the OLA Training College here at Cape Coast.

Next week is Bakatue Festival, the beginning of the fishing season. We were here during it in 2004 but missed parts so I am looking forward to seeing more of it this year. The fishing has not been good. I saw what seemed to be very large fishing boats not very far out to sea and was told they were Chinese. The government has given them permission as they pay fees to fish but it is very hard on the people here who only know how to fish.

I hope I will not let as much time pass as I did this time.

I HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 4 WEEKS

Well, it is Sunday again. It is hard to believe I have been here a month already. Time proceeds differently here. It is hard to explain so I won’t try but the days just melt away.

It has been a busy week so I am glad to have some down time. This is the week that a production company is coming to film our project. I am not sure what to expect. I had wanted to lose 50 lbs before they came, but that of course did not happen (if only I had gotten Malaria—oh maybe not) Anyway what will be, will be. I will let you know.



There are so many little things that make this such a different culture from ours. The adults have so much pride in how things look is a great example. Their clothes are always clean and pressed. How they manage to wear the same shirt for a week and still look neat (although not smell that neat) is something that escapes me. I become a grimy sweat ball soon after my morning shower and stay that way until my afternoon shower! (but I think I smell OK! At least! I hope!)

There are many more examples that would have you shaking your head, but really who is to say they are wrong! Really, it is just different. I am also starting to think that when you try to change even a small thing, it can be a cascade effect with some very unexpected results. I am thinking about the school yard. As you know it is the rainy season and water was collecting in the yard. It bothered me, so I asked if there could be grass planted. No, it needed to be filled with red slimy when wet letrite clay. Making the biggest mess I have ever seen taking 2 whole days to complete. So then I think maybe we should cover the clay with sand, so we do and when it rains we still have a huge puddle in the middle of the school yard, although it does drain a bit faster than it did. I still think we need grass as do some of the teachers, but I have asked that it will not happen while I am still here. I can only take so much!!

I have dropped the idea of a library/study center for now. Instead Tomorrow’s Stars will hire a person so the library at the High School can stay open after school as the government will only pay for the librarian until 3pm. I am very happy about this as many of our day students need extra time to study. Tomorrow’s Stars is also going to buy extra text books for the library to enrich what they get in classes. We are also going to supply much needed African novels for the students to read. There are some books in the library, but not much is relevant to the students here. Once again, buying items here is so much better on so many levels. We also are paying a few of our new High School grads to tutor but our first year HS students and the soon to be “freshman”.


Here are a few of my little friends, who can make me smile no matter what is going on!

SUNDAY

For those of you who think that I am suffering, I hope I can send a few pictures of my day today. It is Sunday so all is quiet. Church happens for almost everyone. So I am here at the beach soon to have lunch. There is a lovely breeze and a very sunny day. I finished a book and am feeling very lazy. I may take a nap this afternoon. We shall see.

Just another day

The Internet connection is very spotty. Luckily I had saved in the middle of the last post or all would have been lost. I have not figured out how to work off line or even if it is possible so I have started doing everything in word and then copying and pasting into the mail or blog. I also have outlook on this computer but cannot figure out how to hook it into yahoo. I am using Tomorrows_stars@yahoo.com for my email as AOL is a pain. Also, I have not figured out how to respond to the comments as I loose connection so easily but enjoy reading them.

It is sunny again today and so HOT. I really have a hard time understanding how any one does anything in this heat but they do. As I said before the school yard becomes a lake when it rains. So we wondered if we could put some fill to even out the area and then plant some grass. The headmaster said he could use some litrite(SP?) He thinks we need 10 truck loads of the stuff. He finds a guy who will charge $40 a load to dig it (no backhoes), put it into the truck, bring it to the school and dump it out where the children proceed to spread it around. They did 6 loads today running out of class each time the truck came to move the stuff. (I was hot and exhausted just watching them!!) They were having FUN. Anyone know what the litrite is?? The stuff that turns into SLICK RED GOO when it rains. Hopefully there are photo’s below.

Rain and Hair problems

George has left for home and has arrived safely. He had to stop in Dakar as they did not have enough fuel here in Ghana to cross the ocean. I have decided not to take any chances and will stay here at the Coconut Grove for most of the time. Since the General Manager is on leave to finish his masters in Australia, they have given us his apartment. It has a bedroom, living room, toilet room and a 6’x7’ shower room. A very weird use of space. Our bedroom at home is only somewhat larger than this shower.

The weather has been very sunny and hot the last few days. I would like to complain about it but it was very rainy last week and I think that the sun is better. We have only seen it very dry and lacking water. Last year when Shawna was here in August, September, and October it was very rainy, but when we got here in November it was dry again. As it turns out it is a mess when it rains. The roads are red slimy goo dotted with wide pools of water. A lake happens in the school yard. I am sure the mosquito population grows. Life is just so hard here. I am glad I will be able to stay in a nice place until I leave in 7 weeks.

My hair was getting very dry even though I wear a hat all the time. I stopped at a hair stall and asked if they had something that would work. They sold me Aloe Vera “hair food”. Sounded good to me so I bought it and put it on my hair when I got home. It was kind of greasy but I thought it would be like a hot oil treatment. Well I was wrong. I put it on Saturday night, and as of now have washed it 6 times. It is still a major grease ball. When I told someone I had gotten “hair food” they said “good it will protect your hair for about 3 weeks.” Turns out it is a coating that has petroleum jelly in it along with many other greasy ingredients. Sure wish I had read the label before I put it in my hair. I am thinking of washing my hair with dish soap. I wonder if it will dry it out.

First 9 days in Ghana

I forget how hard everything is here. It takes about 20 minutes just to check email. That is if the server is working. It can take 10 minutes just to decide that there will be no email today. And yes, it is hot. This is the rainy season so we have some cloudy times during the day and it feels like heaven. The sun is so intense when it shines. I have been trying to pace myself for the long time ahead. Everything moves so slowly here. But I am adjusting

We spent last week checking on projects. Almost everything is going very well. We have retained almost all of our teachers at CCPS. 32 children have graduated and finished taking the BECE test. 7 of our scholarship students are almost done taking their final exams and will graduate from High School. The new roof on Sound Foundation looks great.

I have decided to hire Evelyn, one of our new HS graduates to be my voice as the small children really can not understand me very well as I speak too fast and a different kind of English than they do. Rudolph and Otoo are going to tutor the students in the first year of HS as they are finding Math and Science hard. Evelyn, Rudolph and Otoo will also be having classes for the “leavers” (they are the 9th graders who have taken the test and have nothing to do until the results come in September. Yes, September! And of course the 7 students that have graduated HS will not know how they have done until October) ..

George and I spent a very nice weekend not doing much work. . It was a holiday Monday so we had most of the day off and we just lazed around the pool. We are also taking time looking at the birds. George’s Mom got him a West African Bird Book so we can finally know what kinds of birds they are. Makes me wish I had a life list of birds.

I am not sure how often I will post here. I may feel like I have more time when George goes home. We will see.

Getting ready to leave

I leave on Saturday and I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. (Writing that makes me hope that I do not see a chicken with it's head cut off. Food is very fresh in Ghana.) Anyway I hope that I do not forget anything that I think that I will need. I am such a wimp. I believe I have purchased one of every over the counter remedy available. I hope that I will not need any of it.

Now to pack everything in two suitcases weighing no more than 50 pounds each. I wonder how much I can fit in a carry on that must fit under the seat in front of me.

If I have forgotten to say good bye to anyone, please forgive me. Remember I am old.

The next time I post I will be in Ghana.

Kathy

Introduction to Tomorrow's Stars

Tomorrow's Stars is an all volunteer organization that helps make education possible in Elmina, Ghana, West Africa. We started in 2003, and since that time we have funded the building of CCPS a private school in Elmina . We subsidize part of the teachers salaries as well as other needed school materials. We sponsor 21 children in Senior High School mostly at the local school, Edinaman. This year 7 of the Young People (as they are now) will be taking their final test before Graduation. We think a few may do well and may need help going to university.

For more information please vist our Web Site http://www.tstars.org/ or check out pictures at http://www.pbase.com/gkweir/galleries

To Make a Donation: Mail a check to Tomorrow's Stars, 241 LaRue Drive, Moon Twp, Pa 15108
or
on Paypal