New Places!

I've been here since Monday. 'Here' is about 45mins North of Accra (the capital) in the hills. Its nice and cool. The people Im staying with are a couple who used to live in the UK (and sweden and the US) who came back to live in Ghana. They started off with their kids in a government school, saw how bad it was, and then started homeschooling. A couple of years later they have a school with 60 children from 5-11 in. Its incredible compared to Ghanain school standards - the ethos and atmosphere is like a modern primary school. This is in stark contrast to the Ghanain norm, which is closest to a Victorian school with rows of desks and a cane sitting in the corner. Its a joy to teach in, everything is incredibally smooth compared to the government school I was in.

I've spent this afternoon exploring the local town - Aburi - and the Botanical gardens there. They are lovely...and somewhat unique. On the edge of the center lawn, in amoungst a clump of trees sits a helicopter. One blade is intact; one bends slowly down to the grass, and the other two are broken at the stem. Its rusty, falling apart, and generally dilapidated. The two sections of the nose are held together with wire. The rest of the park matches the feel - nice, pretty, but the wooden benches sag as you sit on them and the flowerbeds are starting to spill over their borders. Aburi iself is nice - a fairly quiet largish town. Most of the facilities are based around one circular road, which can just squeeze two cars past each other. There is a small interent cafe which seems to work and let me listen to BBC world over the net. Im going to run out of tie soon, so Im going to leave. I have a couple of groceries to run; picking up mail from the PO box etc...I'll see a little more of the town, and then catch a tro tro or shared cab back home.

MMM air conditioning

Today the last of the people who arrivd with me left. We're all upset...I think i was affect by the leaving least because Im staying in Ghana - I was the only oe in the taxi not in tears (apart from our lovely pet taxi driver who smiled as usual). We took the STC Bus to Accra and I booked into the Paloma hotel. It has airconditioning and nice beds and a decent shower and tiled floors and etc. My aircon is set so cold I will need the large duvet, which will be amazing - I miss sleeping with at least a sheet. Accra is interesting...it doesn't smell as much as cape coast; i don't think theres so many open sewers where I am. But its still not exactly...clean. The internet cafe Im at now is pretty good though. Its a litle more expensive than in Cape, but its got headphones and stuff...although this keyboard does have a couple of stuck keys.

I haven't got much more to say right now...I might go church tomorrow as well as doing some touristy stuff in Acrra, and buying some cheap paperbacks to read...I got through most of the books that had been left in Brenu. I think this is about it for the moment...See you all later.

New Guys!

The new guys have arrived, and I am preparing to leave. There are 7 new volunteers, but 3 of them are in Beseyase (sp) - another town nearby. We spent Sunday trying to get the house ready for the volunteers. When we arrived none of the floors were down, the walls in all the bedrooms needed some paint, the celling in one room was only half painted and the tiling hadn't been started in the kitchen or bathroom. We were assured that it would all be finished by the time they arrived - in about 5 hours. It didn't seem feasible then...and its still not finished. When it is done it will be a lovely house, but its incredibly annoying that they didn't complete on time, and refused to admit that they wouldn't.

The new guys are really nice. There are 4 Americans here - all around my age which is nice. Three of them knew each other in some way and are all from New Jersey, the fourth is from New Orleans and has a nice accent. They are all fitting in OK and seem to be getting on with the Ghanaian way of things. The volunteers at Beseyasee (I have no idea how to spell it) are really cool. There is a father and daughter team from Yorkshire and an American woman. They have coped with the building works really well, and seem to be taking it all in thier stride. They are gonna have a lot of work ahead of them as the facilities and school just aren't as good as in Brenu. Sabre have only just started working there so its not developed as muhc, and some of the school fell down in the recent storms. Apart from that everything continues retty much as normal. I will be leaving on saturday, and have booked a hotel in Accra for two days to meet the Yeboahs before heading up with them.

Questions + Answers

I've been mailed some questions about daily life, etc etc that people have been asking my parents; Ill try to answer them here.

I generally wake up between 5 and 5:30 when the cocks make a serious go of crowing, and the Ghanaians get up. I then go back to sleep for another couple of hours, and actually get up around 7 for breakfast sometime between 7:30 and 8. Breakfast takes quite a while, especially since it is often late arriving. My first lesson is usually at 9:10 or 8:00, depending on the day. School starts for the children at 7:30 with an assembly and 'worship' - they sing religious songs and a couple of children play drums. On Wednesdays they have 2 and a half hours of worship in the timetable, where they all gather in a classroom and do essentially the same thing. The noise is incredible - there are 100or so children singing their lungs out and a bass drum and 4/5 other smaller ones really going for it. The music is amazing - all we can hear in the mornings is the dru patterns, which are incredibly complex, change constantly, and are always syncopated and off beat. The hymns are sung in Fante - the local language - and sound somewhere between traditional African songs, Negro spirituals and old fashioned church hymns. School finishes for us around 1:30 when we have lunch. In the afternoons we go to cape coast, or o touristy things or play with children. Tomorrow there is going to be a large outdoor party for the younger kids after school, which they should love. I expect it will be in my next entry. Tea (or dinner) is normally around 7:30, we then sit and talk for a while and go to bed. The sun sets by 6:30 without fail, and by 7 it is pretty dark. 8:30 feels like 11 o clock does in the UK, but the moon is generally very bright - almost as bright as street lights.

The locals don't stop anything on a Saturday, except for things like school. Most shops and small business run as usual, but everyone concentrates their efforts on the home chores that got missed in the week. We generally get very touristy during the weekend, visit castles, jungle parks, or stay in luxurious hotels elsewhere for a night or two. Everything stops on a Sunday - everyone goes to church, dressed in incredibly good looking Sunday best. Church services aren't that different in structure to in the UK, apart from that the last from 9 to about 1, and you can come and go as you please. The music is an amazing mix of traditional African drumming, old 'western' hymns and even canticles, which often end up merged into a kind of fusion thing. Hymn books aren't common, so the music leader and/or the choir sing the first line of each verse, then the congregation follow, in harmony. Sometimes the call and answer will be for every line, until they know the hymn better.

Getting internet access isn't a problem as long as there is power. I have been going to a place called 'Ocean View' by the Castle, which is OK. The computers are slow, but the internet is very fast if you have a laptop (I don't). I have been able to get my clothes washed - they get very dirty very quickly, especially if you touch the kids. Esther, the lovely teacher who also looks after the volunteers has been doing my washing, and I have been forcing a small fee on her (she would do it for free if we let her). The children wear a uniform of a yellow shirt and brown shorts, apart from the numerous exceptions. The girls either wear a shirt and a dress, or shirt and skirt, or any other combo. Most of it is a bit big, and rather old, or a bit small and rather old - hand me downs and things bought with plenty of growing room. The uniforms get smeared with mud or dust depending on the weather, and if you play with the children - lifting them up, or whatever - then they smear you with muck too. The most popular, in fact only, sport is football. Aubrey (the guy who started Sabre and the volunteering) tried to introduce rugby, but I don't think its taken off. The children are pretty good at football as far as I can tell. We will know more later when we play the teachers (average age: 20) in a 5 a side football tournament.

I've been helping in the JSS with English and reading mainly. We (Eilidh and I) have been taking small groups out of free lessons and doing some intensive reading with them. It seems to be working really well, but Its frustrating how long it has taken to really get going. The children are pretty keen, they enjoy reading and individual attention, so thats definately encouraging. i think we have made an impression, but it will take a continuous stream of volunteers to make a lasting difference.

Getting Better

OK, so last time I wrote I was kinda complaining about a lot of stuff. Its looking better now. We (Sadie and I) had a meeting with Paddy where I brought up a lot of my concerns and then I left and Sadie brought up even more of hers. That was last Thursday, so there hasn't been much time for things to change, but it seems like things will get better. Theres only two weeks left, so I'll just let it ride; its too late to start things at primary really. So the work should continue as planned...
just its been so slow we don't have much time left.

Aside from all that things are good. Eilidh and I went to Cape Coast Castle today, which was a good trip, and then walked from there to the internet cafe (about 2mins walk). We got drenched - we just made it in time for the rain to slacken off. m looking forward to the week - the group will be back together again. Everyone else has gone on little expeditions, leaving Eilidh, Rob and I in Brenu.

Patience and fustrations

Toay I got properly angry for the first time in Ghana. Other people have been dissapointed, and cross for various reasons allready. What got me was seeing ne of the JSS teachers caning children hard enough to make them cry. Thats the system in GHana...but it isn't supposed to happen whilst we are around. Apparently it took a very long time to get that consession. Also the headteacher is the only person who is suposed to use the cane, but he wasn't there today, which is probably whythis hapened quite that badly. Anyway, this was on top of the teachers completely failing to follow the timetable again, meaning that the remeadial lessons we had been intending to do didn't happen. We've been trying to teach a half hour lesson for about a week now, and everytime we turn up the lessons have been moved or changed or cancelled or whatever. its so oiritating and fustrating that its pointless for us to try ad continue. Eilidh and I will be teahcing in the Primary school instead if things don't improve.

Otherwise things are pretty good. Ythere was a huuuge storm yesterday, which cleared the air a little, although its very very hot. O, and my bed fell apart - the screws holding the headboard and legs onto the beams of the bed pulled out and the whole thing collapsed. I slept on the sofa, but I should have a bed tonight...I dont know. The storm closed the school yesterday- it blew the roof of JSS and meant that the KG and nursery children all had to shelter in the 2 best built rooms - about 300 children in two classrooms. So school completely closed, but its up and running today.

OK, enough...Im going to end this now as I have nothing much more to say.

This time I can't even think of what to write

I havne't really got a plan of what Im gonna be saying here...so Im just gonna splurge. Im pretty well settled in now - everything has become a bit of a routine, which is good. Today we wnet to the PTA AGM. It was incredibally boring - we didn't have anything to say and the whole meeting was conducted in Fante (the local language), so none of us understood it. It was uncomfortable and hot, but thats life; we had to be seen to be there, so we were.

We have all been picking up some Fante, some more than others. I can introduce myself, ask how someone is, and just about understand 'ho wold are you' and ' where are you from'. Shane, who is working with the youngest children, and, as a consequnce, the children with the least English has learnt a LOT - he needs it to control the classroom. Its amazing the response even a little bit of Fante gets - especially in large groups, if you can say thankyou or suchlike then they instantly love you.

I've been trying to build some science experements - a water rocket and a submarine. If anyone can thik of things that I could build from plastic bottles, cans, bits of tubing etc then I'd love to hear them!

Thats all for now folks!