July 8, 2008

Project team leaves for Ghana.

July 20, 2008

You likely thought we had disappeared from the face of the earth, but we are here in Damongo and doing well. It is just that we have not had any access to the internet to get a blog off to you.

As usual, it was like stepping into a steamy bathroom when we got off the plane. Doug and Cathy were in Accra a few days before us and did a pile of work such as picking up books from Kathy Knowles Library, checking the book order at MacMillan International and buying us a cell phone. After a day and a half in Accra, we headed north to Tamale where we overnighted. The trip north from Kumasi was fairly round-about. Our driver told us there are so many funerals on the main highway on a Saturdays that it is impossible to make time, so we went west to Sunyani and then north to Techiman and Buipe. We stopped for a break at Kintempo Falls, and the cool mist of the water tumbling down the sheer face of rock was welcome. We headed on, and arrived at Damongo about suppertime.

The whole area is lush and green as the rains have been good this year, quite a stark difference from the dry, brittle brown that it was when we last left. The cattle are looking fat and happy (also a significant change) and it is the season for serious work. People are planting crops and there is a lot of firewood to be found now, so it is being stockpiled beside the huts. Other than the greenness, there are not that many changes. There are more cell phones, and quite a lot of new building. It appears that the economy is healthier than it was before, at least in the south. Oh yes, one significant change in the north is that the schools finally have some government issued text books, and that is very welcome.

We have completed our first two teacher training sessions. The first had 107 teachers attending and the second 119. They were a mix of local teachers and those traveling as there is only accommodation for 80 at the Secretariat where we are now based. We thought we had St. Anne's as a venue but arrived to find that school was still in as the government did not forward money for the schools to start on time last September, so the school year has drug on into July. The school year will be done within a couple weeks. The teachers that likely came the farthest had a long trip because the White Volta is flooded. They walked from their village to the river, canoed across the river, got public transport to Tamale and then all the way to Damongo. It took them over twelve hours nonstop. We will not be moving to the west for the second two sessions but staying put in Damongo, and that is fine. The teachers from the west are coming to us.

The organization on the ground has been superb. Laz sent a truck to the coast and picked up all the books for us, and sent a bus and driver for us as well. Father Charles went to Tamale and got all the paper supplies we had ordered for the teachers, so everything has worked out well. The poor girls in the kitchen were working so hard trying to feed 120 or so people at a time that we agreed to pay the salary of a fourth girl. It is pretty difficult cooking for that many in large pots over a wood fire outside the back door!

The wet season has brought out a wide variety of creepy, crawly and flying friends. The mosquitoes want to carry us off and I cover my entire body with Deet before I put clothes on. It's a great combination once a little dirt and a lot of sweat is mixed in! Doug and I are sharing teaching space in a small hall; Jean and Cathy are sharing in the large hall, and Marilyn G, being a good Catholic, gets the chapel. Doug and I have a temperamental air conditioner that works when it feels like it. Doug started it up the other day and it made a variety of unusual noises, then a gecko without a tail exited the front panel!

A caretaker here named Peter has helped us so much, especially with registration. He was very hungry the other day and so went downtown for food. On his return he proudly displayed his fabulous meal: a rabbet head, complete with skull and teeth and cut off ears, in a tray of rice. It wasn't something I was wanting to share.

Stay well everyone! We love to hear news from home, and we will blog again when we can. I am going to reconfigure my laptop and try to send some pictures within the next couple days.

Over and out,

Marilyn P.

July 23, 2008

I have written and lost this blog entry three times. I’ve always believed even numbers to be luckier than odd numbers so we will go for four times and cross our fingers. Actually the electricity has been much more reliable this visit and we usually have electricity 24 hours a day. Having a fan at night is often a blessing as the heat is heavy with moisture, and just having the air moving is wonderful. We had a rainstorm yesterday, the equivalent of which you have likely seen on TV as monsoons. I have some very good video footage shot out the front door. No wonder the foliage is so lush this time of year! I wish I could get some pictures out.......

Luckily we started the day early yesterday with a sunrise safari walk in the Mole Game Reserve, which is about 25 km. west. We saw an amazing number of animals, and although I have taken pictures of elephants in a number of countries, I have never had shots like these. Truly amazing, an experience that will remain with us for a lifetime.

The teaching sessions are going well. The first two sessions were big numbers but we are now teaching the third to smaller groups which is both a disappointment and a blessing. The letters of invitation got stuck on a desk for half this group, so we are half sized for this session. The teachers make up in enthusiasm what they lack in numbers. We had barely gotten a bite eaten at lunch when they asked when we would be continuing in the classrooms, and at the end of the day they didn't want to finish.

Last night we showed the BBC documentary Pole to Pole, a video showing an overview of life on the planet from the north to south poles, including polar bears, penguins as well as both temperate/tropical flora and fauna. They were enthralled with 'pole bears' and wanted to know what was in the background (snow). It showed a mother with two cubs coming out of her den and going to the ice flows to hunt seals. I explained that there was water under the ice and that she was going fishing. They nodded and ask the logical question: When she goes down into her den, is her home then in the water?

We are so enjoying this group and we know you would be thrilled if you could see the faces of the teachers when they realize they will be allowed to take their teaching manuals home. Once again we thank you for helping that to happen.

All is well with us although Cathy's energy levels are not her usual. Doug is covering part of her teaching time and it is working out fine, but we are giving her breaks when we can. The schedule was pretty rigorous when we first got here as we had to sort the shipments of books and paper supplies, and I think she is feeling that. I am fine now that I have won the battle of ants in my shower. We had an influx of flying ants that left drifts of wings in the hallways. I stomped them in my shower and tried to wash them down the drain but only succeeded in plugging it. Now I have it running free again.

We are all craving a fresh salad and fresh vegetables, but are enjoying fresh fruit in their place.

We are anxious to hear news from home, so drop us a line when you can. All for today, over and out from Damongo,

Marilyn P.

August 03, 2008

Greetings from Tamale!! We are visiting the big lights (the capital of the Northern Region) as we have brought Cathy and Doug into the plane as they are off on their safari. They flew out on Thursday morning but we have stayed around for a couple days for a change in the sights and the food. Last night we had a very good pizza! We are at the Catholic Guest House which is not luxurious but perfectly adequate, much the same as Damongo with cement floors and walls, but Tamale has AC! We spent one evening with Frank and Nancy Cosway, Canadians from Winnipeg who were a great help in getting the paper supplies for the teaching seminars. We were having dinner together when a 'monsoon' hit, so all of us piled into the back of Nancy's vehicle and she generously gave us a ride home. The next morning Frank arranged a meeting with three of the Tamale Rotarians. We were very pleased to make their acquaintance and hope that we may work with them in the future.

Friday we drove north to the Burkina Faso border. The purpose of the trip was twofold: to check out the wonderful grass baskets made in the Bolga area, and to visit the crocodile pond at Paga. Both were great successes. I walked into one shop and saw the basket of my dreams as did MG so now we have to figure out how to fit them into the luggage. Jean was smarter and bought a couple smaller items. The crocs appeared on schedule, much more cooperative than the hippos were on the Black Volta. We never did see them although we had a great day canoeing on the Black Volta in a home made mahogany boat.

Travel here has become 'African' style. Word seems to get around where we are traveling, and before we leave there are many requests. When we went up to Wa we had a passenger for Tuna, a passenger for Was, a bag for Sawla, a bag for Tuna and a request to pick up letters in Wa. As we were ready to pull out for Tamale, a girl magically appeared requiring a ride to Tamale. I guess it just makes sense as transport is quite costly and often uncomfortable.

We were walking down the road from the guest house the other day and came across a goodly sized scorpion. Luckily he had already been flattened by a vehicle. He was about five or so inches long. I have threatened to dig him out and put him in my journal, but I'm not sure he is yet flat enough for that! We have not seen any cousins in the shower this time, which suits us just fine. The flying ants are back after every rainstorm. There has to be a use for pails of ant wings, but I haven't thought of it.

My family is being lax about getting messages to me - any news from home is welcome, so drop us a line if you have a minute.

Marilyn

November 19, 2008

Dear Friends,

It was only with your kind help that we were able to successfully complete the 2008 summer project in Damongo. It was great to be back in Ghana and we so enjoyed visiting with old friends, and meeting new ones. Altogether the Tools for Schools Africa team worked with about 350 teachers. That was a few less than we had anticipated, but the invitations to the teachers in the Tuna district got hung up on a desk and did not get delivered. As a result we were short about 40 teachers from that area, but we were still able to send teaching manuals to them.

The three new Canadian teachers on our team found working with Ghanaian teachers to be a life altering experience. It is easy to take for granted the resources we have in Canadian schools, and the level to which our schools are funded.

Tools for Schools Project 2 Team:
Adriana (conference organizer), Jean, Laz (our terrific go-to guy) Marilyn P., Marilyn G., Father Charles (our communications man) Doug and Cathy

TFS-A ran four teacher training sessions. Teachers arrived by any means available, by foot, bicycle, motorbike, lorry, bus and trotro. The teachers from Lingbinsi even had to ford the Volta river in a canoe as part of a very long journey. We were so pleased that the logistics worked out so well: the manuals got there and the paper supplies got there at the same time as the teachers! We are so appreciative of our African team: Bishop Philip, Father Laz and Father Charles who made most of the arrangements for food and lodging, Adriana who was the conference organizer and Peter who acted as our registrar. This is a picture of the team when we met to confirm all arrangements just before our first group of teachers arrived.

Left: Teachers arriving

The teaching sessions were very well received, and the teachers were like sponges, soaking up everything we had to offer with never a complaint. They were enthusiastic and keen to learn teaching methods that would help them in their classrooms as many have not been able to get any formal teacher training. They were also so pleased with the teaching manuals and teaching resources they were able to take back to their schools. Each teachers left with English, math and science teaching aids. Here are some pictures of the teachers at the TFS-A sessions.

Above: Teachers signing in at the registration desk with Peter (blue shirt)

Each teacher was presented with a certificate upon completion of the training. Father Laz is handing them out.

Of course it is difficult to feed up to 120 people at a time, and we thanks the Agatha’s and their helpers for the fine food prepared for us and for delegates.

We also were thanked with hand woven and sewn traditional smocks which we wear with pride.

It truly does ‘take a village’ to put a project like this together. We thank the many fine Canadian individuals, businesses and organizations that helped fund this training project. Although everyone cannot be named, many of the donors are listed at www.givemeaning.com/project/Damongo. As well, we want to acknowledge the hard work and ongoing support of Norm Dueck and Edmonton Rotary South. As well we thank Kathy Knowles who supplied us with books at cost.

This picture of these children in a library is important to us because it shows that the resources delivered a year and a half earlier are well cared for and are being used daily by the students. The school had made one classroom into a library and children over the lunch hour were in the library using the books. One boy showed me his favorite book, Three Billy Goats Gruff, and read to me from it. Awesome!

We continue to move ahead with Project #3 in Damongo which includes:

(1) the extension of the St. Anne’s Boarding House with a dorm for another 24 girls. In rural villages, there is no schooling beyond grade 6, so girls must have a safe and affordable place to stay. The building to the left is the existing structure but more space is badly needed as girls are sleeping two to a bed.

(2) the expansion of the scholarship program (we now have twelve girls on full scholarship, 3 at the junior high and 9 at the high school. We are pleased that another Central Alberta NGO, A Better World, will be partnering with us on this project.

(3) more teacher training in 2010

Words cannot express our gratitude for your support of this project. There are many good projects out there, but we are very proud of the fact that we all pay our own air travel so that donated funds go directly to the project. If you would like to support our future endeavors, there are options:

1. You can purchase fine African art on this site in the near future. Two fine artists from Ghana, Francis Amoah and Hilton Korley are supporting our cause with their art. Like fair trade coffee, these are ‘fair trade’ paintings, giving the artists a good return for their fine work. In the past Amoah’s paintings have been purchased by the United Nations as part of the Christmas card pack they produce. Hilton Korley is one of the finest young African artists today, and does wonderful works of African people.

2. Gift cards: Do you have a hard-to-buy-for person? We offer you a humanitarian option. Our gift cards have beautiful pictures we have taken in Damongo that acknowledge a donation on behalf of the recipient, in any value greater than $20. How else will you buy a tax deductible gift appropriate for Christmas, birthdays or just about any occasion? For $200, you can educate a girl for an entire year, with room and board!
Contact us for more information about the Gift Cards.

3. As well, we have fine T-shirts that you will find most comfortable to wear. Your purchase will help us by spreading the word on Tools for Schools Africa and supporting the project financially. Each adult and youth T-shirt is $20 plus shipping and handling, and are available in adult and youth sizes. Contact us for more information about ordering T-shirts.

(Webmaster note: A samples page is currently under construction which will showcase the t-shirts and gift cards. A notice will go out to subscribers when this page is complete. If you have not yet subscribed to our updates, please use the form at the top of this page).

4. Donations can be made online at www.givemeaning.com/project/Damongo

5. For those of you in the Central Alberta area, we are offering a day to create your own “Travel Journal”. Our journals have caught a lot of attention, and we would like to share what we do with any interested parties. The cost is $60, and the class runs on Jan 17th. Contact us through this site if you would like to register.

Thanks again everyone. You are one of the group of people Margaret Mead talks about in her famous quote:
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Have a wonderful year, and keep in touch with Tools for Schools Africa Foundation!

Marilyn

(Webmaster note: If you would like a PDF version of this last entry complete with pictures, please download it here.)