Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Aburi Botanical Gardens
These beautiful gardens are only a short 5 minute taxi ride from Kitase. There are many kinds of exotic plants and trees. I have been taking the computer club to Aburi 2 days a week and one day the power was out so I took the kids to the garden to walk around. Admission - 20 cents for students and $2 for foreign adults. Many students in Aburi pass through the gardens daily going to and from school.
Kokrobite Beach - West of Accra
Home of the Famous Big Milly's Backyard
Fishing boats go in and out all day on Kokrobite Beach, amazing to watch. This photo was taken in September at 7:30 am. I took the picture facing the sun. Diana and I are going back here this weekend with friends we met that go to Cape Coast University and University of Ghana. I can not wait for banana crepes, real coffee, fish dinners, and of course the Reggee Band! This place is about a 2 hour drive from Kitase with no traffic and about 1 hour drive west of Accra.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Blog 16 BTW Ghanaians do not eat American Style Breakfast
Cooking and serving French Toast at the Bliss Manor was not a success financially for the owner, Bobby, I think she actually lost money because she fed Diana and I (I cooked) but I did learn a lot! I tried to pay her for our orders of French Toast but she would not accept. First of all, Bliss Manor does not serve an American breakfast. They serve a limited dinner menu all day, from 8am to 8ish, rice with your choice of fish or chicken. Bliss Manor is the only restaurant in Kitase that is close enough for me to walk to. There are many chop chop's (places where you can buy Ghanaian food on the street) and bars to buy a drink but no formal restaurants except for Bliss Manor. She has a lovely patio that faces the road, can sit about 36 people and she has a huge inside. She and her family live behind the restaurant. Bobby was born in Accra, had all her children in London, and now resides in Kitase. All her children still live in London. So I am waiting patiently for my first customer and by 8:30 no one has come in so I decide to pick up the board that my sign is posted on and head closer to the road. This is a very busy road used daily by people coming from Accra and traveling north to Korforidia so I thought even if French Toast was not a hit with the locals in Kitase surely I would draw in some hungry travelers... I am waving, smiling, and pointing at the sign for every car that drove by...got many beeps and waves but no cars pulling over. Around 9:30 am a guy in a taxi stopped, I was excited for this and quickly asked if he was stopping for the French Toast, he kindly said no and walked past me, ordered a beer, sat down and drank it while his customer was waiting in the backseat! Please do not take this to mean that every Ghanaian drinks beer in the AM, I think he might be the only one! At 10 am an SUV pulls up and out comes 2 parents with their 4 children, yes, this is going to be great!! By this point one customer is all I am hoping for. The family sits down and orders fish with rice and chicken with rice at 10 AM in the morning! Bobby says this is typical for Ghanaian people. They want to eat something with protein and substance to last them throughout the morning and afternoon...this makes sense to me now and maybe I will begin eating fish in the AM too but I do love my American Breakfast! My dad makes the best hashbrown cakes (he shreads actual potatoes), complete with omlettes and cheddar cheese toast. So no customers yet and Diana and I are getting hungry so we go to the kitchen. It was so nice to be in a kitchen! We watched as the 2 girls that cook for Bobby prepared the rice and fish. I am now interested in purchasing a muddle and large wooden bowl to mash red peppers and tomatoes to make sauce, the girls did this and it does not seem difficult. I made french toast for Bobby, Diana, the cooks, and myself. Bobby really liked it and said that I can come back anytime. We sat in kitchen and talked about her life for a long time, very interesting lady. By noon, we cleaned up and left. No paying customers but a great experience. I am going to go back soon and watch the girls prepare some more traditional Ghanaian dishes. Bobby wants to send one of the girls who happens to be her niece to culinary school, she is 17 so she can take over the restaurant someday.
Blog 15 Excellent Adventures on the Tro-Tro's and Taxi
Crazy things that have happened while riding in a TRO TRO or Taxi...
1. After hopping into a taxi, apparently the door was not closed (I had got in the other side) and after we picked up speed and tried to make a right turn, my door flew open and Diana had to pull me back in! Woa! Dodged another bullet! Thank you Diana!
2. Scene: 4 hour long cramped tro-tro to Kumasi one weekend at night in the pouring rain, narrow, bumpy road. All of a sudden the MATE (guy who rides in the tro-tro, the driver's partner, he is responsible for collecting the money and opening and closing the sliding door, sometimes he has to hold it closed because it swings open on its own, he really has a demanding job!) (I am sitting behind him) starts taking his clothes off and I am wondering, What is going on??? He gets all the way down to his boxers the driver pulls over and the mate hops out into the heavy rain... I am thinking this guy is nuts! Well, apparently he needed to use the bathroom and of course did not want to get his clothes wet so off they went. He gets back into the TRO soaked and takes the same towel his has been wiping the seats off with and procedes to dry himself off and his clothes do go back on! It was the most amusing part of the whole ride!
3. A random Ghanaian who has helped us get on the correct Tro-tro paying for the ride. This has happened about 3 times. They are sooo kind! (keep in mind at one time there maybe about 15 tro's lined up. The tro's have no signs saying where they are going, the mates yell out the destination so you have to keep your ears wide open.)
4. While out in Accra in a overloaded taxi, we were pulled over by the police and instead of the police writing the taxi driver a ticket, the driver paid him off (about $2 US). This happens ALL THE TIME in Ghana and makes me think if the police can't even obey the law how can you expect the people to? There are police barriers all over main roads to other towns and you must stop. The police come to your window, gun in hand, and look over the car. Most of the time they just wave you by. But if they do stop you, they have a right to ask you (of course) for your license, etc. If the driver does not want to bother with this procedure, then you give the police $1 and away you go. The police will keep you stopped for as long as they feel like it so many Ghanaians and Obrunis just "pay them off!" The police are making some good TIP money here!
5. Stopped to ask a guy directions the other day near ADA (east coast side) in my friend's car and the guy was wearing a black Baltimore Ravens polo shirt. I said, That's my team! Go Ravens! He had no idea what I was talking about!
1. After hopping into a taxi, apparently the door was not closed (I had got in the other side) and after we picked up speed and tried to make a right turn, my door flew open and Diana had to pull me back in! Woa! Dodged another bullet! Thank you Diana!
2. Scene: 4 hour long cramped tro-tro to Kumasi one weekend at night in the pouring rain, narrow, bumpy road. All of a sudden the MATE (guy who rides in the tro-tro, the driver's partner, he is responsible for collecting the money and opening and closing the sliding door, sometimes he has to hold it closed because it swings open on its own, he really has a demanding job!) (I am sitting behind him) starts taking his clothes off and I am wondering, What is going on??? He gets all the way down to his boxers the driver pulls over and the mate hops out into the heavy rain... I am thinking this guy is nuts! Well, apparently he needed to use the bathroom and of course did not want to get his clothes wet so off they went. He gets back into the TRO soaked and takes the same towel his has been wiping the seats off with and procedes to dry himself off and his clothes do go back on! It was the most amusing part of the whole ride!
3. A random Ghanaian who has helped us get on the correct Tro-tro paying for the ride. This has happened about 3 times. They are sooo kind! (keep in mind at one time there maybe about 15 tro's lined up. The tro's have no signs saying where they are going, the mates yell out the destination so you have to keep your ears wide open.)
4. While out in Accra in a overloaded taxi, we were pulled over by the police and instead of the police writing the taxi driver a ticket, the driver paid him off (about $2 US). This happens ALL THE TIME in Ghana and makes me think if the police can't even obey the law how can you expect the people to? There are police barriers all over main roads to other towns and you must stop. The police come to your window, gun in hand, and look over the car. Most of the time they just wave you by. But if they do stop you, they have a right to ask you (of course) for your license, etc. If the driver does not want to bother with this procedure, then you give the police $1 and away you go. The police will keep you stopped for as long as they feel like it so many Ghanaians and Obrunis just "pay them off!" The police are making some good TIP money here!
5. Stopped to ask a guy directions the other day near ADA (east coast side) in my friend's car and the guy was wearing a black Baltimore Ravens polo shirt. I said, That's my team! Go Ravens! He had no idea what I was talking about!
Friday, October 12, 2007
BLOG 14 - SPORTS DAY - Chef for the Day!
SPORTS DAY FOR WISDOM
Ken announced earlier in the week that Friday would be Sport Day! Oh was I excited for this! The last hour of school Thursday was spent dividing Classes 4 and up into 4 houses, it felt like Harry Potter a bit, very cool! 2 of the male teachers tried to divide the kids up evenly but in the end Ken saw who was in each house and just shook his head and laughed and made them divide the kids up again because the houses were not fair. I did not know that I would be in charge of a house until that moment...YES, I get to lead a house! First task, decide on a name... I threw out the name WISDOM WIZARDS and the majority liked the name so we went with that, had to explain to some what a wizard was...I tried to make it sound really cool...wizards are strong leaders, etc, etc. most bought it but a few were worried that other teams would think they were witches! Oh geez, what have I done now! Sports Day is very competitive, the kids love it and there is a huge incentive to win...the losing house needs to clean the toilet area for a week! So Friday, no classes, first hour spent organizing my house into girls and boys soccer teams, and many running/relay races. Off to the field... this was quite a task, getting the ENTIRE school up the very busy road and crossing the road to get to the field. I was impressed with the teachers and how they stopped the cars and all kids crossed at once. The kids here are very road savvy so even the little ones know not to dart into the street but I was still worried the whole time. There were 4 soccer games total, girls and boys had their own teams. My girls team made it to the finals, yea! The boys teams were very good!!! Soccer is their favorite sport here, many of my students are on local teams. You would have thought Gary Williams was on the field yelling at the boys to play harder! The male teachers are competitive as well! Then we had the races...if you could have seen these kids in their bare feet or just socks sprinting down the field!!! Many do not have sneakers so they just go natural. That would be fine if the field was thick lush grass but it is the most uneven field I have ever seen, many holes, large and small rocks...this does not faze the kids, they run as hard as they can and you never hear them complain and no one fell amazingly! We also had sack races, my girl Mary won this for the Wizards! She had to hop the length of a football field I kid you not! This is the same girl who had a head on collision during the soccer game an hour before! She is so quiet in my class but WOW is she an athlete! While the games were being played the younger kids kept themselves occupied and the older kids when not on the field sang away to the beat of a few kids on the school drum. I have captured this on video, such spirit and joy! It was a great Friday!
Tomorrow morning, SAT, I am cooking/serving at the local Bliss Manor Restaurant. Reporting for duty at 7:30 am to prepare for 8 opening. I go there often for a drink and spoke to the very nice female Ghanaian owner, Bobby, and asked her if I could prepare French Toast to give the locals something special and different. She happily agreed and I drew a very nice banner if I do say so today to advertise the new American Special. The French Toast drizzled with local honey is being served with pineapple and tea for $2.50. I prepared French Toast for Ken and his family this week and they loved it! Ken had never seen cinnamon before. I thought this would be an easy dish since bread and eggs are the 2 most available foods. Cinnamon however is not sold up in the hills so in Accra Sunday night I stopped at the Koala Grocery Store to pick up cinnamon. Only one brand from the UK and it cost me $3.00 but it is worth it! Hope we get a big turn out for breakfast!!! Should be fun! I miss cooking and this will give me a good opportunity to meet more people in the village.
Monday is a Muslim holiday so Diana and I are off to Boti Falls which is only about a 2 hour tro-tro ride from Kitase. Oh and speaking of the famous tro-tro...you YOU TUBE fanatics need to check out the clip of an American white kid who thought the job or the mate and driver of the tro's was so cool that he made someone train him and worked the tro's in Accra for awhile. You can all see what all the fuss is about!
BLOG 13 - OUTLINE OF WISDOM SCHOOL
Not sure if I properly gave the layout of the school and classes so here we go...the kids address me as Madam Jennifer in their British/Ghanaian accents (they sound very proper and I love it!) When the kids in my class get really excited they say, "Madam, Madam, Madam!" very loud and fast! Reminding them to raise their hand first is a daily thing. The Little Ones call me OBRUNI which mean White Lady! This does not bother me, it is what all the village kids say but since we are an ENGLISH ONLY school I do correct them and say back, "Madam Jennifer!" Most of them have it down, still working on a few...
Nursery - Ages 2-3 - About 40 kids
Madam Grace (age 50's) runs the show here, you can often see her bathing, feeding, and singing to her Little Ones, She is a strong woman and visits my room frequently to get after my kids who have not paid for their lunch. Grace also has a young teacher with her who is very enthusiatic. (Mom they could really use your expertise here, need you to remind me of a few songs with numbers and letters to teach the little ones, god they are cute, taught them the 5 Little Monkey Song the other day while my kids were at worship, they loved it!)
KG - Age 4-5 - About 40 kids
Madam Ester and Madam Lucy (also the AP)
Class 1 - Age 6- Two Teachers - About 40 kids
Class 2 - Age 7 - One Teacher - 30 kids
Class 3 - Age 8 - One teacher - 30 kids
Class 4 - Age 9 - Madam Pale and Madam Diana (American Volunteer)
Class 5 - Age 10-One teacher - 25 kids
Class 6 - Ages 10-15 - Madam Jennifer - 28 kids!
JSS 1 - Junior Secondary School Ages 13 and up - Teachers Rotate - 25 kids
JSS 2 - Teachers Rotate - 20 kids
From here the kids need to take a standard exam that all students in Ghana take to see if they qualify for further education. The exam costs money and this sadly prevents many promising students from continuing their education. Ken is hoping his younger brother and sister that are currently in JSS will attend school in Cape Coast. They are both very smart and dedicated to their studies. I can find them buried in their books when I come over for dinner every night.
All class have separate rooms held together with plywood. When it rains hard the classrooms have to be swept out and plywood replaced. It is a constant battle of the elements! Ken just showed me blue prints of the future school, it is a great dream and one I hope to see come true! Land has been bought, Ken is just waiting on a loan and funding to begin building. I think the school has a few years before it is built but he is confident that it will happen. I was curious about how he aquired the land that the present school is on and he said that the local chief gave it to him! Just like that, amazing, uh?!
Nursery - Ages 2-3 - About 40 kids
Madam Grace (age 50's) runs the show here, you can often see her bathing, feeding, and singing to her Little Ones, She is a strong woman and visits my room frequently to get after my kids who have not paid for their lunch. Grace also has a young teacher with her who is very enthusiatic. (Mom they could really use your expertise here, need you to remind me of a few songs with numbers and letters to teach the little ones, god they are cute, taught them the 5 Little Monkey Song the other day while my kids were at worship, they loved it!)
KG - Age 4-5 - About 40 kids
Madam Ester and Madam Lucy (also the AP)
Class 1 - Age 6- Two Teachers - About 40 kids
Class 2 - Age 7 - One Teacher - 30 kids
Class 3 - Age 8 - One teacher - 30 kids
Class 4 - Age 9 - Madam Pale and Madam Diana (American Volunteer)
Class 5 - Age 10-One teacher - 25 kids
Class 6 - Ages 10-15 - Madam Jennifer - 28 kids!
JSS 1 - Junior Secondary School Ages 13 and up - Teachers Rotate - 25 kids
JSS 2 - Teachers Rotate - 20 kids
From here the kids need to take a standard exam that all students in Ghana take to see if they qualify for further education. The exam costs money and this sadly prevents many promising students from continuing their education. Ken is hoping his younger brother and sister that are currently in JSS will attend school in Cape Coast. They are both very smart and dedicated to their studies. I can find them buried in their books when I come over for dinner every night.
All class have separate rooms held together with plywood. When it rains hard the classrooms have to be swept out and plywood replaced. It is a constant battle of the elements! Ken just showed me blue prints of the future school, it is a great dream and one I hope to see come true! Land has been bought, Ken is just waiting on a loan and funding to begin building. I think the school has a few years before it is built but he is confident that it will happen. I was curious about how he aquired the land that the present school is on and he said that the local chief gave it to him! Just like that, amazing, uh?!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Blog 12 I Have a Fan in Chicago
I have no idea who reads this blog and who doesn't. I just received a nice comment from a guy in Chicago telling me about another BLOG written by an American couple living in Accra. Very cool, I will check that out! If you read this blog, please comment with the city, country or state, etc. that you live in, you don't need to write your name if you do not want to. It would be cool for me to see how far this blog goes.
Oh, and I have been meaning to say this...anyone can come and volunteer at the Wisdom Academy. Go to www.ghanawisdom.org They are accepting new volunteers every day. Ken has hosted over 20 volunteers now over the last few years. I have been learning a lot about NPO's and what is special about Ghana Wisdom compared to many other NPO's is that all money raised by the foundation goes directly to the school. Mike, Miles, and Erin, who run the foundation, do not get paid, they volunteer and have other jobs to support themselves. Erin and Miles just taught in Korea for a year. Many people who work for NPO's are paid with money raised through the NPO they work for. And MANY volunteer agencies charge thousands of dollars for a few months long volunteer experience, like i-to-i, for example, and very little of the money you pay actually goes to the people you are helping. This is why Ghana Wisdom is such a great organization to volunteer with. And being up in the beautiful hills is sooooooo much nicer than being in the big city ACCRA, I love KITASE!!!
Fun shopping in Madina (20 min, $0.70 tro-tro ride south) today after work...bought a $2 black plastic watch on the street, the guy even set the time for me! How nice! Yes, I did come to Ghana with no watch and Diana's broke a few days ago so we bargained a buck off of him since we were buying 2. Bought 2 pairs of socks that have a fun GHANA logo on them, one pair for me and the other kid size for my niece, Kali, $1. Bought a much needed 4 inch FOAM Mattress, the bed I have been sleeping on is very uncomfortable, a very thin worn out mattress resting on wooden planks, I can feel the planks of all sizes and shapes in my back (they are not IKEA planks, if you know what I mean) and have been tossing and turning in the night and waking up in the morning with horrible back pain that continues throughout the day. I have slept on this foam stuff a few weekends I have been away and I love this FOAM Mattress idea. The lady even let me lay on it in her shop. It is very cheap to make and WOW is it comfortable!!!! I can't wait for a good nights sleep tonight! When I get back to the US I will be looking for a place that sells these foam mattresses. I think Americans are wasting a lot of money on expensive matresses that have coils and wear out after awhile anyway. I spent about $14 US on this mattress. I will also be able to use it in our courtyard to lay outside and nap or read. We have a beautiful patio but no where comfortable to sit. I knew I should have brought a hammock with me! Maybe next time!
Oh, and I have been meaning to say this...anyone can come and volunteer at the Wisdom Academy. Go to www.ghanawisdom.org They are accepting new volunteers every day. Ken has hosted over 20 volunteers now over the last few years. I have been learning a lot about NPO's and what is special about Ghana Wisdom compared to many other NPO's is that all money raised by the foundation goes directly to the school. Mike, Miles, and Erin, who run the foundation, do not get paid, they volunteer and have other jobs to support themselves. Erin and Miles just taught in Korea for a year. Many people who work for NPO's are paid with money raised through the NPO they work for. And MANY volunteer agencies charge thousands of dollars for a few months long volunteer experience, like i-to-i, for example, and very little of the money you pay actually goes to the people you are helping. This is why Ghana Wisdom is such a great organization to volunteer with. And being up in the beautiful hills is sooooooo much nicer than being in the big city ACCRA, I love KITASE!!!
Fun shopping in Madina (20 min, $0.70 tro-tro ride south) today after work...bought a $2 black plastic watch on the street, the guy even set the time for me! How nice! Yes, I did come to Ghana with no watch and Diana's broke a few days ago so we bargained a buck off of him since we were buying 2. Bought 2 pairs of socks that have a fun GHANA logo on them, one pair for me and the other kid size for my niece, Kali, $1. Bought a much needed 4 inch FOAM Mattress, the bed I have been sleeping on is very uncomfortable, a very thin worn out mattress resting on wooden planks, I can feel the planks of all sizes and shapes in my back (they are not IKEA planks, if you know what I mean) and have been tossing and turning in the night and waking up in the morning with horrible back pain that continues throughout the day. I have slept on this foam stuff a few weekends I have been away and I love this FOAM Mattress idea. The lady even let me lay on it in her shop. It is very cheap to make and WOW is it comfortable!!!! I can't wait for a good nights sleep tonight! When I get back to the US I will be looking for a place that sells these foam mattresses. I think Americans are wasting a lot of money on expensive matresses that have coils and wear out after awhile anyway. I spent about $14 US on this mattress. I will also be able to use it in our courtyard to lay outside and nap or read. We have a beautiful patio but no where comfortable to sit. I knew I should have brought a hammock with me! Maybe next time!
Blog 10 A Letter from a Student
Dear Madam Jennifer,
I am not happy to write to you this letter. I hope by the grace of God you are strong as a lion and as fit as a fiddle. The reason why I am write to you this letter is that, I will not come to school tomorrow, because tomorrow I am go to someplace with my coach. And we will come on that day but, we will spend much time there. Thank you for reading this letter, don't be unhappy fo rgoing but pray for me that when we go they will take me. Madam this is my future work so I begged you. And I hope on Monday I will join my colleagues. Thank you for receiving my letter.
Thank you
Bye Bye
Alex
Gracias. Adios.
This letter was given to me at the end of the day. I read it quickly and when I looked up he was gone. My eyes filled with tears. Alex is one of my best students and losing him would be a great loss for me. I ran to catch up to him and asked him if he was leaving the school for good and he said no, only for tomorrow. I had thought he was leaving the school forever. He has a soccer team to try out for, I think? I will let you all know how it goes! I will treasure this letter always.
I am not happy to write to you this letter. I hope by the grace of God you are strong as a lion and as fit as a fiddle. The reason why I am write to you this letter is that, I will not come to school tomorrow, because tomorrow I am go to someplace with my coach. And we will come on that day but, we will spend much time there. Thank you for reading this letter, don't be unhappy fo rgoing but pray for me that when we go they will take me. Madam this is my future work so I begged you. And I hope on Monday I will join my colleagues. Thank you for receiving my letter.
Thank you
Bye Bye
Alex
Gracias. Adios.
This letter was given to me at the end of the day. I read it quickly and when I looked up he was gone. My eyes filled with tears. Alex is one of my best students and losing him would be a great loss for me. I ran to catch up to him and asked him if he was leaving the school for good and he said no, only for tomorrow. I had thought he was leaving the school forever. He has a soccer team to try out for, I think? I will let you all know how it goes! I will treasure this letter always.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Blog 10 Fun on the Weekends
For my 3rd weekend in Ghana, Diana and I hit Kokrobite Beach! This beach is a short 45 minute drive going west from Accra. We lucked out with a ride to Accra by Diana's roomie, who manages at bank in Aburi. How nice of him to stop and pick us up after he got off work and take us to Accra in style and comfort in his Mercades. I was loving this ride compared to the cramped, smelly, no AC Tro-Tro. I sat back and relaxed, worry free! Dropped off at a taxi station in Accra and made the $7 US taxi ride to Big Milly's Backyard in Kokrobite. You can look them up online if you want to see pics and get details about Big Milly's. This is the place to be for all volunteers working in Ghana and locals too! Sits right on the beach. Arriving Friday we walked into a Traditional Ghanaian Dance, it seemed like the entire town turned out for this event, kids and adults all sitting and enjoying the show. We quickly grabbed a drink and watched the show. We originally booked the $3 per night, per person dorm rooms but when we found out they would be outside in a hammock we decided that would be too much of an invitation for MALARIA even though the place was nice enough to provide mosquito nets. So indoors we go to a very nice cabina ($17 per night total!!! So $8.50 per person! Beat that Ocean City!!!!) complete with an outdoor shower attached to the cabina. It surpassed my expectations! I had the best shower of my life outside with the hot sun beating down through a huge palm tree branch making the cold water refreshing, not so cold and not mind numbing! Just me and nature, just the way I like it! Met some nice locals, lots of volunteers, college students studying in Accra through a program with New York University, and a Bitter Barbie Peace Corp Volunteer coming off her 4 year service in Africa (I think she stayed too long!) You do not need to be a student at NYU to go through that program, NYU has a campus in Accra, if case anyone reading this is interested...
Sat, incredible banana pancakes for breakfast at Big Milly's ($1.50)and fruit, spent the day on the beach, the waves were very strong so I did not venture out far (no lifeguard), met a nice lady from Oregon who has been living in Ghana for the past few years, was given land by a local chief to turn into a protected forest. Her name is Dorlinda and she has just finished planting over 400 trees on 130 acres of land for The Solo Forest Foundation. I am going to cruise by there again in a few weeks and visit her and do my part for the environment and plant a tree. She lived in Hawaii for 18 years and just had Gull Bladder surgery here for the bargain price of $900 at a local clinic, run by 2 surgeons from France. She said when she got there the equipment looked so old she was too scared to cry. Her surgery was 2 weeks before we met her and so far, so good! Sat night dinner at a local Italian Rest run by Italians, I had pesto penne. The Italian lady in her 30's personally came over to check on us and make sure we were enjoying ourselves, I love when rest. owners do this! She was very sweet and you can see her young children playing around the town during the day. Back to Big Milly's... We danced the night away to the local reggee band...Jen B, the singer in the band gave me a shout out in one of the songs! I thought of you from Amy's Birthday Ball at Washington College.
Kokrobite Beach was nice. Large wooden boats everywhere, people mending nets, boats going out, coming in, I got some great shots! Will be going back to Big Milly's again if I can. One of the local guys who works there said that he lives on the property and the couple that own Big Milly's have been putting him through school for years. He is getting ready to attend University in Ireland. Amazing story and nice guy!
Sat, incredible banana pancakes for breakfast at Big Milly's ($1.50)and fruit, spent the day on the beach, the waves were very strong so I did not venture out far (no lifeguard), met a nice lady from Oregon who has been living in Ghana for the past few years, was given land by a local chief to turn into a protected forest. Her name is Dorlinda and she has just finished planting over 400 trees on 130 acres of land for The Solo Forest Foundation. I am going to cruise by there again in a few weeks and visit her and do my part for the environment and plant a tree. She lived in Hawaii for 18 years and just had Gull Bladder surgery here for the bargain price of $900 at a local clinic, run by 2 surgeons from France. She said when she got there the equipment looked so old she was too scared to cry. Her surgery was 2 weeks before we met her and so far, so good! Sat night dinner at a local Italian Rest run by Italians, I had pesto penne. The Italian lady in her 30's personally came over to check on us and make sure we were enjoying ourselves, I love when rest. owners do this! She was very sweet and you can see her young children playing around the town during the day. Back to Big Milly's... We danced the night away to the local reggee band...Jen B, the singer in the band gave me a shout out in one of the songs! I thought of you from Amy's Birthday Ball at Washington College.
Kokrobite Beach was nice. Large wooden boats everywhere, people mending nets, boats going out, coming in, I got some great shots! Will be going back to Big Milly's again if I can. One of the local guys who works there said that he lives on the property and the couple that own Big Milly's have been putting him through school for years. He is getting ready to attend University in Ireland. Amazing story and nice guy!
Blog 9 Computer Club
Ken just purchased a used computer for the school so he can easily type up spreadsheets and info for the school. The computer cost a little over $100 US. No internet! The computer resides at his home which is located about 20 ft from the school. Ken and the Ghana Wisdom Foundation believe in educating the children about computers and technology. So a Computer Club has begun. I am the teacher, yea, so much fun! Teaching kids who have never laid their fingers on a keyboard before about the different parts of the computer, how to use the computer and basic programs is very exciting for me! I got to select 3 kids from my class. I picked Wonder, Fati, and Rosemary, all very responsible students and I know they are serious about their future education so this would be good to invest in them. I also have 3 students from Grade 7 and Grade 8. For 2 weeks 2 days a week we will be using Ken's computer to work on typing and basic operations. I leave my class for 45 minutes and another teacher takes my place. After the 2 week introduction on Ken's computer, we are off on the school bus to the next town, Aburi, about 15 minute drive, to the Internet Cafe. The kids will set up an email account. If anyone knows of a young person (ages 10 to 15) that has email and would like to begin emailing my students, please let me know. The Internet Cafe charges about $1 US per hour. The kids and I will be visiting the Cafe every week till I leave in December. The Computer Club is being financed through a donation to the Ghana Wisdom Foundation (http://www.ghanawisdom.org/) of $50. I can't wait to see how far these kids will progress in just a few weeks!
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