Hi Everyone,
I have now been back in Ghana for about six weeks and, as ever, an incredible amount has happened. So, sit back, put your feet up, and I'll tell you all about it.
It was great to get back home over the Festive Period, catch up with friends and family and finally get my pesky knee fixed, but by late January I was desperate to get back to work. Arriving by night into any city in the world is always a treat, and Accra, by air, is no exception. The city hurtling up towards you, all bustling with people and life and commotion, and just as you think you’re going to crash head-long into a 'chop-seller', the runway appears from nowhere to gobble you up.
Spat out the other side of arrivals at a little after midnight I was met by the deputy head, Seth, and the new Project Officer, George Godson. George had flown out two weeks before I did, on a flight I was meant to take with him until my surgeon curtailed the plan (something about DVT of the knee). So, with a couple of weeks to find his feet, we were ready to hit the ground running the next morning.
When I arrived at the school around 8am the kids ran out stamping their feet and dancing and screaming and shouting to welcome me back. Honestly, I was completely bowled over. I hadn't been expecting it at all! It was only a day or so later that Seth mentioned, in passing, that the students had been really happy to see me because I “would not make them do the weeding”. Well, what can I say? It was a nice feeling while it lasted. The school itself was looking great, and a lot of work had been done painting up the low walls, installing a fence and planting trees along the north-west boundary. But there wasn't time to rest on our laurels and we had to restart construction on the second phase building [three more classrooms and a science lab] immediately, if the September deadline was to be met and the new students were to have somewhere to go. Baffour, the engineer from Accra, turned up that first morning, along with Awutu stalwart and long-term supporter (and Awutu-Winton Governor designate) of EDP, Eddie Quarshie, to formulate a time-line for the construction. Within three days the foundations were being filled in and the floors laid. In another few weeks we began to see walls creeping up and the classrooms were taking shape. So, definite progress and its going well but, just like last year, it could go right to the wire so keep those fingers crossed!
The plan to go ahead with the construction of the second phase building had been discussed, at length, during my time back in the UK. A number of issues had arisen, which I shan't bore you with that had brought a temporary impasse to proceedings at the end of last year. As a result of this construction halt the third, and final, classroom of the existing block had been left empty to accommodate second year students in September. What this meant was that as soon as we got the green light to go ahead, then we needed to put the fall-back classroom to use. This meant recruiting new students, and quickly!
The selection process itself is never an easy, or fun, task. There are always far, far too many applicants for places available and the majority, inevitably, end up disappointed. Watching the hopeful students, their friends and relatives, trudge off despondently when told the school is full is absolutely heartbreaking. We have been collecting applications almost daily since the school opened and, as a result, had to whittle down 300-plus to just 35. Unfortunately this is just our limit and if we had tried, as I'd dearly love to have done, to cram any more into the class then the teaching quality would suffer and, ultimately, so would the children.
The third class opened on Monday the 14th of February, bringing the number of students at the school up to over one hundred! And lessons are going great. The new class, tasked with having to catch-up as they are one term behind, have begun working like a steam train. We have had to extend the library opening hours and start running extra classes each afternoon [which the staff organised themselves, voluntarily, and for no extra pay I might add] just to cope with the demand for schooling - demand from the students. And if they are not studying hard then they are out playing volleyball or football on our hastily put together games field. The students are always happy when I speak to them and very grateful for the chance of a free education. Grateful and constantly thanking EDP for the school, telling me how blessed they are to be there. 'I feel very lucky', said the normally shy Eunice a couple of days ago, 'very lucky to have this opportunity'. I smiled at her and told her to carry on working hard and to just enjoy her new school. Yet for all the happy students, you can’t help but focus on the not so lucky ones. The young kids who didn't get in this time round. As they walk away from the school site deliberating over what I have told them about how we are trying to build the school up and to come back in the summer. I'm not going to even make a guess at how they must be feeling.
I mentioned briefly, above, the performance of the teachers, which has been fabulous and really shows how committed they all are. A few weeks after I got back I sat down with all of them to discuss the classes, student progress and areas they thought we could improve on. We discussed teaching methodologies and lesson structures, planning and reporting (thanks to Adam Nicholson for his continued support and advice in this vital area). Whilst these were all very constructive and, of course imperative, to the efficient running of the school, one thing kept coming up; shy students. As a result we have decided to offer more opportunities for public speaking at the school. These include short presentations in class and, excitingly, a debating society. The first of which is next week with the proposal, 'Awutu-Winton should be a single sex school'. I'll let you know how we get on, but it promises to be fiery if the early informal class discussions are anything to go by.
Another committed bunch are the parents, who have been great. A few weeks back we had the inaugural PTA meeting and, astonishingly, over 70 parents, guardians and relatives turned up. This is extremely good news as not only is parental feedback, opinion and expertise vital to push the school forward in a way that is synonymous with Ghanaian culture, but it helps the individual student too. It is well documented, in all parts of the world, and not least of all the UK, that committed [and these often means involved] parents will support their children better in their education. Drop-out rates fall as parents prioritise sending their children to school, whilst educational attainment is also positively affected by parents allowing children time to study.
Well, as that's got you up to date with the school side of things, just a quick run-down of the other side of the Awutu project, the businesses. As I'm sure you can appreciate, a school is a very expensive thing to run, with huge ongoing costs as well as initial start-up ones [sadly, this ongoing level of commitment is why the international donor community tends to shy away from educational projects, instead focusing on media/voter friendly one-off payment projects, with 'more bang for ya buck!']. As a result a key part of the work we are doing is trying to secure the financial sustainability of the school in years to come. We already have a great deal of wonderful support from a number of individuals in the UK who are sponsoring individual children [a big thank-you one and all, without you we wouldn't be able to do any of this work], as well as the continued and generous support of the staff and students at the Winton school in Andover. Thnaks to all your efforts we now have over 30 pupils beingf spinsored , and our hope is to get this to over the 100 mark by the end of next term as that would help to pay for most of the teachers' salaries.
But it doesn't stop there. A key part of building the financial security of the school is generating money within Ghana, and that means businesses. Not just any businesses, mind, think an ethical-business that aims to promote awareness, health, understanding and, most of all, provide our students with teachers, books and facilities. A sort of Ghanaian fair-trade organisation. Far-fetched you may think, but I'm here to tell you it’s not.
Here is how it has worked so far. George, who I mentioned at the start, has come out here to run, specifically, the pineapple juice project, which has just become operational. Drawing on the Lunans' many years of experience in trade and enterprise, a number of, loosely termed, agro-businesses have been discussed [including, amongst others, poultry farming, bee-keeping and fish-farming]. But it is the pineapple juice project that, for now, has seen the light of day with the help, support and advice of Alan Chubb in the UK. We have, as I think I have mentioned before, sourced pineapples from a very large local farm, Milani, who have given us a generously reduced rate by way of support for the school. Using our Vigo juice press, we churn out 10 gallons of freshly squeezed, natural, healthy and, if I may add, incredibly good, pineapple juice each morning. Our trusted 'kiosk-girls', Stella, Esi and Emmanuela, get to work each day selling the juice in nearby Kasoa, as a healthy and natural alternative to the carbonated, sugary American dream that it seems impossible to escape from anywhere in the world! And response has been great. Already after just four weeks, and with Georges tireless efforts [he leaves the house at 4am each morning], we are making a tidy little profit of one-hundred pounds a week, or, enough for one teacher and a librarian. Plans are afoot to expand the project, with nearby Winneba University an ideal area.
As the project grows, it will no doubt generate more vital revenue for the school whilst we also plan to subsidise one drink per day to each of the students (that vitamin C is pretty important, you know!). The next project – awaiting the maturity of Seth’s recently planted Acacia trees behind the second phase building- will be the Bee / Honey project. Watch this space!
Well, that's it I'm afraid. Plenty going on, and plenty to look forward to. The students and staff are working tirelessly to make this school the success it deserves to be. In the next few weeks, we hope to get the roof on the new building, invite the parents to the first ever parents evening and expand the juice project further. And in the midst of all that, England take on Ghana at Wembley. If the Black Stars take their World Cup form into that match, then George and myself will be in for more than a little stick from the students, and staff, around here.
