David Lunan's End Of Year Review: December 2012

Season’s Greetings!

As 2012 draws rapidly to an end it’s a good moment to give all our supporters a short update on the charity, and the status of the Awutu-Winton Senior High School, as our 7th term also ends today Dec 21st (hopefully NOT with the ‘End of the World’ as there is still much to do!).

There has been a lot happening at Awutu, and with EDP this year as the blogs and pictures on the website testify.

Our Volunteer team on the ground, Project Manager Rachel Schmieder, and Enterprise Manager Harriet Fisher, ably assisted during the year by James Jacob ( who held the fort on his own over the summer period ), and before that by Kiran Sahib, have done a tremendous job in taking EDP’s involvement with Ghana forward. Rachel and Seth Rockson Adjadotse, our diligent and enthusiastic Deputy Head, have worked very closely together as a great team to enhance the status and develop the infrastructure of AWSHS.

During the summer break we had a month long visit from Newcastle University undergraduates, Sophie Keith and Sinead Molloy, who between them, using sponsorship funds they had raised together in UK, creatively redecorated the whole of block A at the school (there are pictures showing their work on the Gallery section).

We now have a thriving school with over 230 students (who, without the vision of the school’s Founder, Peter Donkor, would not otherwise be benefiting from a secondary education at all!) , and nearly 20 staff in one role or another. The curriculum is being closely followed and the extra-curricular activities are starting to grow apace. (We now have a sports club, bee club and carpentry classes, as well as offering additional IT and Library facilities, and the aim is to expand the range of activities further in the New Year).

Rachel recruited Famous earlier in the year and he is proving to be a very able assistant - in fact he is doing “famously”! Famous is a very good example of how a completed secondary education can lead to decent job offers and he is proving to be very good value to the school and the charity in his wide ranging support role. Well done Famous!

Thanks also to two very generous donations during the year we have completed the purchase and layout of the Sports Field (and plan to finish the surfacing and drainage of the field by the first half of 2013), and, excitingly, have now received the wherewithal to proceed with the construction of a much needed Assembly / Exam Hall and Canteen. Martin Moore, a long term supporter and his Architect pal John Burrell, as well as our professional engineer on the ground and good friend to the school in Ghana, Baffour Osei, continue to give their professional services for free and the design is now agreed and we hope to commence building work shortly. Another good friend of the school, Awutu businessman Eddie Quarshie will be supervising the build, as he did in the last classroom phase. I plan to update you further on the Assembly Hall project later in the New Year.

Thanks to this wonderful donation, and the hard work of Rachel and Seth, we hope we will be able to get official recognition as an established school with its own Examination status granted sometime next year by the GES (Ghana Education Service) and WAEC (West African Examination Council). As an approved Exam centre the school’s status and standing in the community will be assured.

Alongside the daily routine of the school we have been working to develop the juice business – ‘Abrofresh’ . Kiran and Harriet have put in a lot of hard work following on from the original set up. We now have Francis on board, a local National Service student who has been helping Harriet to develop the market opportunity. We are very grateful to Alan Chubb and Di Francis for coming to Ghana at their own expense to advise on the business plan for the next stage of development.

During the year Inez made an appeal on behalf of one of our students, Vida Anthony, who, thanks to the alertness of our friend Dr Robin Collier who came out to Awutu with his wife Sally back in February, was diagnosed with a hole in the heart. Thanks also to the generous response of so many EDP supporters we were able to arrange for Vida to have the operation in September and she returned to school a smiling, happier person last month, apparently determined to follow her dream of becoming a nurse.

Rachel has just returned to the UK, following on from Harriet earlier this week, and James in November. Now Marcus Hagberg (another from that rich stable of graduates at SOAS!) has taken over as Project Manager, soon to be supported in early January by Lauren Wilcock (anxious to point out her graduate connection with the Centre for West African studies at Birmingham University!) and our intern a week later, Helen Owusu, who will be helping at AWSHS whilst finishing off her Masters in Development and Management at Montpellier University.

We wish them all well, and every success in taking the school further forward.

Finally on behalf of Inez and myself, we would like to say a big “thank you” to all our other friends who have been so supportive of EDP. This year (thankfully you’ll say!) we haven’t bombarded you with too many fund raising schemes, although we did have a successful Great South Run, which raised enough to pay for two part-time teachers next year - and our thanks go in particular to Jackie and Paul Stanton for their help in organising it, and to all the runners for their efforts (next year we are hoping to organise another auction following on from the success of last year!) .

We now also have 24 children sponsored, we do need more sponsors to help pay for the overhead of the school , so please spread the word....

Once again, to all our supporters: A big Thank You, and a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Best wishes,

David and Inez

EDP Trust Ltd
UK Charity No: 1129398
www.edp-trust.org

For and on behalf of The Awutu-Winton Senior High School, Ghana.

Jackie Stanton Update

When David asked me to write something for the EDP blog I was not sure what might be relevant to the sponsors. We first discussed Awutu Winton School and the EDP project at a dinner party two Christmases ago. We knew of each other, as I had headed a village project several years before, of which he had been a keen supporter but we had never really talked to each other, as we mix in different circles.

Part of the reason for talking in depth with David now was my son. Christopher had left University 9 months ago with a good degree in Computer Graphic Design and Multimedia but was unable to find work. With Christopher’s strengths in computers David offered an opportunity for him to visit the school in Ghana. While there he would teach the students and teachers how to use computers. It would also hopefully look good on his CV when he returned to help secure employment.

Within a matter of weeks Christopher was out in Awutu, he stayed for 4 months. He enjoyed his time at the school, it was very challenging with the climate and basic accommodation but as a first trip away from home we were very proud of his achievements.

David and Inez have a deep passion to make the Awutu Winton School a success. It is not just about the building but a secure future for the students present and future.

Christopher told me how keen all the students are to learn, they are desperate to get to school each day.
I decided to sponsor a student for 3 years. We have a lovely young man who would eventually like to be a journalist. We correspond during the year and have copies of his school report.

But when there are so many young people that need our help, it is difficult to know what to do for the best. I can’t afford to sponsor more than one student but can give in other ways, as many of you do: by giving ‘time’! I have been told by many people that my strengths lay in ‘organising’ and so that is what I have done for the past 2 years. I have assisted with organising fundraising events for EDP.

Last year we had the very successful ‘Auction of Promises’ which raised approximately £7,500. It was great fun and we had good support from donors and bidders.

This year we are hopeful of raising £4000 for 2 part time teachers and our only event was The Portsmouth, BUPA Great South Run, taking place on Sunday 28th October. We met at 8am on what was a cold and damp morning, to set off to Portsmouth in our mini bus. Thank goodness for the extra hour in bed!

Thankfully we managed to park up a short distance from the main hub of activity with the start and finish lines only a 5 minute walk away from our bus. Our 8 EDP runners were buzzing with anticipation, having each set themselves targets for the 10 mile run. The mass of 25000 runners waiting at the starting line had to be seen to have been believed. Quite spectacular!

Our group of spectators managed to encourage our runners on at the 5 mile point, at which they all looked cool and collected. Everyone was delighted with their own performances, the atmosphere helped with the crowd and the cheering, so did the thought of coming back to a warm cosy mini bus. All our runners did so well with the fastest time at 1hr 17minutes. 3 of the runners had never run as much as 10 miles before.

We ended our day at David and Inez’s where we enjoyed some homemade cooking and a celebration drink along with an interesting film show of what has been achieved in Awutu. It was amazing to see what improvements we had managed to afford over the past year and to know that every penny given goes directly into the school. Peter Donkor gave a wonderful speech to thank everyone for their support. He can hardly believe what has been achieved at the Awutu Winton School which began as an idea.

He mentioned that as a child in Ghana and from a family of 14 he was the lucky one and had an education. Not all of his brothers and sisters did because the family could not afford it. We were all very touched by what Peter had to say and think that he is a great ambassador for the school.

In the economic climate it is always hard to fundraise. There are so many charities that are asking for our help. EDP is a small charity with a big heart! It’s not national, it doesn’t get lottery funding, it depends of the generousity of everyday people. In return we get to see all of the results of our fundraising. That’s why I enjoy supporting it.

The sponsorship from the Great South Run currently stands at £2900, making the total short of our target, but all this could change if you haven’t already made a donation. Please visit http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Edp if you haven't already.

Thank you for reading this Blog.

Best wishes,

Jackie

P.S. We are hoping to raise a larger team, and amount, at next year's event- new runners are welcome to sign up at https://entry.enteronline.org/.

Newcastle Undergrads (Sophie and Sinead) Volunteer Update

It seems a long time since David first invited us to come out to the Awutu-Winton school, and in that time we have had some unforgettable experiences, many hair raising Tro-Tro rides and a number of marriage proposals along the way. From start to finish, our experience with EDP has been incredible, from fundraising in Newcastle to meeting Harriet , James and Rachel and the staff and students at the school, without whom our trip would not have been so memorable.

Before jetting off to the (supposedly) sunny climes of Ghana, we were first tasked with trying to squeeze money out of notoriously hard-up students. This required some creativity, and a resilient (read: ignorant) attitude to the word ‘no’. We decided to organise our first fundraiser in February, and so was born the idea for anti-valentines speed dating. The concept was simple, involving 20 ladies and gents, some interesting chat-up lines and a copious amount of booze. Despite the reluctance of many, we managed to raise almost £200 from the first event, and everyone had a good time, so much so that we were asked to host another. In the meantime, we attempted to gather funds through sponsorship. Wanting to be original (and being too lazy to attempt any form of sponsored exercise) we opted for a sponsored abstinence from alcohol. This had mixed responses from our friends at Uni, although, disbelieving of the notion we could refrain from Newcastle’s notoriously cheap drinks, everyone decided to bet against our willpower, and we raised almost £500 between us (and undoubtedly improved our liver function). The second speed dating was another success, and at least one beautiful relationship was born from our matchmaking skills.

With fundraising completed, our arms bruised from immunisations and the arrival of our visas, we were ready to begin the trip. First impressions of Ghana? A sign in the arrivals hall reminding us that Ghana welcomes visitors of good intent, but any visitor with the intention of crime of paedophilia would be turned away. We were both relieved. A lengthy wait at the baggage carousel provided no luggage and an even lengthier wait at customer services revealed we would have to return to Accra (multiple times) in order to retrieve our belongings. It was a welcome relief when we eventually found Harriet in the arrivals hall and began the journey to Awutu, albeit sans clean underwear.

The following day was a day of many firsts; Our first trip to the school, our first ride in a tro-tro (hairy), our first taste of (what was to be one of many) meals of Indomie (tasty), and our first proper meeting with James and Famous (lovely). It was also the beginning of our work. Seeing the school and the rooms which we were to paint, for the first time, set our creativity in motion, and after a trip to Kasoa to buy paints, we were equipped to begin the mammoth task of painting the library. 3 days later and it was newly yellow, a controversial move perhaps, as we received mixed feedback on our colour choice. It was definitely much brighter. Over the course of the next four weeks we painted the Headmaster’s office, three classrooms and the staffroom, discovering along the way that blue was always preferable to yellow and turpentine DOES NOT remove paint from clothes/skin/hair. With the coaching of various teachers and other members of staff at Awutu-Winton, we were able to improve our paintings skills along the way. When we weren’t busy with paint rollers, we had some time to explore Ghana with Harriet, James and Rachel acting as guides-cum-drinking buddies. The weekends brought trips along the coast to Cape Coast and Kokrobite which gave us a chance to relax and see more of Ghanaian culture. We also discovered more about Ghana’s colonial history and its place in the transatlantic slave trade.

Less poignant, but a significant feature of our time in Ghana, was our introduction to the HBO series Game of Thrones. We would like to thank James Jacob for educating us in the world below the wall, for that we are eternally grateful. Aside from that highlight, one of the most enjoyable parts of our time at the school was painting murals in the three classrooms. We wanted to incorporate the global aspect of the school, in particular the links between Andover and Awutu. Our personal favourite depicted the school houses, Avon, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire, the idea being that the students could see what their house names actually referred to. The students got really involved with the murals, and we had lots of help so it was particularly nice to receive such good feedback. We were both really pleased with the end product.

Overall, the 6 weeks we spent in Ghana were fantastic. Our time spent at the school was made special, not only because we were made to feel so welcome by everyone we encountered but because we were both so impressed by the work of the EDP for students who are so enthusiastic and grateful for the opportunity of an education. We both felt lucky to be part of something so worthwhile, and would like to continue supporting the work of the EDP trust. Whether or not we can coerce our friends into another round of speed dating is debatable, but we would love to continue our fundraising efforts and move onto bigger and better things (sponsored streaking, anyone?). Finally, our trip would not have been the same without the lovely people we encountered along the way, including the staff and students at the school, in particular Famous who gave us constant encouragement and help! We are particularly grateful to Harriet, James and Rachel who put up with us occupying their living room floor, and guided us along the way. We’d like to say a big thank you to David and Inez for the opportunity to visit Ghana and the school– it has been amazing!

Sophie and Sinead

David Lunan's EDP Update: September 2012

Dear Supporter,

Thank you for reading this blog and for logging into the EDP website.

There has been a lot of activity in EDP and at Awutu-Winton SHS over the past few months, despite the long break of nearly 3 months between the end of term on June 18th and the start of the New Year, our third academically, on September 11th.

We have been lucky enough to have a visit from two Newcastle University students, Sophie Keith and Sinead Molloy, who not only raised the funds for their trip but also had enough left over to buy paint and then decorate the entire first phase block during most of August. A picture of their work will shortly be posted on the website gallery and big “thank you” girls for such a great effort!

Our current team of volunteers, Rachel Schmieder, Harriet Fisher and James Jacob are working hard in support of the school and its enterprise operation. The juice business continues to alternatively excite and frustrate, but a lot of effort has been put into it and we are still hopeful that it can grow into a long term profitable venture. Two supporters, Alan Chubb, and Di Francis, both agriculturists with extensive experience in the tropics, have offered to fund themselves on a trip out to Awutu in November to assess the project and we will be posting a report with their recommendations onto the website in December after they return to UK.

During the summer a lot of hard work was put in by Harriet and then James assisted ably by EDP’s locally recruited assistant, Famous, to prepare the new sports field which we were able to buy thanks to the generosity of one of our keen supporters earlier this year. There was the inevitable issue with hiring reliable enough equipment to clear the land, level it and stop the rains from washing it all away (the rainy season is from March-October and tropical downpours have a way of eroding newly constructed sports field rather rapidly!). Suffice it to say in the end hundreds of sandbags had to be filled and placed in situ to prevent the erosion, this was done with a lot of sweat and hard graft by Harriet, James & Famous supported from time to time by groups of AWSHS students , keen to see the sports-field up and running for the new academic year. Pictures are going on the website shortly, and games, including of course Football and Volley ball, but also Touch Rugby (the first of such to be played, we suspect anywhere in Central Region) have started in earnest!

We now have the Science lab up and almost running- Rachel is pushing hard for the gas man to come and connect those Bunsen burners! - but it is also contributing as an extra class room as, having nearly 150 candidates vying for their max 70 places available this year, we have been using the science lab as an exam hall as well as we have now instigated an entrance exam to try and fine-tune our selection process – a tricky balance of need vs. academic ability and it’s always a pity to have to turn kids away as we know they won’t get a second chance of gaining a secondary education.

The selection process of teachers has simultaneously been running its course. Rachel and Seth have worked closely together on this and we now have a total of 14 teachers, 8 full time and 6 part time, 6 of the full time are young teachers doing their National Service and this is proving to be a very cost effective way of expanding our permanent staff- the general feedback has been that NS teachers enjoy working at AWSHS, but the work load for them is certainly much higher than at the State equivalent!

Getting more full time teachers remains a top priority if we are even to get official recognition from the Government and the Ghana Education Service. We remain, as far as we are aware, the only secondary school in the south of Ghana to be free of fees outside the capital. Our region remains poor, unemployment levels are hard to gauge, but local sentiment estimates it at well over 50%, so getting a secondary education offers the children who can get it the way out of the grinding poverty trap - if we can get more full time teachers we can get GES accreditation and that in turn will mean we can become an exam centre in our own right and drive our reputation as a bastion, we hope, of academic ability forward. The long term sustainability of the school remains our concern: It can’t just be a constant plea for financial hand-outs, we MUST find ways to ensure the long term viability of the school and that is something we are continuing to work hard on.

Anyway, thanks again for reading this , and thank you, again, for your on-going support and interest in AWSHS and EDP.

Best wishes,

David

David Lunan
Director, EDP Trust
September 2012

James Jacob Update: August 2012

Week 7 and life goes on! It’s been a good week: thanks to Harriet’s return I now know where to eat – I have found some places that serve markedly better food, either that or my taste buds have atrophied to the degree that anything tastes good. Either way it’s a plus – lunch most days is from a chop bar – a mix of noodles and rice with some stew sauce, a hard-boiled egg and some ‘meat’. I don’t often ask what type.

This week I have done two new things:

Firstly I have been tasked by Harriet to improve sales in the market town of Kasoa. Kasoa is located about half an hour East of us on the way to Accra, it exists because there is a crossroads there and like the market towns of Britain which sprung up around bridges because of the increase in traffic at those points the same has happened here. Kasoa is, no bones about it, a completely uninspiring place – the buildings are new and ugly, the rubbish overflows – buildings come first then you set up the infrastructure – it is not a sensible way to do things. Still I have found an orphanage there which will hopefully start taking juice on Monday – we sell at a discount to orphanages because we see them as being in the same business as ourselves. Because of the wars all around Ghana there are lots of orphanages, people see Ghana as safe so they flee here if they can. Considering we have just had a swift, untroubled transfer of power in the country , I can see their point.

Secondly I had to take one of the schoolchildren to the hospital. Vida is 19. She has a hole in her heart and is waiting on an operation – on Thursday we finally got her booked in and it will happen in September. The hospital was better than I expected, cleaner, some of the buildings were colonial era others were newer. The waiting room was crowded like the NHS but what struck me was the lack of doctors, this is Accra’s main hospital – there was one cardiologist on duty for the entire ward, one. The problem is that if you have a medical degree you don’t stay in Ghana – instead you take your family and go to one of a dozen countries (including the UK) which will give you a work visa – the brain drain is a huge problem. Another problem is the blood bank – they are almost always running out – in fact for Vida’s operation we have to donate the same amount of units of blood that she will need – this is the standard policy of Ghana.

Tonight we have two new volunteers joining us for a month, they arrive shortly from the UK. So this is my last night of peace and quiet for a while. I’m using it to write to you guys and work on my dissertation.

I hope you are all well and once again thanks for the letters - they keep me going.

James

James Jacob Volunteer Update: June 2012

One month down.

I have now been here for a little over a month; this was always going to be the hardest time, culture shock, isolation and having to learn a new job. That month is coming to an end; on Tuesday my wonderful boss Harriet returns from England. I am looking forward to this, partly because she can drive (a life in London means I never learnt to my detriment) so I won’t be dependent on Tro-Tros anymore (this is a God send) also I won’t be home alone. I have made a few friends (the delightful Henrietta Gremmel first among them) but for the most part conversation has been limited.

This week I went up to Gyakiti, our NGO is developing a fishing project up there which they hope will fund the school out here. Ghana is home to Lake Volta – the largest man made body of water in the world built in the 60s by the egomaniac Nkrumah (he liked big prestige projects a lot), the lake feeds into the Akosombo dam – which still provides a lot of Ghana’s energy.

Famous (our assistant at the School) and I went to Gyakiti to get the local chiefs, whose land it was, to sign a contract agreeing to sell it to us. The journey took 13 hours in total – a long, long day on many Tro Tros. The chiefs met us but the paramount chief wasn’t there – the other chiefs said we didn’t have to see him. This aroused our suspicions. After journeying 40 miles we found the chief and his ‘palace’ (more like a large one story house), he met us and explained that the other chiefs had cheated him; and had not paid him the expected stipend for selling land – I might add that Ghanaian land law is a mixture of the British system and older, tribal customs – it is complicated.

I guess I was naïve but I expected the chiefs of the Volta to be impressive men, I in my naïve way wanted to meet men who would look like they’d stepped straight out of central casting for a Ryder Haggard story. This is not the case, old men with bad teeth and dressed in modern clothes, one of them to my surprise had a jersey from the 1999 Rugby World Cup – he’d received it in an aid package, the high chief met me in a Hawaian shirt in his house made of concrete. Famous later told me that they only don the formal robes for state occasions much like our own monarch. The more I thought of this the more it made sense naturally.

I spent the weekend with some friends at the beach. I have met some interesting people out here, the ‘Foreign Legion’ of volunteers are fascinating; different motivations, different projects and different durations from 19 year olds out here to build a school (the single most harmful thing you can do as an Aid project after simply dumping free food in a place-as the one thing the developing world is not short of is unskilled labour) to tons of medical students out here to learn how the other half get hospital treatment.
Two friends of mine deserve singling out, Geff and Zane, an unlikely pair Zane is a South African mechanic and Geff a Canadian diver – they work on Lake Volta for the only underwater logging company in the world – their job is to remove the trees which are now buried (Lake Volta used to be forest) and then sell the wood which has special properties. They are great guys and good fun to have a beer with and set the world to rights.

So there you have it – one month done out here and 4 to go at least I am keeping calm and carrying on. To everyone who is taking the time to write to me I really appreciate it! It helps a great deal.

James.

Volunteers' Update: May 2012

Dear EDP supporter,

We thought you might like to read a combined blog from EDP’s three wonderful volunteers who are working hard for the school and its enterprise projects on the ground in Ghana.

Best wishes,

David and Inez Lunan

RACHEL:

It's mid-May, the third term is in full swing, the school is full of activity and so it seems a good time for the next entry from Awutu-Winton! We’re sad to soon be saying goodbye to Kiran, who’s worked relentlessly hard and done a fantastic job managing the enterprises over the past 5 months. Luckily, Harriet is in the process of learning the ropes in order to take on the role next stint, and we’re looking forward to welcoming a new volunteer, James Jacobs into the EDP Team in under a month. A bit more from Kiran and Harriet later on…

Leading up to Easter was a busy time, with students revising hard in the library for their end of term exams, and the staff busy writing end of term reports. We welcomed a two-week visit from Peter Donkor, who spent a lot of time with the EDP Team and Seth reviewing all areas of the school. In particular, a lot of attention was placed on enhancing the teaching and learning at the school. New teachers were interviewed and recruited for September, lesson worksheets and display posters for the classrooms were brought out from England and a revised report card system was introduced. Peter and Seth analysed the students’ exam performance, and introduced a new system of 1-to-1 student-teacher sessions to help the small group of students who are struggling in class. So a big thank you for his input and guidance!

The largest development last term was the clearing and flattening of the new sports pitch. A bright yellow bulldozer rolled onto site with a team of men ready to work non-stop from dawn til dusk for 5 days; its amazing how steep a slope becomes when its your job to flatten it! But they did a good job, worked incredibly hard and made sure the job was completed before leaving site. Who knew a bulldozer could create so much dust? The cleaner Cecelia did a great job of keeping on top of it all! Now that the land’s flattened, we’re confronted with the challenge of protecting it against erosion from the heavy rains, and as we’re just entering the rainy season, time’s not on our side. We’ve put our heads together and, with much advice from Baffour and Eddie, have come up with a plan – we’re going to create a sturdy wall of sandbags (no less than 2000 of them!) and then bring in a grading machine to smooth and compact the earth, by which time it will certainly be ready to be used as a sports pitch, the kids are getting involved helping filling sandbags with eager anticipation of when they can play their first match!

We’re making good progress with the science lab, the school carpenter, plumber and gas man are working together to make sure it’ll be ready in time for welcoming the students in September. Which is when we anticipate the inspections mentioned in the last update – preparations have gone smoothly, and I feel we’re well on our way to ticking all the (numerous) boxes to be registered as an examination centre.
My final note is to mention a form two student called Vida. During Robin’s visit in January, when he came and gave a medical check to each of the students, he noticed that Vida had a heart murmur, and through a contact of his in England, we managed to be referred to a cardiologist in Accra who has been undertaking many tests to investigate her condition. The results have shown that she has a large hole in her heart, which is leading to increased pressure in her lungs and heart, making her very weak and fragile. The only solution is to have an operation to close the hole, but this comes at a huge price – 12,000 Ghana Cedis, which is just over £4000! Of course we want to do everything we can to help Vida, but we also need to make sure that the school has enough funds to continue running smoothly and paying salaries, so we’re planning on launching a separate fundraising scheme to generate the funds to get her well. Please get in touch if you’d like to help in any way.

Ok, well that’s enough from me, I’ll now pass you over to Harriet and Kiran to give you an insight into the enterprises and other areas of the school project.

HARRIET:

So in the last few weeks I have been learning the ropes of the Enterprises from Kiran, ready to take over when she leaves in two weeks. So far it has been non-stop, but very exciting to be involved in! Kiran has bought the business forward huge amounts since January, and the sales are steadily growing. We are even selling juice to our own pineapple supplier! We have a regular order everyday from the Awutu offices, and now I am spending most days in Winneba (the University town) trying to keep up a steady delivery in the offices there. Our lovely Winneba juice girl, Elizabeth, is doing a fantastic job.

Sports and clubs are still going very well at the school, and at the end of last term we even set up matches with several local schools. This really spurred some competitive spirit within the school, and it was an experience driving a van load of students back whilst they were all singing at the top of their lungs and drumming on the seats after their victory!

The school is flourishing in the new term, and the students are as eager as ever. Since the last blog update we have started a Hardship Fund, which focuses on students we are aware of who struggle financially at home. A long with our two new welfare officers for the school, Daniel and Mary, we have begun a system of providing two free meals a week for a selected amount of students. For these students it relieves the anxiety of not knowing whether they will eat that day or wondering if they will have enough money. It is a small gesture but one which is making an obvious difference to the students who have difficult times outside of school.

KIRAN:

My time with EDP is sadly coming to an end and I am gradually handing the business over to Harriet. The last few months have been eventful for AbroFresh; we have seen lots of highs and a few lows but I am certain that AbroFresh is on the right track and will continue to grow in the hands of both Harriet and James (our new volunteer, who will be arriving mid-June).

Exciting news! we have begun talks with the Village of Hope – an orphanage not too far from the school - and they have expressed an interest in our juice! The staff were not only impressed by the juice but by the project behind the juice; they couldn’t give EDP enough praise! I will be visiting the orphanage tomorrow to talk about how best we can support each other; fingers crossed we can develop a long lasting relationship with them!

Lots of progress has been made with the bees; we now have a dedicated bee club which is being directed by an enthusiastic group of Ghanaian Beekeepers. The Apiary has now got 5 colonised hives, and we are expecting to have all 10 colonised in the next few weeks. The club had its first field trip last week; we made the arduous journey up to Twifo Praso- a small town near Cape Coast. There we met up with Nana (one of our consultants) and he kindly showed us around his modest but incredibly impressive apiary. He also passed on a few handy tips to the kids, and gave us 3000 bees to put in our apiary; I have to say transferring the bees back to Awutu in our school bus, was one of the scariest things i have ever done!
Unfortunately we received some bad news 2 weeks back, our original consultant Elias Ayeebo – who had been suffering from stomach ulcers for a while – passed away. He had been a great help to us and given the school a lot of time. The Bee club has chosen to honour his memory by creating a display in the library.

Awutu, Ghana. May 2012.

Rachel Schmieder Update: March 2012

We’re now 8 weeks into the second term at school and things are as busy as ever. The first year students are well established, and it’s hard to remember what the school was like with only one year of students!

The start of the New Year has brought many changes to the EDP team. The departure of James Riggs and Alastair Littleton was a sad and momentous occasion at the school and their names are still often heard among the student and staff alike! However we’ve now been joined by Harriet Fisher who’s brought fresh energy to the project. Harriet has recently completed a masters in Development and Conflict Management, and has come out to oversee the creation of eagerly awaited new sports pitch and to develop the extra-curricular side of the school, as well as helping out and getting stuck into everything else that’s going on! Everyone at the school gave her a warm Ghanaian welcome, and her presence in the EDP Team is very much appreciated. Kiran has returned from the Christmas break with more energy and enthusiasm than ever, which she’s relentlessly pumping into the juice and bee projects, which are growing rapidly as a result. More on the enterprises in a bit.

When I arrived back to the Ghanaian heat from icy-cold England back in January, the second term was already in full-swing, with all of the students working extremely hard and lessons running smoothly. This year, the main focus is to register the school as an examination centre, a lengthy, multi-staged process that we’ve heard can take up to seven years! However, we’ve been putting all our energy into it, and are hopeful that we can do it much faster than that! In short, it requires us to get the General Arts and Business Programmes, the two programmes we offer at the school, acknowledged and certified by the Ghana Education Service (GES), which requires an OFSTED-like inspection from the GES Inspector Division, then once we’ve got this, we then have to prepare for a much stricter inspection from the West African Examination Centre (WAEC) who will come to check that we have the correct staffing, facilities and procedures in place for the school to be registered as an examination centre allowing the students to sit their final exams at the school.

After several early morning trips to Accra with Seth, we’re now well informed about the process, and well on the way to getting our first inspection. Seth has done a sterling job ensuring that we speak to the right people, meaning we’ve managed to fast-track a lot of the laborious bureaucracy and are well on our way to the first inspection. The staff have been a great help in the preparations, not to mention Mel, our new Secretary at the school, who’s been coming in two days a week and really helping with all the related paperwork! One big development that’s emerged as a result is the formation of a Board of Governors at the school, which is nearly complete, and includes the District Director of the GES, a good person to have on board (literally!).

Our biggest stumbling block at the moment is the full-time to part-time ratio of teachers at the school: a necessary requirement is that we have at least 70% of our teachers being fulltime. Unfortunately we can’t count the wonderful bunch of student teachers we’ve been lucky enough to have this year in the ratio, and as all teacher salaries come out of the EDP pocket, we can’t currently afford to raise the percentage to this high level. So as it stands, it looks as though the current second years, soon to be third years, will be sitting their final exams in Oct/Nov 2013 rather than June/July 2013, and will be entered to sit at an external examination centre, a process which in turn brings its own costs. However, on the plus side, it means that the students will have an extra couple of months to really swat up before their exams, extremely valuable time, especially for those in the General Arts classes as we’ve recently introduced English literature to their timetable. Accordingly, the library is now stocked with poetry anthologies, Shakespeare plays and both African and non-African literature, which the kids have eagerly delved into. The head of English has been an excellent support, coming in early and staying on late to hold catch-up classes.

Alongside making preparations for the imminent inspections, the other main focus is on recruiting new teachers for September, when we’ll open our doors to another 70 students, bringing the total enrolment to around 230 strong. Sadly, we’re going to have to say farewell to the 7 student teachers from Winneba, who’ve performed excellently in the classroom and have contributed so much to the school community. Furthermore, the universities have now changed the structure of the teaching course, so that the teaching placement will only be a term long rather than a whole year, meaning that we won’t be able to welcome a fresh batch of student teachers in September – a real shame considering this year’s success! Nevertheless, we’re hoping to maintain 3 of our current 7 student teachers for at least another year, whilst they complete their National Service.

Moving away from the academic side of the school, Harriet’s arrival has triggered the formation of many exciting new clubs, with at least one club running each evening after school: Volleyball club ( thanks to Jan Janmohamed and Caroline Keith, who visited in January, and brought with them a top class volleyball net and balls that the kids have been making the most of!), Leadership club (where prominent leaders are explored, in particular excellent African leadership figures), cadets, bee club and juice club to name but a few!

All of the kids have loved getting involved, with the leadership club having over 100 members! Looking forward, we’re planning to start a film club on Saturday mornings (yes, excitingly the IT room is now open to all students on Saturdays thanks to a dedicated local IT teacher and supporter of the school), and a carpentry club, spurred on by the arrival of 15 full tool kits from England! There’s also been talk of running a debating club and science club too. In particular, the introduction of cadets has been extremely successful, with the kids starting off where they left after the impressive display at the School Open Day last October. With a very strict Cadet Master who volunteers his time to visit each week, the cadets are now busy practicing their marching in preparation for the 6th March Independence Day parades next week - a great opportunity for the school to represent the local community!

With the aim of building a sense of school community and encouraging praise at the school, a house system has now been introduced, with each student being a member of either Avon, Dorset, Hampshire or Wiltshire house, with points being awarded for good behaviour, excellent work and sporting achievements; and points being deducted for bad behaviour. The introduction has gone down a storm, with students anxiously following the daily update of points on the score board! Next week we’re going to start some inter-house competitions which everyone is looking forward to.

Exciting progress is being made on the new land, which is soon to be a state of the arts sports pitch. With the amazing news that the kind donation will not only cover the cost of buying the land, but also the costs of clearing the vegetation, levelling the land and fencing it too, we’re on the verge of signing the contracts and bringing in the workforce!* The aim is to irrigate the grass pitch (a real novelty here in Ghana!) with the rainwater that is being collected from the school roof in two huge water tanks that have recently been installed. The kids are just as excited as we are about the new pitch; rugby balls have been brought over from the UK and Harriet is prepping the sports teacher on the rules of Rugby (not a widely played sport in Ghana) so hopefully we’ll have a rugby team formed by the time the pitch is ready. As Harriet commented, perhaps we’ll help to form the first Ghanaian National Rugby Team?! There’s also been talk of organising a whole school Sports Day in celebration of the new sports field!*

In January we were fortunate enough to host a visit from Dr Robin Collier, a recently retired GP from England, and his wife Sally, who both spent many a day tirelessly examining all the students – thankfully it turns out overall that we have a pretty healthy bunch of kids! However, not wanting to become complacent, we’ve planned for some of our weekly moral talks to be on the subject of healthy eating, exercise and sex-education. Their visit triggered lots of thinking among the EDP team, and we’ve since created a sick bay for the kids and nominated Student Welfare Teachers, who are being trained by Seth in counselling skills. The introduction of these Officers has gone down really well, and we’re hoping that this extra support will help those who come from particularly difficult backgrounds. So a big thank you to Robin and Sally for all their input!

Other exciting news is the progress that’s being made with the installation of the new science laboratory, and we hope that it will be a fully-functioning lab by September, ready to welcome the new batch of students. Plans have been drawn, cabinets and benches designed, and test-tubes bought (just yesterday in fact, along with a long list of other equipment). However, we’ve found the process of sourcing materials and equipment quite a challenge, so the first carpentry project for the kids might just be test tube racks, intricate I know, but I’m sure they’ll rise to the challenge! Sally and Robin kindly donated a skeleton which has already been used in many of the biology lessons, and Seth loves it so much that he insists it takes pride of place in his office when it’s not in use in the classrooms!

Moving onto the enterprise projects, Kiran is doing a fantastic job of building more momentum within the juice project and drumming up business in the local offices in Awutu. Demand is so high that she’s set up a delivery system each morning, often delivering up to 30 bottles of juice! Kiran’s done well to introduce the new taste of Moringa, a super-food that grows extremely well out here and is packed full of goodness, and she’s in the process of planting some trees around the school grounds. The relationship between our brand , “AbroFresh” and the University of Education in Winneba is growing fast; we’ve now got two committed AbroFresh Representatives there, who are students themselves. They have pumped in loads of enthusiasm to increase our contact base and have opened up new exciting avenues; in particular we’ve had two large orders, one for an ‘Independence Day BBQ Bash’ and the other for an HIV Awareness Conference, so trade is certainly picking up! We’re finally at the stage of making enough profit to make weekly contributions towards the running of the school - a real landmark achievement!

On the other enterprise front, although the bees are still proving quite a challenge, with several hives still un-colonised, we’ve got a keen team of students on board to help maintain the hives, and we’re ready to make our first harvest of honey in the next fortnight. Plans are emerging to start expanding the bee project, and set up a micro-finance structure in the local community, so watch this space!

The school really has become a hub of activity and is such an exciting place to be! As you can see, as ever, there’s loads going on, and I want to extend my thanks to all those who have been supporting the school behind the scenes, all your efforts are really appreciated by all the students, staff and community members alike. It was only earlier this week I had a visit from a parent, whose final comments were that he felt so blessed to be able to send his son to the school, and that the arrival of the school is a true living miracle to him!

Right, I’ll leave you on that positive note, as I’d better get back to work…lots to get on with!

Rachel

* We are pleased to announce that the sports pitch will be dedicated to the memory of Mr F.A. Hughes who died recently.

P.S. More pictures are being updated on the gallery - don't miss the one with Harriet standing in front of the new sports field!

David Lunan's EDP Update: February 2012

As it’s now three months since the last blog, which was in fact James Riggs’ final missive in his role as Project Manager for EDP at the school, I realised it was time to send out an update since, as is now becoming the norm, much has been happening in Awutu in the intervening period!

We now have three hard working, UK graduate, volunteers in situ: Rachel Schmieder, Harriet Fisher and Kiran Sahib. Rachel will be sending out her own blog which we aim to put onto the website tomorrow (March 2nd), there is a lot to consider, but I will leave the detail to her to fill you all in, so please look out for it on www.edp-trust.org.

The main news is to confirm we have 165 students and plan to increase the school size by a further 70 in September. By then we will be full, until, and when, we can raise the additional £100k+ needed to build the third and final planned phase. In the interim we will be planning for the increase in teacher numbers and expanding the facilities on offer. Thanks to our generous benefactor who allowed us to purchase the land adjoining the school - and he has just made another donation to let us to go ahead and level it and install a pitch which, under Harriet’s supervision we hope will be ready for use by the September term start - we hope , soon, to be the sporting focus of everyone in the Awutu region. What a fantastic facility it will be for the local kids - used to kicking patched-up footballs on nearby, rubbish-strewn, wastelands - to be able to use!

In the meantime we are also working to raise the standards of the teaching, the levels of behaviour by students, and to create an element of competition within the school now we have formed the four houses – Hampshire, Dorset, Avon and Wiltshire!

One thing to explain further – in order to obtain fully recognised exam status in the future we need to build the teacher numbers up to 70% full time. Currently the budget can’t allow for that so we will have to arrange to take exams at another centre, this in turn will cost, probably in the region of £3,000 and will mean the current crop of Second Years won’t be able to take their third year finals in fact until next autumn. A mixed blessing as they are the ones who need more tuition as many of them were the longest out of the education system until we opened the school, but that in turn will mean more teaching cost to fund in the interim!

So, and we have mentioned this before I know , we have decided to make a real push to try and get the numbers of pupils sponsored up to the 75-100 plus level. As many of you know (and are already generously supporting us in this area already!) the proposal is that sponsors put up £25 a month on a standing order (or £300 yearly) and in return are allocated a specific student to sponsor. They will receive communications from time to time and will get an annual update from the school on the progress of their student. If you are prepared to sponsor, or could spread the word and maybe find additional support for us it could really help us reach that number.

Currently we have 32 pupils sponsored, that is set to bring in about £9600 over the next 12 months, if we could get the number up to 75 that would add a further £13k income to the school – enough then to pay for over half the additional teachers we are seeking to employ for September, if we can get it up to 100 it will pay for all of them!

In the meantime we are aiming to spread our educational connections further! We are in touch with Andrew Smith, ex-Winton School, Andover Headmaster, now running the Rodborough School near Godalming in Surrey. Winton school themselves are beavering away at sponsorship having started so well last year and hope to increase the number further later this year. James is also in touch with a couple of schools in the Ringwood area as we remain very keen to try and bring the message of educational opportunity that the Awutu project conveys to kids in the UK. We believe it’s a powerful message to convey to our children: ie to be able to show them how good the facilities they are learning in are in the UK and contrast that with the deprivation – coupled with great enthusiasm for learning - that their peers in West Africa experience.

My apologies for the rather begging tone of this blog! Rachel’s will be more informative, that’s a promise, and thank you, again, for your on-going support. If you, or someone you know, is willing to sponsor a child it’s a simple procedure of filling out the attached form. Thank you.

Kind regards
David

David Lunan
Director, EDP Trust.

www.edp-trust.org

david@edp-trust.org