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.
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.
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.
